Review of Svbony 48P Achromatic Refractor

[sojourneyer]

This is a new scope I received this week and here are my impressions of it.  It is a 90mm f/5.5 achromat.

BUILD QUALITY

The quality is outstanding. The OTA materials are similar to any ED scope around. It is not thin aluminium as found in Celestron or Orion 80mm scopes.

Fit and finish is 5 star.  There are no plastic parts.

FEATURES

You will not find these on many achromats under 102mm.  It has a sliding dew shield and a metal screw in dust cover.  My only complaint about the dust cover is that the threading should have been wider to prevent stripping the threads.

It has not only a dual focuser but it is a rotating focuser as well.  This is good for those wanting to use it for AP .

It has a finder shoe. Many  ED OTAs do not have finder shoes. 

There are rotating rings and a 5 inch vixen dovetail which is nice.

NEGATIVES

The thumbscrews are a tad too long for the finder shoe and focuser.  It looks like there is an egret resting on the finder shoe.

Some people have complained about problems with the focuser. It either freezes or bumps along each pinion thread when you turn the focuser.  This can be attributed to overtightening of the screws affixed to the focuser by the manufacturer.  

 

VIEWING

I have not had the opportunity to check it out given viewing conditions. This will be reported on forthcoming.

 

 

For under $250 for all of its features and build quality, this is one heckuva telescope.

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by sojourneyer

[sojourneyer]

Well the scope finally had its first light and to be perfectly honest, I was quite surprised by its optics.  Much surprised.

A little green tinge CA on the moon at 142X. Nothing at all like that I thought it would be. In fact with some eyepieces there was a very light CA on the fringe. 
Looked at Jupiter low on the horizon at 72X .. Could see three bands
Views of Pleiades were great. Almost got everything in view at 26X

I did not view beyond 142X.

Other stars were quite clear.  I think the fine focus really helped. 

The eyepieces I used were 3 Celestron X-CEL LX : 7mm, 9mm and 18mm  and an old Meade 26mm super plossl

 

[LDW1]

Even in Canada they are only $350 and everything you say is exactly my thoughts. Try it with a couple of Morpheus eps, for that price it's pretty big competition even for my NP101 but at lower powers. I wish every fellow refractor astronomer could see what the future has in store from Svbony and I am not the only one.

[bomberbaz]

I bought one months back, it has had no real light yet but a long with the others I will testify to the fantastic build, A1.