Celestron AstroMaster 90AZ Telescope

Great optics but tracking difficult

I really wanted to like this telescope. I have an older 4.5 inch reflector telescope that I need to replace. It has tumbled down a mountain a few times but its still kicking. I liked the idea of a refractor because of the less maintenance. This scope did wonderfully with the optics. Jupiter was so sharp and clear. It was very small, but the aberration was practically nonexistent. The reason I did not keep this scope was because of the mount. The mount itself is very stable. The trouble i was having was with the up/down clutch. By the time I got the object in view (Jupiter) I would tighten the clutch that controls up/down motion and that would offset the object just enough to not be in view or off to the edge. Side to side motion was not a problem until I had to tighten that darn clutch for up and down. Then it would move and again the object would go out of view. My current reflector has 2 knobs I can slowly turn to go up/down and right/left. It is very fine tuned movements and one does not effect the other. I feel that this scope will require a lot of patience and a learning curve. Now that I have experienced a motion system like this, I would not recommend it. They make this scope with an equatorial mount that works much better. Although they look intimidating it is well worth learning them!

Will . Review provider: walmart.com