Very nice portable refractor telescope - Levenhuk Strike 900 PRO Refracting Telescope

Over the years, I have observed through all sorts of telescopes from 2" refractors to large-aperture Newtonian reflectors, including some that I made myself. So, I figure it's not too bold to say I know a little bit about star-gazing. I have always heard that a modest 3" refractor is not only an optimum sized telescope for general observing of brighter astronomical targets but handy because of the portability factor. I have been looking for an 80mm to 100mm refractor with a mount and tripod that I could lift and tote by myself. After comparing notes on the internet, I decided to obtain a new Lewenhuk Strike 900 Pro refractor telescope from Optics Planet. Delivery was fast (with basic shipping) and the instrument arrived complete, intact and without any damage. I bought the telescope package that was offered since it had extra goodies like colored filters, mylar sun filter, additional eyepieces, stellar planisphere, observer's guidebook with charts (nice) and a padded carrying case. The additional accessories seemed to be worthwhile so I didn't mind the nominal extra cost.

This model has an equatorial mount and it supports the telescope tube reasonably well. It is stable and secure when the clamp and lock-knobs are tightened on the R.A. and declination axes. Although the slow motion motion controls are nice to have, the tube hits the RA knob in certain orientations; sometimes I'll just remove the knob and track the stars by turning the knurled metal wheel on RA axis rather than touching the tube itself. The tripod is sturdy, with adjustable-length, mill-finish aluminum legs, hinged such that they collapse into a compact form for transport. A metal accessory tray is included but I have never installed it since I usually keep spare eyepieces in my coat pocket. The 6x30 finder is small but decent and certainly better than those 5x24 non-achromatic versions that tend to appear on cheaper models. It has a metal bracket with an adjustable mounting ring that allowed alignment to be done fairly quickly. The focuser is a metal rack & pinion type which holds the supplied star-diagonal and eyepieces without noticable flexure. The focuser has very little play and moves smoothly throughout its range of travel; it is designed for 1.25" diameter eyepieces. Balancing the telescope tube in the ring mounts is fairly easy and the RA balance is achieved by locking the counterwight to the desired position on the metal shaft.

I leave the tube attached to the mount and tripod all the time. I can lift the entire telescope by myself and carry it outside without crashing it into the front door. Optically, the telescope performs quite well. The 3.5" diameter objective lens is aligned and collimated. The glass surface looks clean and the coatings are uniform - no scratches or defects. The image quality is very good. Jupiter's image came to a crisp focus when seen high in the sky. The image had excellent contrast and several cloud bands were seen on the planet's surface using 90X. The Galilean moons could be focused until they appear as tiny dots, almost pin-point with faint, round "Airy discs" barely visible around each moon (an indication that the lens is performing well). Since this design is not an "apochromatic" refractor, I expected to see some residual chromatic aberration (color fringing) around the perimeter of the Moon, Venus & Jupiter. It was detectable but not distracting - just a faint violet fringe was visible once the target was brought into sharp focus. The effect was less pronounced on fainter objects; practically invisible on stars fainter than 3rd magnitude. Defocused star images appeared round and undistorted, without any hint of astigmatism. I could not detect any spherical abberation either; the lens was evidently well polished. It gave a very nice, sharp and clear view of the "Trapezium" stars embedded in the Orion Nebula. The nebula itself was beautiful and I could see it extending across the 25mm eyepiece field even with the light from the cresent Moon nearby. I like the plossl eyepieces that were supplied with the scope but the barlow lens seems to be of limited quality; I doubt I would use it anyway.

I enjoy using this telescope, especially for quick observing runs - when I don't want to spend lots of time setting up the instrument. Despite the small aperture, views of some the brighter "deep-sky" astronomical objects were actually pretty good when using the 25mm eyepiece. I would recommend this telescope for adults getting started in amateur astronomy as well as for those folks who want a portable, second telescope for casual star-gazing to compliment a big, heavy reflector-type "Light-Bucket".
Pros: Sharp, contrasty image and easy to track stars with one motion
Cons: Tube hits slow motion knob in a few orientations

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.