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Telescope
Meade Instruments StarPro 102
Cost: £174.89 / $239
From: B&H
The StarPro 102 is a classic telescope that’s both simple to use and assemble. If you know someone who is happy to spend hours under the night sky, learning their way around without the aid of technology, then we fully recommend this well-built instrument.
This refractor makes use of an alt-azimuth mount as well as slow-motion cables for fine movements that allow the observer to accurately lock onto a target. Some mounts cause telescopes to jump from one positioning extreme to another, but we were pleased to discover that we could make incremental adjustments to the tube’s orientation with ease.
It’s supplied with a tripod, three eyepieces with focal lengths of 26mm, 9mm and 6.3mm – offering magnifications of 25x, 73x and 105x – plus a Barlow lens that can double the ‘power’ of an eyepiece. If you will be looking to share images of astronomical finds with friends or may want to try out basic astrophotography, a smartphone adapter is included.