Celestron 21035-ADS Travel Scope 70 Refractor Telescope Kit with Backpack, Black (Amazon Exclusive Including Additional 4mm Eyepiece and 3x Barlow Lens)

My husband is a busy man. He works very hard all day and sometimes into the evening and often does not return home until late into the night, by which time I will already have retired to my bed. Thank heavens for a soft tread and twin beds! Rarely does the poor fellow disturb my slumber. The last thing this stalwart and breadwinner needs on his weekend jaunts up a steep mountain to view some picturesque landscape is to lug a hefty telescope in his knapsack. It is for this reason that he has purchased the Celestron 21035-ADS Travelscope 70 Telescope kit, complete with handy tripod, so as not to cause excessive strain to my frail back as I carry it in his wake. The Celestron 21035-ADS Travelscope 70 Telescope kit, complete with handy tripod, in my own knapsack, allows the man to freely stride at quite a pace as he enjoys his regular hobby. This smashing piece of technology, once I have easily assembled it and affixed it onto its tripod while my husband is refreshed from the Thermos, allows for some frankly breathtaking viewing of both land and sky (and, indeed, seascapes!). By day, mountains are crystal clear and distant goats are virtually at heel. At night, one can well understand why so many believe the moon is made of cheese! Through the fabulous - rather, miraculous - Celestron 21035-ADS Travelscope 70 Telescope kit, complete with handy tripod, the mysterious, beautiful celestial body indeed resembles my home-made Cheddar (churned and strained in my own scullery)! Planets can also be viewed in all their glory, although I would advise any potential purchaser NOT to gaze at the sun through its sharp and fairly powerful lens. On one particularly unsatisfactory trip, a quick and ill-advised glimpse at the sun through the telescope proved disastrous and I was left to stumble blindly back down the slopes with the Telescope and accessories far from safe on my back in its knapsack, so close to a stumble as I was. In fact, when I met my husband two hours after he had arrived at the carpark, still blinded (it was later proven that I had irreversibly burned my retina), he was quite annoyed indeed, as my delayed arrival meant he was late for his important meeting at the local gentlemen's club. Poor man! However, in a nutshell, the Celestron 21035-ADS Travelscope 70 Telescope kit, complete with handy tripod, is a 'star' buy.

After my 7 year old pointed at telescopes in a local toy shop, we looked at Amazon reviews to see a mass of disappointment. This little 'grown up' scope is a compact and easy to use outfit that has enough flexibility to be super simple, or more challenging depending on the magnification you use, First thing to impress is the inclusion of a tripod which I'll mention in a moment. The refractor is 70mm wide, very close to the 76mm Firstscope (meaning 15% less area if you take into account the obstructive mirror on the Firstscope). The focus is damped well, and the images are nice and clear (even better when not looking through patio doors!). My 7 year old got to grips with this within minutes, and we were looking at Jupiter and four moons on our first, and light polluted, night. Treat the bag and tripod as freebies. It's tricky to criticise something when priced at £44-62, and also comes with several eyepieces and is well built. The All plastic casing gives the telescope lightness for handling, but I'm wondering whether it's the lightness that is causing the wobbly image as there is little weight bearing down on the tripod legs. the tripod also has a spirit level, and all legs are lockable. Considering the price of the scope, I'm guessing the support is probably about £10 of the price, so what would you expect. Since the tripod is so light, I don't recommend full extension, BUT most fun can be had with the lowest magnification and the tripod to be honest. Distant stars at full magnification can be very wobbly, and the Barlow lens is yet to be tested. I have SLR and camcorders which I use with a Manfrotto monopod, believe me, at just 18-70mm focal lengths WITH built-in vibration reduction, SLR and camcorder images of my kids nativity play and dance recitals can still be shaky without practice. At the magnifications you're getting with this Celestron scope, without VR and on a free tripod, it's performance is outstanding. I also shortlisted the Celestron Firstscope and other equivalent mirror lenses at the same price, and the lack of image inversion and ease of use made this the winner. If you want a scope that a 7 year old can aim, find, and observe in seconds, this is it!. One criticism? there has to be, the scope looks rather agricultural. I prefer the cool look of astronomical scopes, but this all black Darth Vader look will suit many tastes.

You wouldn't imagine a scope so cheap could be worth it, but this scope isn't only good, it's damned good, and seems very well built. Firstly, it is so light that fully packed in its strong rucksac I can hold up the whole caboodle with only my little finger. The supplied lenses are also excellent and give a nice sharp view of the Orion Nebula, I can also see some of Jupiter's moons. As for our moon I can zoom in to clearly view individual craters, though the supplied Barlow lens is dreadful, and so well worth buying a better one. I also take the scope out on my mobility scooter for very clear views of boats far out at sea, it's also great for bird watching as the field of view is wider than expected. Another great feature is the free astronomy software. I'm just an occasional amateur but the program is so easy to use and prints out a very nice, and yet fully customizable localized star map for any date of the year. I also highly recommend searching for the free download intro version of Stellarium. I knocked off one star because others are right, the supplied tripod is rather unsteady, I experience much better use of the scope with a proper camera tripod.

Nice item, my son likes it but does need help with it.

Amazing product! Delivered exactly as scheduled (in the middle of August, that's impressive) thanks to Amazon UK, the telescope body has good finish, is very light and still rather sturdy and compact, which really can make the difference when you travel along with your backpack. The tripod is not five star but that's reasonable considering the price... and still works well with not very high magnification. Anyway, if you want something more stable you can use a good standard camera tripod with mounting screw. Vision is clear and the image is very light, due to the 70mm diameter. Unfortunately, there's no Lunar filter in the package, so I recommend to add one to your cart before submitting the order, it will really help.Coming with 3 eyepieces (20mm, 10mm and 4mm for a 20x, 40x and 100x magnification) each in its own plastic enclosure. Considering its price, this telescope is perfect for beginners, I really recommend it. Now that I discovered I can buy at Amazon.UK, I will no more waste so much time looking in shopping centers (when such items are almost rare to find at the same price or even at all!)

I bought this telescope in 2015 when it cost £39.00 for the "Amazon exclusive" version, I'm writing this review in 2020 when it costs £79.99 or £89.99 "Amazon exclusive". The difference is that you get an additional 4mm eyepiece and a 3x barlow, in my opinion they are not worth paying extra for, being of such poor quality as to be pretty much useless. [11/2022 Edit: at £80 in the Black Friday Sale and given how much prices have risen since 2020 this bundle is a better buy] I bought this telescope to replace a better one that had been damaged. I had been quite enthusiastic about astronomy in the past, but my interest had waned somewhat, so I just wanted a simple affordable telescope, that I could use occasionally with my existing accessories. The best part of this kit is the OTA (optical tube assembly: the actual telescope itself). There is a bit too much plastic for my liking, but it does the job when used with a solid mount and a decent eyepiece. I would describe the optical quality as reasonable for a budget scope, not great, not awful. The 45 degree diagonal is also of reasonably good quality, and is great if you want to use this as a spotting scope. I prefer a 90 degree diagonal for astronomy. The bag this comes in is also decent, made of a cordura type material and lightly padded. Now for the not so good, the eyepieces let the scope down, the 20mm is better than the 10mm, neither are good. The tripod is not bad in and of itself, it is a perfectly reasonable, cheap, lightweight tripod, that works well with small and light cameras. The problem is that it is hopelessly mismatched with this telescope, which needs something a good deal sturdier, putting the two together is absurd. The worst part of this kit is the finderscope, it is cheap, nasty, and mine went in the bin. So would I recommend this kit? Not at £80-90, at a discount though it might be worth it. The thing to bear in mind is that to get the best from this telescope you will need to replace much of the kit with better items. That wasn't a problem for me as I've used this with a red dot finder, proper astronomy mounts, and a range of eyepieces I already had. So if you are an astronomer looking for a "grab and go" scope or just a budget short tube refractor then, at the right price, this might fit the bill. For beginners though you should be aware that you will need, at a minimum, a better mount and a decent eyepiece, and ideally a better finder too. A sturdy photographic tripod should suffice for mounting, but few non-astronomers are likely to have eyepieces and finders just knocking around. This means that to get the best from this telescope you will end up having to spend more money, and that in turn means that it may be worth considering kits that cost a bit more but include everything you need. As an example the Skywatcher Startravel 80 Telescope with Stable AZ3 Stand and Accessories is a slightly better telescope and includes 2 plossl eyepieces, a red dot finder, and a proper astronomy tripod and mount for an extra £80-90[11/2022 Edit: The price difference has increased], which you could easily spend on buying all that separately. Also consider the Skywatcher Heritage 100P very different as a reflector on a Dobsonian type mount, but only £10-20 more, and often recommended for beginners. I have never installed the astronomy software included with this scope as I am happy using the, free and open source, Stellarium. As a spotting scope this does the job, again with a better eypiece and tripod, but my Kowa is smaller lighter and sharper (and cost 3x as much).

Love it! Best Christmas present I got myself!!! Good for a beginner like me !!!

I bought this to find out if I'd maintain an interest in stargazing without wasting loads of money if the novelty wore off and to explore what I might really need. For serious stargazing you need something a lot better than this. As others have said, the tripod is a bit of a joke. Even using a more substantial tripod it's difficult to maintain stability at higher magnification. The specification that comes with the scope says that the maximum effective magnification is 168 times but focusing is difficult at 100 times due to instability and lack of a fine adjuster as well as the lack of clarity. Viewing planets is a waste of time but viewing the moon is great but best viewed at 20 or 40 times magnification. In fairness to the manufacturers, their manual states that it is a terrestrial telescope and very occasional astronomical telescope. Daytime viewing is crystal clear and best enjoyed using 20 or 40 times magnification. The barlow lens is a waste in my view, only succeeding in making everything less clear as well as upside down and back to front.

Goede telescoop voor dit bedrag. Jammer dat de finderscope vrijwel nutteloos is.

Teşekkürler

Pour un premier télescope amateur pour ma fille de 10 ans (et pour moi du coup), c'est pas mal pour le prix. Evidemment ce n'est que du plastique, donc pas très rigide et du coup c'est très compliqué à régler car dès qu'on l'effleure il bouge, il gagnerait à avoir un trépied de meilleure qualité, là il est très cheap et on a peur de le casser (je verrai çà plus tard, mais ce serait intéressant de savoir si çà l'améliore). Vu la difficulté à le régler, surtout avec un fort grossissement, il faut absolument aider l'enfant pour le réglage, sans quoi il se décourage. C'est très bien pour regarder la lune par exemple, on voit bien sa surface, et elle est assez grosse pour réussir à faire la mise au point. En revanche pointer une planète ou une étoile est trop compliqué, çà bouge de trop, dès qu'on le touche on le dérègle, et on fini par perdre patience. On a testé une seule fois a recherche d'animaux sauvage en lisière de forêt, mais là encore, difficile car il faudrait pouvoir scruter sans tout dérégler, et c'est compliqué. J'avais hésité avec un modèle avec support de téléphone, je trouvais à un peu gadget à 10 ans, mais finalement je regrette, car la lune c'est vraiment superbe à prendre en photo. Le petit plus, c'est vraiment le sac de transport. On pourrait croire que c'est gadget, mais ma fille le range bien dedans, et le sac à dos, nous permet de faire des sorties en vélo avec pour s'installer où on veut, même en forêt. Il y a aussi un lien vers l'appli de la marque, pour repérer planètes, comètes, constellations etc dans le ciel, c'est très sympa car on peut décider avant de sortir ce qu'on va chercher dans le ciel (on utilise ce téléscope dans notre cour ou en rase campagne dans un champ en hauteur). Ce n'est pas une carte figée, mais du temps réel avec boussole, on peut voir uniquement ce qui est visible à l'heure qu'il est, on peut faire une recherche par nom etc ... Pour moins de 10 ans, çà me semble trop juste.

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EDITO DESPUÉS DE UN MES: Bueno, pues después de darle un poco más de caña voy a subirle a 5 estrellas y os explico por qué (la reseña original está abajo y sigue vigente). Después de comprarle un trípode Victic de 185cm. (35€), cambiar la angular de 45º por una de 90º y usar unos oculares Kellner que tenía por casa, estoy disfrutando del telescopio como un enano. El telescopio es súper luminoso y ya solo el cambio de la mira angular a 90º ha mejorado una barbaridad. Los oculares Kellner que le he puesto mejoran un poquito (son muy normaluchos) pero es que la óptica de este pequeño telescopio me sorprende por lo claro que se ve hasta con contaminación lumínica y cielos mediocres. Hablo siempre de luna y planetaria, ojo, estoy esperando recibir un ploss de 32mm. para ver si se le puede sacar algo a cielo profundo. Y todo esto se combina con su pequeño tamaño y su preparación en unos pocos minutos. En sacarlo de la mochila, plantar el trípode, poner el ocular y mirar se tarda taaan poco que lo hace muy disfrutable incluso desde cualquier ventana o balcón. En conclusión SI NUNCA HAS TENIDO UN TELESCOPIO os lo aconsejo totalmente. Este aúna buena óptica, pequeño tamaño y facilidad de montaje. Con lo que viene se puede funcionar fantásticamente para Luna y en cuanto le pilléis el tranquillo al trípode, podréis ver perfectamente a Júpiter y Saturno aunque estos últimos mejorarán en cambiar de trípode. La mira angular de 45º también deberéis cambiarla en poder porque lo hace más luminoso todavía. Para finalizar, añado un par de fotos de la Luna con el telescopio y el ocular de 20mm. La primera directa, sin tratar y la segunda obtenido por apilamiento de imágenes tras grabarla unos segundos con el móvil -------------------------------- RESEÑA ORIGINAL: Empezaré comentando que es mi segundo telescopio tras un fantástico Skywatcher Evostar 90/900 con montura AZ3. En una reciente oferta de Amazon, compré este Celestron Travelscope 70 a un precio de 69€. Quería algo pequeño para llevarme a mis viajes y acampadas ya que el Skywatcher es demasiado grande y, aunque me da menos follón que mis hijas, tampoco es cuestión de hacer ese cambio :P Os voy a dar mis primeras impresiones. Empiezo con lo bueno. Al abrirlo me ha sorprendido lo ligero que es. Todo el contenido va dentro de una mochila de unos 40-45 cm. de alto. Además del buscador y el trípode, viene un codo de 45º, tres oculares (20, 10 y 4 mm.) y una Barlow x3. Anoche con buena visibildad o 'seeing', pude probarlo durante un rato para observación de Luna y planetaria. Con los oculares de 20 (20 aumentos) y de 10 mm. (40 aumentos) se veía perfectamente los cráteres de la periferia y el astro lunar claro y nítido. Por desgracia estamos en luna llena y no llevaba ningún filtro lunar, algo que probaré estos días. Para resolverlo,, la tapa delantera tiene una abertura más pequeña que le quita mucha de la luz reflejada así que pude observarla durante un rato razonablemente bien. Con 4mm. (100 aumentos) y con la Barlow x3 acopladas a las otras lentes no conseguí ver nada, por falta de enfoque o por demasiados aumentos. Tampoco insistí mucho, mi objetivo era dar una prueba rápida a los componentes y ya volveré a probarlo con más detenimiento y también de día. Aprovechando que tenía cerca a Saturno, lo enfoqué con las tres lentes. En todos los casos la observación fue muy bien. Se distinguía claramente y perfectamente enfocado el planeta y su anillo. Por desgracia el brillo no me permitió apreciar detalles en el planeta, a ver si a la próxima con filtro consigo algo más. La barlow x3 no la probé en este caso. Objetos de cielo profundo no he probado a observar todavía. Y ahora, lo no tan bueno: El trípode sin duda se lleva la palma. A ver, no es un drama. Para observación lunar con la lente de 20 o incluso 10 mm., se puede manejar con cuidado para centrar y disfrutar nuestro satélite, pero poco más. Para planetaria, elementos más pequeños o que requieran de mayores aumentos, nos complica mucho la vida. El telescopio queda bien fijado, pero el trípode es poco estable en cuanto a vibraciones y con solo tocar el ojo con la lente ya se produce una vibración bastante molesta. Eso hace que tanto centrar como enfocar elementos en los que necesitas cierta precisión, sea complicado. Tampoco ayuda que su altura sea de 120-130 cm., lo que hace que tengamos que estar continuamente agachados o inclinados, con el consecuente malestar en la espalda tras un corto rato. El buscador incorporado hace su función, sin más. Al final también queda limitado por el movimiento del trípode. Por otro lado, se agradece la incorporación del codo de 45% que corrige la inversión de la imagen, aunque no resulta cómodo del todo por la medida del trípode. Las lentes están bien para empezar, con el tiempo seguro que os pica el gusanillo. Se puede mejorar, por ejemplo, cambiando el codo a uno de 90º más luminoso, metiéndole un ocular ultra gran angular 6mm. 66º, otro de 32mm. o incluso cambiando el de 20mm. por otro mejor, pero bueno, eso ya son caprichos que cuestan dinero y hay que valorar si invertir en este o tirar por otro telescopio. CONCLUSIÓN. Lo primero es recordar el precio que me ha costado: 69€. ¿Por qué? Pues porque a ese precio me parece un muy buen telescopio para empezar si no has tenido nunca otro. Trae todo lo necesario para abrir, montar en 5 minutos y disfrutar donde queráis por su portabilidad (se me ha olvidado comentaros que también viene una licencia de un programa de astronomía para PC) y el tubo trae una buena óptica. Esta versión de Amazon trae bastantes lentes y mochila y, aunque ya sé que estas "chuches" suelen ser de mala calidad y excusas para subir precios, como he dicho, la óptica del telescopio es bastante buena. Lo malo es que en cuanto hagáis unas cuantas salidas vais a notar la necesidad de mejorar el trípode (con unos Joilcan o Victiv de 180 cm. por unos 35€ ya ganáis una barbaridad). Y ahí viene mi conclusión: si lo pilláis de oferta es buen cacharro para empezar siempre y cuando tengáis en mente más temprano que tarde comprarle un trípode mejor. A su precio "normal" de 120-130 euros iguales renta buscar otras opciones mejores con un trípode si puede ser con mandos de movimiento lento. No creo que exista mejor que este en relación calidad/precio/portabilidad, pero ya en precios de cerca de 150 euros puedes encontrar mejores alternativas de calidad. (buscad por ahí que hay buenos foros con guías de compras). Y si tras un tiempo de uso os pica el gusanillo de entrar en este apasionante mundo y os animáis a comprar algo mejor, seguro que a este le vais a seguir dándole uso para darle batalla con niños y llevarlo de viaje. Bueno, pues eso es todo. Espero que os haya sido de utilidad mis impresiones. Un saludote. PD. Aunque no hacen justicia porque están tomadas "malamente" con el móvil a pulso delante del ocular, os dejo un par de fotos de la luna con los oculares de 20 y de 10.