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Universal Astronomics UniStar - Heavy Basic
Brand | Universal Astronomics |
Part Number | |
Availability | available |
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Reviews
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Mar 6, 2010
Built to Last a Lifetime
Pros:Built like a tank; excellent quality; Smooth movements; Personal customer service; Very reasonable cost.
Cons:None.
Comments:This mount is made in the U.S. and can be customized to your tripod. It does not come with a tripod but I bought a "blem" oberwerk for only $85 which makes an excellent base for this mount. I put this next to my Astrotech Voyager and it makes the Voyager seem toy-like compared to the quality of the Unistar. Yet, the Unistar is the same price, minus the tripod. The Voyager tripod however, is too short for most refractors. Movements are very smooth. Although it lacks slow motion controls, the controls on the Voyager require you to reach around the scope quite often and the usefulness is lessened. This is a heavy duty mount that will hold up to 30 pounds and I suspect more than that. You can look at objects directly overhead. I purchased an eyepiece tray which holds 5, 1-1/4" eyepieces or 3 1-1/4" and 2 2" eyepieces. You just remove a ring on two of the eyepiece holes to convert to 2". Oddly, that eyepiece tray is one of the most minor purchases that has improved my viewing experience tremendously. I can't see why anyone would buy any other alt-az mount considering how inexpensive and well built this is.
Bottom Line: Would you recommend this item? YesSort by