Sky-Watcher Newton Telescope 130/900, Equatorial Mount Eq2, Black

I don't know much about telescopes but bought this, as a present for xmas, for an adult-first-time-telescope-user. This gets good reviews on telescope forums. I have seen it's set-up and viewed the moon and other planets. It has clear views of the moon and other stars etc and is quite easy to set-up and get started. Sturdy and looks a lot more expensive than it is. Certainly a good adult starter scope that can be added to and have upgrades attached at later stages. Very pleased with this purchase.

Years ago I did a little astronomy and decided I would like to get back into the hobby, having looked online at a lot of reviews I decided on the Skywatcher for a starter scope.The item came very well packed with each part individually boxed inside the main carton. Assembly was straight forward if you take your time. The assembled scope is large and quite heavy so allow room to store it as it’s not the sort of thing you are going to be wanting to take out to dark sky areas with any ease.The scope comes with an EQ mount that needs to be set to your latitude and also aligned to the polar star (if you are in the northern hemisphere) however there are many videos online showing how to do this.Overall the build quality seems good for the money.In useThe scope was all ready collimated, the red dot range finder needs to be set to the eyepiece again lots of info online to do this and away you go. In my case this was two weeks later due to cloudy skies! The EQ mount takes a bit of getting used to but so far I have had no issues with it. The views attained have been very good I can make out the rings of Saturn as an example and for moon watching its great. This is early days for me using this scope but for a startup unit I am very impressed so far. As long as you plan on just watching from your garden it’s great but if you want something to carry in the car then it could be an issue

I purchased this for a family member who enjoyed using my own telescope greatly and I wanted to encourage their interest in one of my favorite hobbies. This is a great beginners telescope with enough scope (pun intended) for them to grow into it as they become more experienced. The lens' that come are perfectly adequate for staring out - we've had great high detailed explorations of the moon and lovely (albeit small) experiences ofJupiter and its moons - and these can easily be upgraded if the user develops well and wants to take things to the next level.The mount is solid with decent quality mirrors which come ready to use and overall I'd consider this to be lightweight enough to lug around if you need to. All in, I would recommend this as a reliable and affordable first step into space...

Loving it. Lots to get your teeth into. First session was spent putting it together, lining up the red dot finder scope and getting used to looking at chimney tops with low mag (it was cloudy!). Second session spent (having got a collimation eye piece) lining up the mirrors, checking out the combinations of the 10mm 25mm and 2x Barlow lenses. And then (having also bought a moon filter) putting it all to use on our moon on a clear night. Even managed to get a little snap on my mobile phone camera, although I wouldn’t recommend it: very fiddly.Next stop learning how to line up the equatorial mount properly: the moon was moving out of view so quickly it’ll be a real advantage to be able to track things with a little tweak of the DEC axis. And I also want to look for some planets. Maybe even try hooking up an DSLR....

Delivery on this product was excellent, only 24 hours from placing the order to it being delivered to my door. Packaging was very good, cardboard boxes of which there were many some of which were only for taking up space to prevent items from moving. Identifying the various parts was easy but I did have one screw missing from an attachable adjustment handle. Fortunately I had one that fitted and didn't look out of place. The instructions for assembly are pitiful. In the end I just used the pictures and ignored the written section as it was easier. Having finally got it all assembled I came to using it. Again the instructions are pitiful. There are things on the telescope and mount that are never mentioned in the instructions. You finish up with a reflector telescope that has the eye piece at one and and the tracking controls at the other, so far away that you can't look through the eye peice at the same time as you move the tracking adjustments. This is a major downside to the design. I found by reversing the top section of the mount that one of the tracking adjustments could be brought within easy reach when you are looking through the eye piece but the other has to be operated by turning the small gear wheel by hand that is supplied for an elctric drive. There is nothing in the manual about reversing these adjustments. The telescope siting scope (red spot device) could not be sufficiently adjusted to bring it in line with the telescope. I had to remove the mounting screws and try to reposition the mount to bring it close enough to use the adjustment screws. Having achieved all this the actual telescope appears to work fine. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we had not had a clear night so all objects viewed have been during daylight at a distance of about 3 miles.Finally, as you can probably tell from this review, I am new to astronomical telescopes. The instructions use terms only those familiar with astronomy would recognise. So, if you can get it assembled and set up then I think it is a pretty good telescope.

Absolutely fantastic service from Carmarthen Photo confirmation of order sent to me immediately and delivered the next day, 2 days ahead of schedule. The telescope is an upgrade from my old 76mm and wow the difference is incredible, build quality for the price is very good, lovely optics. Quality piece of equipment and I am very happy! Thank you.