Bushnell Voyager Sky Tour 4.5"/114mm Reflector Telescope Kit

Comments about Bushnell Voyager Sky Tour 4.5"/114mm Reflector Telescope Kit:

I bought this telescope for my 10 year old daughter who has been very keen to learn more about astronomy. This telescope has turned out to be great for this purpose. I would definitely recommend it for a beginner or a recreational "backyard astronomer". Compared to other telescopes (reflectors or refractors) one may consider as a "beginner's" product, this one while still relatively inexpensive, offers both power and ease of use to help avoid some of the main frustrations with entry-level telescopes one may experience.

The tripod and mount are relatively sturdy although require some getting used to in order to find a good way to lock on and follow the target object in the sky effectively. I found it not as shaky as I feared it would be considering that this is an entry level product. Once you get a hang of it, it is usable but can be a source of frustration to a novice user. Again, important to remember that this is a sub-$200 telescope so the expectations need to be adjusted accordingly.

The scope comes with 3 eyepieces and a fairly good quality Barlow lens (that is supposed to double the magnification factor of the eyepieces). Great to observe the moon features at great detail. Can easily see finer details of craters, mountain ridges.. Should be able to see the two prominent cloud bands on Jupiter, major Saturn ring features, etc.. Even though I have not tried yet, judging from past experience this telescope would be great for observations of major nebulas (e.g. Andromeda, Orion), clusters etc.

Need to purchase a full aperture solar filter separately for sun observation. Don't try the method of projecting onto a white surface or an eyepiece filter. While these methods may work with some telescopes, with this one you will definitely melt the plastic of the eyepiece.

The main and secondary mirrors normally require calibration before the first use otherwise the image quality may be worse than the telescope can truly deliver. The instruction manual for some reason does not contain any information on how to do this. Luckily mine looked to be perfectly calibrated on arrival.

Sky Tour audio handset: I did not find this particularly useful. Working with a real star map and an astronomical calendar is much more educational as well as exciting and challenging for my daughter.

In summary, if you are looking for an inexpensive ultimate beginners telescope, this one should definitely be on your list.

Comments about Bushnell Voyager Sky Tour 4.5"/114mm Reflector Telescope Kit:

the setup is not very hard but the tripod isn't steady and you have to manually move the telescope for up and down. the telescope's rather very light.