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Bushnell Voyager 78-9970 (100 x 70mm) Telescope 
Bushnell Voyager 78-9970 (100 x 70mm) Telescope

 
Bushnell Voyager 78-9970 (100 x 70mm) Telescope

Manufacturer Part: 789970
Brand: Bushnell
Model: Voyager 78-9970
Focal Length: 800 mm
Optical Diameter: 70 mm
Max Useful Magnification: x 100
Product ID: EPID54828582
Description: Voyager® Sky Tour™ series gives amateur stargazers a pro-grade audio tour of the night sky. Its Illuminated Smart Mount points the way as the talking handset describes constellations and planets, and keeps you engaged with entertaining f...
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  Inexpensive, and built accordingly
Review created: 01/09/09
by:
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

We bought this for our young daughter, who was showing an interest in astronomy. We didn't want to buy a "toy" as we thought she'd get more from a "real" telescope, plus we could enjoy it as well. This telescope is very cheaply made, with lots of plastic parts, many of which fit loosely.

Cons:
-The tripod is very poorly made and the mount is nearly worthless. I wish they'd skipped the illuminated elevation and azimuth scales and instead worked to build a mount that had less flex and slop. As you tighten the tension screws to lock onto a target, the screws cause the mount to move, taking you off target. The entire mount is plastic and the base is very thin, so there is a lot of flex.
-The red-dot target finder is all plastic, as is it's mount. It has elevation and windage adjustment dials to allow you to sight it in to the center of your telescope view. Unfortunately, the simple act of rotating the switch to turn it on moves the entire thing on it's slip-on plastic mount that it moves out of alignment. Even trying to twist the adjustment screws moves the entire thing on its mount.
-The telescope body is held onto the tripod with two threaded studs that extend down from the main scope tube and through a mounting plate. Two wing-nuts are then tightened down on the studs. This of course transfers all of the mounting stress directly to the main tube, which is very thin. Even by applying just enough tension to mount the thing securely, I could see the main tube deflecting at the studs as I snugged the wing-nuts.
The eye-pieces are slipped into sockets that are chrome-plated plastic. I don't think they'll last long.
-There are a significant number of artifacts visible when viewing. I don't know if it's dust or debris inside the tube, defects in the lenses/mirrors, or what but it's distracting.
-There is absolutely no eye-relief when viewing. You must get your pupil within a millimeter or so of the eyepiece objective lens in order to view your target. You have to get so close in fact that several times I have bumped my pupil directly on the eyepiece! If I blink, my eyelid hits the eyepiece, and even a graze from my eyebrow will cause the aformentioned mount to wiggle so much the scope gets knocked off of target and has to be reset.

Pros:
-Inexpensive
-Yup...that's about it so far

I have not compared this one against others in it's price range. They may all be of similar build quality. I expected more from a company that has been building optical products for many years and makes some good ones.


Review ID: 10000000010176137
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