Meade NG60 60mm Refractor Telescope

This scope is not a good starter scope for anyone interested in astronomy. Here's why: <br /> <br />1. The objective is too small, only 60 mm, 2.36 inches, so it is too small to bring in the light necessary for even a beginning look at the universe. I suppose it is adequate for the moon, but that is it. The planets will appear as very small disks. One will be able to see Saturn's rings, but the image will be very small. Forget it for deep sky objects, clusters, galaxies, etc. <br /> <br />2. The mount is an altazimuth, which will not follow the celestial object in the sky. The earth is rotating, and anyone focusing on a star or moon will quickly find the object drifting out of the field of vision. A better mount is an equatorial mount which makes it much easier to track objects. <br /> <br />3. The 4mm eyepiece is too powerful for this scope. The observer will find it hard to look through (very small eye opening), and will in most cases cause blurred images. The 20 mm eyepiece is the only functional eyepiece. The barlow is a 3x, which again is too poweerful for this scope. <br /> <br />4. The mount will vibrate when touched, which will cause the image in the eyepiece to "shiver", which is very frustrating. <br /> <br />Even for the low price, don't be enticed by this scope; it has too many flaws. Save your money for a larger scope with a better mount. <br /> <br />Jim "Konedog" Koenig, astronomy buff

Reader Reviews
This is not the best way to get started in astronomy. To their credit, the marketers have avoided the exaggerated magnification claims that go with so many low-end scopes. Still, it is a low-end scope; for star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae, 10x50 binoculars will show you as much and be far easier to use.

The low power eyepiece is fairly useful, the higher power less so, and don't even think of using the barlow. The maximum useful magnification for a 60mm scope is about 120-140x, assuming the objective lens is of good quality. When you use the barlow, you exceed that limit and the increased image size is more than offset by breakdown.

The finder is useless, smaller than the bare minimum size of 6x30. Finding anything but the moon will be time consuming and frustrating.

Due to the small aperture (diameter of main lens), what you can expect to see in this scope is rather limited. Some star clusters will be dimly visible, but galaxies and nebulae will be barely--if at all--visible.

In a way, it is hard to fault Meade for making and marketing this scope. Their upper-tier instruments are quite good, but the big money appears to be made on mass market toys like this. In one sense the sale of these scopes subsidizes their good models. Just make sure, gentle reader, to stay away from the toys.

Using an astronomical telescope is not like playing an MP3 file and but rather like playing a guitar. It is a learned skill. And you must do a lot of homework before you buy a telescope. Buying without prior experience is like buying a car without knowing anything about driving. If you want to see the wonders of the sky, contact your local astronomy club and attend one of their star parties. The members love sharing their hobby and can set you straight as to how to get started. The best way is to learn the sky with the unaided eye and 10x50 binoculars (decent ones are available on Amazon), then graduate to something along the lines of a 150-200mm (6-8") Dobsonian, which can be found on Amazon starting under $290.

For more information on buying telescopes, see my encyclopedic guide on Amazon: "So you want to buy a telescope."