Has anyone heard of the telescope PolarPlus by Spectrum Optical Instruments?

[Nazralte]

I've used the normal cheapo type telescope over the years and I'm going to sink my feet in. I've been doing lots of reading of reviews and such to see what will work best for my budget as I don't want to spend tons of money. I've settled on a reflector type and I had looked into ones like the Orion and Gskyer which are around 250ish, give or take. Both have their advantages and disadvantages of course but I found one that upon looks seems like it will be good for the price. However I haven't been able to find any reviews on it what so ever. I am not really looking for anyone who has actually used one but maybe people here have at least heard of the brand and maybe tell by the pictures if it seems like a decent telescope. 

Since I'm buying it from Amazon if it's garbage I can always send it back so not too big of a deal.

Everything in the pictures makes it looks pretty good save for the eye pieces but I can always buy some others of course.

 

One thing I cannot figure out is what type of mirror it has. I emailed the company but they haven't responded so I will have to try and figure it out if no one else knows.

 

This is a PolarPlus Equatorial Telescope (150mm Aperture)

Spectrum Optical Instruments

150mm (5.9”) 750mm reflector

 

Right now it's running $320 so not too bad for what looks nice from pictures.

 

 

 

 

[Nightspore]

Well, the tube rings look a bit GSO, not so sure about the OTA (Synta?). The Crayford looks pretty decent though. The 4mm Aspheric is a bit of a spectroscope (definite false colour).

 

 

Not sure who makes these. The scope looks pretty decent TBH and the EQ2 looks capable. The tripod itself looks fairly stable.

 

 

I have a basic GSO 150mm, f/6 Newtonian. They can be very effective as telescopes.  I'll look forward to your review of your new scope.

[Nazralte]

Just set up the telescope today though I probably won't actually use it for another few weeks. But I wanted to share my first impressions in case anyone is interested.

 

There is a lot of metal in this telescope. On the tripod itself, the legs, there are plastic fittings. However the equatorial mount is totally metal and feels really solid. On the telescope itself the only plastic is the wheels of the eyepiece and the wheel thing on the top of the vixen dovetail. (And of course the covers)

The counter weight is 10lbs and the whole thing together is 30lbs. Not sure how that compares to others but it does feel pretty solid to me.

 

I did get it collimated with the laser collimator but I have yet to determine what sort of primary mirror it is. With everything else seeming to be pretty good quality I am hopeful that it's parabolic. 

The only other thing is the mount itself. I have no idea how it compares to other equatorial mounts in terms of quality or how it's built. It seems good to me but I have zero reference to go on. I hope someone who does know telescopes makes a review video on this because it does seem pretty darn nice for $320.

 

The next thing to get will be some better eyepieces as of course that is the one thing that pretty much is always cheap. 🙂 I think I will test it some, get some pictures using the cellphone adapter cause I'd love to know how well that will work. I also plan to use this during the next eclipse. After that I will make a post with those pictures (if they come out nice) and maybe a bit more of a review. 

[Nightspore]

9 hours ago, Nazralte said:

Just set up the telescope today though I probably won't actually use it for another few weeks. But I wanted to share my first impressions in case anyone is interested.

 

There is a lot of metal in this telescope. On the tripod itself, the legs, there are plastic fittings. However the equatorial mount is totally metal and feels really solid. On the telescope itself the only plastic is the wheels of the eyepiece and the wheel thing on the top of the vixen dovetail. (And of course the covers)

The counter weight is 10lbs and the whole thing together is 30lbs. Not sure how that compares to others but it does feel pretty solid to me.

 

I did get it collimated with the laser collimator but I have yet to determine what sort of primary mirror it is. With everything else seeming to be pretty good quality I am hopeful that it's parabolic. 

The only other thing is the mount itself. I have no idea how it compares to other equatorial mounts in terms of quality or how it's built. It seems good to me but I have zero reference to go on. I hope someone who does know telescopes makes a review video on this because it does seem pretty darn nice for $320.

 

The next thing to get will be some better eyepieces as of course that is the one thing that pretty much is always cheap. 🙂 I think I will test it some, get some pictures using the cellphone adapter cause I'd love to know how well that will work. I also plan to use this during the next eclipse. After that I will make a post with those pictures (if they come out nice) and maybe a bit more of a review. 

 

Sounds good. 30 pounds is about 14 kilo right? Not so sure what $320 is in Sterling though. I think I was wrong earlier when I identified the focuser as a Crayford. Probably a 1.25" R&P, seems to be pretty well made from the photo earlier.

 

 

The focuser on my old Sky-Watcher (Synta) 130mm was a tad wobbly lol. Before you splash too many spondoolies on expensive eyepieces, it's worth checking out a set of inexpensive Chinese Plossls. They do the job!

Edited March 3 by Nightspore