More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Images of Some Features

The scope’s heavy duty equatorial mount has an adjustable height steel tripod. Convenient battery-operated dual axis motor drives make it easy to keep the Moon and planets in the field of view for extended no-hands viewing sessions. The mount also has manual slow motion controls, should your motor’s battery die in the middle of an observing session.

The 130mm Konus Maksutov is not a scope for everyone. However, if you want to view the solar system in detail for not a lot of money, this may be just the scope for you.

This Telescope’s Optical System . . .

• Maksutov-Cassegrain Optics: 2000mm focal length 130mm aperture f/15.4 compound lens/mirror optical design.

• Multicoated optics: The Maksutov corrector lens has antireflection multicoatings on both sides of the lens for high light transmission and good contrast. The aluminized primary mirror and secondary mirror spot are overcoated with quartz for long life.

• Focuser: A knob at the rear of the optical tube moves the primary mirror back and forth internally to focus the telescope. The focuser is very precise, requiring more than twenty turns to go from its closest terrestrial focus to infinity, but only a few turns are required to move from solar system objects (such as the Moon) to objects at infinity (such as a star cluster).

• Star diagonal: A built-in flip mirror star diagonal directs the incoming light either to an eyepiece holder at the top of the scope or to the Cassegrain focus at the rear of the scope. The eyepiece holder at the top of the scope provides a 90° viewing angle for comfortable viewing when looking at the sky. It shows the mirror image astronomical view normal for a compound telescope (objects are reversed left for right).
  When the internal mirror is flipped and the light is directed to the Cassegrain focus at the rear of the scope, there are two observing possibilities. The first is to thread on the supplied 45° viewing image-erecting diagonal that shows erect right-reading images (printing reads correctly from left to right). This is useful identifying lunar craters when using a Moon chart that shows the Moon as it appears to the unaided eye or for observing objects on the ground (although the equatorial mount will make terrestrial observing less than convenient).
  The second possibility is to replace the image-erecting 45° diagonal with an optional straight-through camera adapter for lunar and planetary photography.

• Two eyepieces: You get two good quality high power 1.25” Plössl eyepieces – a 10mm (200x) and a 17mm (118x). Both four-element eyepieces have antireflection multicoatings on all lens surfaces for sharp images and very good contrast. Many optional eyepieces are available to let you extend your magnification range for both higher and lower power observing.

• Moon filter: You get a 1.25” optical glass Moon filter that threads into the base of the eyepieces. Its neutral grey color cuts the glare of the brightly lighted Moon and planets and improves the contrast. This makes it is easier for you to see faint details that might otherwise be washed out by the brightness of these solar system objects.

• Finderscope: A large and bright 10 x 50mm straight-through achromatic crosshair finderscope attaches to the side of the optical tube. Six collimating screws in the dual ring finderscope bracket allow precise alignment of the finder with the main telescope optics. The finder focuses by loosening the trim ring behind the objective lens cell, screwing the lens cell in or out to focus, and tightening the trim ring to lock in the correct focus.

This Telescope’s Mount . . .

• Heavy duty equatorial mount: The very sturdy equatorial mount has small but readable setting circles for approximately locating objects by their celestial coordinates to speed up location of deep space objects. Manual slow motion controls in both right ascension and declination are standard equipment. Integral manual clutches allow you to override the motor drives at any time to fine tune the scope’s position with the manual slow motion controls. To make polar alignment quick and easy, there’s a latitude scale and fine adjustment controls in altitude and azimuth, plus a 6 x 20mm polar finder built into the mount head. A snap-on cover keeps the polar finder free from dust when not in use.
  The mount’s two sliding 8.25 lb. counterweights are locked in place in the 0.75” diameter chromed steel counterweight shaft with a single hand-tighten knob each, making it easy to rebalance the scope if you add heavy photographic accessories. The mount is easily capable of handling the scope and any reasonable combination of photographic accessories you might want to use.

• Dovetail slide bar: An adjustable dovetail slide bar allows the optical tube to be quickly and precisely balanced fore and aft on the mount, eliminating the need for an extra counterweight to balance a camera or other accessories. Setup and takedown times are exceptionally fast, as a single large hand-tighten knob holds the optical tube in place. A second lock knob prevents the tube from sliding off the mount should the hand-tighten knob loosen.

• Motor drives: The built-in dual axis right ascension and declination motor drives are powered by six AA batteries (supplied) that fit into the drive corrector hand control. Covers keep the drive motors free from dust and debris. The hand control has four pushbuttons for drive correction. Indicator lights show which motor drive(s) are operating at all times. A plastic bracket clips on any of the tripod legs to hold the hand control when it is not being used for drive correction purposes.

• Tripod: The tripod has 2” diameter steel legs, for strength and excellent vibration damping characteristics. The tripod easily adjusts from 2.4’ tall to 4’ to accommodate a variety of observer heights. It includes an accessory tray to keep your eyepieces and accessories up out of the dew-soaked grass. The leg height locking knobs are thoughtfully mounted on the inside of the tripod legs to keep from snagging on the observer’s clothing in the dark.