Meade Instruments 222000 60mm Adventure Scope

This is a nice little package. I have used it for casually brief observations. Due to the fact that this set-up can break down so quickly, it's an adequate set up to take camping, and on the go. One could take it with them daily for birdwatching, or for skywatching.For what it is, the tripod isn't terrible- however it isn't great: it is adequate for casual use. The mount needs some basic improvement mods out of the box. This telescope would be great on a solid mount. On the mount provided, it is merely decent- for the price.That leads me to the scope.Considering its aperture, this scope offers some impressive widefield views... Actually, it provides very impressive widefield views. As stated before, and elsewhere, this scope would be very good on a solid mount.

From what I've read this telescope is identical to the discontinued Orion ST80. There are numerous videos on the Web showing how to improve this telescope and after following the directions on one of them I'm pretty pleased with it. I purchased a 8-24 celestron zoom lens for this along with a celestron 3x barlow. This combination will give magnification from 16x to 150x. I've found that the highest magnification that I could use with this combination is around a 100x so the celestron omni 2x barlow would suffice. Also with the 3x X-cel barlow views began to dim rapidly at 66x during daylight hours. With the Agena Astro Dual ED 5mm with a 1.5x barlow at 120x I get a nice sharp view and saw the GRS on Jupiter. The supplied accessories are pretty useless in my opinion. I thought the backpack might be o.k. but it ripped pretty quickly. Still this is a good deal on this little telescope.

The scope itself blew away my expectations looking at the moon! It truly floored me with the detail this little guy could pick up. This picture above was taken with my phone, with the low magnification eyepeice it came with. We did crop the photo down. However, it was even more clear in person! I live downtown, I had a street light essentially right above me and yet I was still impressed!!The mount... Is not even slightly usable. Idk why they even bother! My picture above shows how I had to Jimmy rig this sucker with a ratchet strap and gear tie to keep it from literally popping off the mount and hitting the ground. We had 2 near disasters, but it all ended well! DO NOT try and look more than a slight slant upwards or it will disconnect!!Like other reviews. Scope is fantastic! Stand isn't worth free fitty.

This scope will turn beginners off to ever using a telescope again.The Mead scope and optics are wonderful. The finder gismo is great and better than aiming scope ever were.However, The pan head and the tripod should never be used for anything requiring a tripod.The aluminum legs are thin and wobbly. The pan head and attachment to the scope are plastic and very flexible.The whole thing trembles before you ever touch it let alone try to view through it.I bought the Mead Infinity 80 mm for $149 and it is a real astronomical telescope. Strong heavy tripod great stable pan head with slow motion controls and an additional 25mm eye piece.Spend the extra $29 and get the Infinity by Mead.

I bought this last year to see the total solar eclipse with an Orion solar filter and it worked perfectly. I used a different, taller photography tripod, though, as the original one that came with it was too short. I agree that the price and quality is very good for the optical tube itself, the accessories are a bit marginal. I keep it as a porta scope for when I travel and it is perfect for that.

As per the other reviews the tripod is cheezy. But the scope itself is SOLID and the optics are pretty darned good! I use this as a secondary saddle scope and it is surprisingly good for the price. The tube alone is well worth it. If I could change anything I would not have the Vixen rail on it and use rings. To side mount it you need to get a bit creative. But well worth the cost! I have seen 300+ dollar scopes that do not perform as well, or at as good. Why pay more for 80mm of fun that exceeds expectations?

Sorry, but this is the worst telescope we've had. The stand is complete crap and every time you try to adjust it, it falls. My hands are covered in some kind of goo they put on it and there is no way to adjust it without touching said goo. The eyepiece is a toy the moon was soo small. I'm sure with some upgrades this could be fine, but as it is out of the box, it's junk

The weak link in this package is the tripod that comes with it. Invest in a more stable mount and you'll be able to see what the Meade 80mm Adventure Scope can do. It works fine for birding or terrestrial viewing. Like dark sky objects? This is a fast little 'scope. I use it on my Nexstar Goto mount with a Revolution Imager 2 CCTV camera for video astronomy. Messier objects in heavy light pollution? No problem. It's an achromat so it will fringe on bright objects. This can be greatly reduced to an acceptable level with a yellow longpass eyepiece filter for the moon and planets. But planets are not what this scope is all about. Low power, rich field views of the Milky Way is where it shines! It's a true grab and go 'scope. Build quality is about what you'd expect for a 'scope costing 2 or 3 times more. When people see visually or on screen what this little guy can do, they just say wow! It punches way above its weight. FYI, it's an exact clone of the old Orion ST80. It's a great starter 'scope and even when you upgrade to something bigger or better, I bet you will still keep this one around. Because its so small, light and didn't cost too much, you'll be more inclined to use it. Remember the old adage, the best telescope is the one you use. The bigger or more fancy ones get left in a box in the closet because they are too much hassle to set up or you'd be afraid to put them in harms way. On the "OTA" (optical tube assembly), the only thing not made out of metal are the knobs for the focuser. It's built tough enough to get dragged around and put in to regular service. No kidding. And if it gets banged up, aw-shucks. At this price, get another one.

Un telescopio muy bueno en relación con el precio, fue regalo de navidad para mi hija de 7 años y aunque es pequeño ya pudimos observar la luna, Júpiter y sus lunas y Saturno ( con mucha paciencia) . Cómo equipo de iniciación en la astronomía cumple bastante bien.

The kit itself is akward. The tripod, bag, diagonal and eyepieces are crap, nothing more to say. BUT, the optic tube is a jewel, the focuser is full metal made, optic is really sharp. I learnt lately about this tube is the SAME as the mighty Orion ST80. and also same tube as the meade Infinity 80mm.I use it with William Optics diagonal and Celestron X-CEL LX eyepieces & adjustable 8-24mm, explore scitentific twilight nano tripod. This scope is a charm to use, I prefer it to my maksutov skymaster 102mm.Optic is sharp even a bit of color abberation, nice wide field of view, focuser is smooth. I recommand it.

Good product

Compré este telescopio para poder observar a Júpiter y Saturno, ahora que se encuentran en una muy buena posición. Es el primer telescopio que adquiero, y estoy muy satisfecho con él, pues he logrado mi objetivo de observar a ambos planetas, además de que he tenido vistas espectaculares de la luna. Lo califiqué con 4 estrellas porque el tripié llegó dañado, pero no quise pasar por el engorro de hacer el cambio, y opté por comprar un mejor tripié, que además se adecuara a mi estatura (casi 1.90m), y así es como lo he podido disfrutar. Por otra parte, otro comprador comentó que el mejor telescopio es el que se usa, y este por su facilidad de instalación me ha resultado muy bueno.

This scope has been around for decades in one form or another, some current versions are using a lot of plastic, this one is all metal save for the dust caps and focuser knobs. The red dot is fine, the eyepieces and diagonal not that great but usable,the backpack is also good , the tripod not really up to the job. lots of owners do certain upgrades, separate rings and a dovetail, better diagonal and eyepieces, even replace the focuser with a Crayford style. I had a lot of the mention ed bits in house already and with these it works well for low power night time views, not a high power scope but magnification can be pushed up if needed, be aware as a low cost achromat some chromatic fringing is always present.