Meade Instruments 20099 StarNavigator 102-Millimeter Refractor Telescope, AutoStar (Black)

Having owned telescopes for over 30 years and even having been a member of an Astrophysics club (back in the dark ages) and a photographer for over 32 years - I have some experience with telescopes and optics. For its price this is an exceptional telescope (optically that is but more on this later).For some that say buy a reflector (they have "more magnification at about the same cost) - that may be a good choice for some but one must understand that magnification can be inversely correlated with image quality. For example I had my children out this past weekend looking at Jupiter through this telescope and we were easily able to see Jupiter's 2 largest moons Io and Europa with a 9mm eyepiece. Changing to the 25mm eyepiece only made for a blurry picture of Jupiter (although Jupiter "looked" larger).So back to the review of this scope. This refractor catches a great deal of light versus a mirror - yielding a brighter image (not necessarily a great thing when viewing the "bright" moon) but a great thing when looking at planets.Also, for anyone who wants to hook their DSLR to a telescope, a refractor is the way to go. Connecting to a reflector opens a whole new can of worms both in complexity and in cost. This scope allows it to be done with a fairly inexpensive "T" mount converter (total cost less than $40).So, now the question is: Why only 4 stars? Honestly, calibrating the Autostar feature is cumbersome and the scope EATS batteries at a rate almost unheard of (an AC adapter is available - estimated shipping schedule is 1-4 MONTHS).So the bottom line is do a small amount of research. Decide what you want to do with your scope and then consider this as a fairly economical scope for use seeing things in our solar system/galaxy because if you are looking for NASA like images of the universe - no $200-$250 scope is going to do that for you.Enjoy the night sky!!

Great scope,my son and I observed the moon and Jupiter on the first setup.Make sure you get a moonlight filter, and a mid-range priced 2X Barlow lens to make this a fully functional yet economical telescope.The auto aim function works quite well and isn't to hard to learn to set up.After mastering the scope's orientation, you'll be setup in less then 5 minutes anywhere you go...Also a big plus, with only a little fabrication, you can re-use the tripod/autoaim system later If you buy a larger scope tube assembly .All in all a very good starter scope.The optics are bright and flawless for a standard refractor.No blurring or warping apparent in any viewing ive done.There is some serious color fringing around the edges of views, but that's to be expected of all lower end scopes like this one...After all this isn't a $1600 Apochromatic refractor, so that's not a con, just reminding you of the basic limitations on this type of scope.If you need perfect images and excellent color, then go for a Meade series 6000 ED APO refractor instead.

I purchased this telescope last August of 2013 & when it arrived, I began assembling using the included instructions.As I picked up the tube to attach it to the fork, the lens rolled out of the end across my floor!It seems that wherever it was assembled, the epoxy used to seal the ring holding that lens had never been pressed & sealed tightly!I then contacted the seller store I purchased from & we agreed that they would send me a replacement tube assembly.I then used this telescope the next evening and the computer system locked up when I was supposed to slew to the object to center for alignment!I called Meade customer service & was rudely told there was nothing they could do for me.I called the seller, High Point Scientific, and was promised a return slip that never arrived.I contacted Amazon & the refund was in my account before I even shipped it back!I have to note that High Point Scientific worked hard with both myself & Meade to help me in this issue.I still purchase often from HPS, their prices are great and their products very high quality.I purchased a Celestron NexStar 127mm SLT GoTo & have been quite pleased with it.I've heard through many reliable sources that they don't care to stock that many Meade telescopes, if any at all.I'm very disappointed with Meade & hope they change their customer service policies, their reps are so negative!

When I received the scope with a talking box, my dogs thought there was a man inside. Since then I have had a few good nites for viewing and the scope works beautifuly. I would say it is worth the money and probably more. I viewed 10 deep sky objects on the 2nd nite I used it. I saw 3 nebulae, 4 star clusters, and 3 galaxies, the last being M82. After viewing it with the 25mm eyepiece, I tried the 9mm and saw an oblect about the size of a nickel and the scope froze the picture for me. I have ordered an adapter for my camera to fit into the 1 1/4 eyepiece and expect good 35mm film pictures soon. I have talked to at least 3 people intrested in this item for their family, and I expect that Amazon will be getting sales in my zipcode soon.

Pros:1. Good Optics2. Refractor Tube has good quality and make3. Easy assemblyCons:1. Drains battery fast!2. Goto not accurate despite alignment3. Shaky foundationI bought this and brought it to the philippines. It was really nice at start, but the battery drain made me use the #546 adapter. But after long slew, it hanged, it wont turn left anymore, any attempts results in freezing and reboot, but other directions were alright. Tried contacting Meade, but no response, I guess all the comments that their customer support is pathetic were true. Using this for less than a month. It gonna be hard for me to send this back to amazon :(

Very difficult to aline. I end up just manually adjusting scope. I should have saved my money and bought the non go-to model. I have spent close to 6 hours and 3 sets of batteries trying to set this thing up with no avail...