Madhatter

Hi there blackpool-skier, welcome to SGL!

you are correct, the barlow is fairly useless..The main reason being is it is very poor quality and because its 3x magnification it will put the magnification so high that it is past the scopes capability. The moon you can push magnification further in my opinion.

The eye pieces you can use however feels best for you, start with the 20mm, and then if you want to up the magnification move up to the 10mm. the 6mm is hard to use and it may be worth trying the 3x barlow with the 20mm to give similar magnification.

Everyones eyes are different, dont be afraid to just have a play around and see whats best for you:).

Your very welcome SR71:) i never had this scope by the time jupiter was in the sky but i can confirm that this scope will show you saturns rings:).

Its cool that this very modest scope has started of quite a few members journy into the skies:)

Jessops are currently selling this scope brand new for £39.99 again it seems!.

I know a lot reccomend some cheap binoculars instead..but i just cannot agree. you wont see saturns rings and you will hardly even see crators on the moon. This scope will show you both:) the moon in particular still look amazing with this scope.

Welcome SR71 ! i am glad my review was of use to you:) have you collimated your scope? it can make a differance if its out of alignment (and it probably is if you have not done this) also its good to practice on a scope like this:)

There is just one more thing id like too add as to why this scope really isnt a bad idea-appart from the amazing views of the moon and saturn for the price.

Collimation-This is a perfect scope to practice this without worrying if something goes wrong!! i am so glad i learnt basic collimation on this scope-had i not i would have been far more worried about collimating my new skywatcher 250px..honestly if for nothing more than that its worth it solely for that reason!! as good as bins can be you just cant learn collimation of newtonian telescopes with them.

I thought it is also worth posting a picture of the moon i took through this telescope-this is simple holding a digi camera too the eyepeice, so its blurry , imagine this image in high resolution and thats what you see at the eye peice with the 20mm eye peice. all for 30 pounds.

Excellent! thanks for this, next time the moon is in the sky i shall make a start on attempting to comlete this:)

ordered a 250px, X-Cel 10mm and baader MKIII colli late wednsday evening, arrived friday morning! faultless service:)

Good choice of scope:D we debated over the 8" 10" and 12" models for quite some time, the 8" was tempting because the OTA would have imaging capabilitys in the future and would be easyer too transport, but all agreed that we may eventulaly wish we went bigger.

The 12" whilst very appealing and i already have appeture feaver telling me to get it..the problem is i have heard many times that the stepup in size from 10" to 12" is quite noticable, and one of our critera is that any of us could assemble/dismantle and use on our own when needed. we live in a town, so the extra appeture would be helpfull with light polution, but i fear the size would be just that bit too big too take out too a darker place without it becoming a problem.

the 250px seems the perfect comproimise:) and the price is right that we can buy a couple of essentials, thanks for reminding me about the red dot sight, we will certainly be using one of these, iv never got on with finderscopes.

it must be so exciting when theres a really nice clear night now you have that beast to go and have a look through! quite a step up from the tasco! bet you cant wait:D

Me, my dad and my best friend are putting in £180 each and buying the skywatcher 250px dobsonian, cheshire and a wide FOV EP.

We have all given this much thought and talked alot about it, were pretty certain its the right one for us, as it stands we all have roughtly £125 saved each so not far of now:).

I have now given this to my cousin who had an interest but has only ever viewed by the naked eye, il miss the lil jessops:( but i think he will enjoy this, iv explained its limitations and so hopefully this might spark that extra interest.

Gone but never forgoten!.

Hi Sarah, im glad too hear that you have also had some good use out of your jessops telescope:) could you comment on the durability?.

Reading reviews here has been very interesting and helpfull for me, i am a complete novice too astronomy and only just recieved my first telescope 2 days ago. Normaly id never atempt too review something i am so new too, in fact i dont think i have ever reviewed anything before!. But due too the nature of the scope i thought mabey a complete novice review of this telescope might be helpfull to other complete newbies like myself!.

The telescope in question.

Jessops Reflector Telescope TA800-80

* 800mm Focal Length

* 80mm Objective

* Electronic Red Dot Finder Scope

* 3x Barlow Lens

* 6mm, 12.5mm & 20mm Eyepieces

* Tripod

Eyepieces

20mm eyepiece = 40x magnification or 120x magnification when used in conjunction with the 3x Barlow lens.

12.5mm eyepiece = 64x magnification or 192x magnification when used in conjunction with the 3x Barlow lens

6mm eyepiece = 133x magnification or 399 magnification when used in conjunction with the 3x Barlow lens

This Telescope retailed for £100 originaly, then dropped too £50 - and as low as 39.99 clearance price. So is an extreamly cheap scope. I have seen many people advise not touching this scope or any "department" type scope with a barge pole, however i feel if you understand thier limitations and what too exspect from them they can be of use in the right circumstances!.

First impressions strait out the box-this telescope acctualy looks pretty sturdy! the tripod is aluminium and takes seconds too assemble/dismantle, very novice friendly. It took me and my girlfriend 5 mins too unpack and assemble the complete telescope having never done so before.

The instructions included were poor, they explained how too set up the telescope but didnt give any information how too use it, nor did it mention the red dot scope needs aligning!, this may not be a problem too a more exsperianced astronomer who realizes this, but too a novice its not apparent..the red dot looks central and many new people seem too pass it of as useless strait away. The first night i used the scope i too thought the red dot sight was a useless gimick and had a hard time finding anything at all without it.

The second night i realized there was a couple of screws that could be adjusted and i then realized it needs aligning, i found the easiest way was too get the moon in view and then center the red dot too its center, once this was done the red dot sight is very effective..

You can get views of saturn and its rings with this scope very easily one the red dot finderscope is aligned.

Placing the dot over saturn with the 20mm eye peice found saturn again and again, its effective..but due too lack of instructions i feel many people may dismiss it as useless.

The selection of eye peices was pretty good, the 20mm is very easy too use,the 12.5mm also very easy, the 6mm has a poor field of view but did give the largest views of saturn seeing a gap beetwen the rings and the planet, but with slightly less clarity than the 20mm, the barlow only seems any good for lunar viewing. This telescope shows some beautiful view of the moon and saturn,the moon looked much better than i exspected it to,great detail. And saturn even tho it is very small its still an amazing sight.

This scopes main weakness seems too be the mount from the tripod too scope, it dosent stay in place great and needs tightening sometimes. The tracker bar seems very poor, i do not believe you could track objects with this scope effectivly without too much wobble, but it only needs a nudge in the right direction too get what your looking for, and another nudge too refocus after object has left the field of view, it takes about 5/10 seconds for tripod wobble too subside depending on distance of object.

Another weakness is the instructions, they only really tell you how too assemble the telescope and mention nothing about aligning the red dot finder,since this is a novice scope i would have thought they would put in some very basic help on getting started.

Overall id rate this telescope as excellent value, if you only have £30 pounds too spend (can be delivered too your door from ebay for this price on average) and you would like too see some amazing views of the moon and see saturn for the first time this scope may be for you.

Some may say that you are better putting that £30 too a better telescope, and they may be right..But this telescope is certainly enough too spark interest, provided you keep it in good condition you could get most your money back on ebay. I bought this telescope too get an idea if astronomy is for me , and then bypass the £200 price range telescopes and go strait into £400/500 price range.

I hope this novice review is helpfull too others like myself who have considered this scope but been put of by warnings of how bad they are, i feel if you understand what too exspect from them they are EXCELLENT value!,But not discounting the warnings, MANY more people have been dissapointed with these scopes than happy it seems,and being a complete novice i understand that everyone knows a lot more than i do on the subject so thats certainly worth thinking about, i have thought that myself and have just wondered if im just amazed at my first proper views, but I felt i had too mention my feelings on this scope from a complete novice perspective because for the money i think it is great.