Meade Instruments 222001 80mm Adventure Scope with Accessories, Tripod and Backpack, Tan/Black

This is a nice little package. I have used it for casually brief observations. Due to the fact that this set-up can break down so quickly, it's an adequate set up to take camping, and on the go. One could take it with them daily for birdwatching, or for skywatching.For what it is, the tripod isn't terrible- however it isn't great: it is adequate for casual use. The mount needs some basic improvement mods out of the box. This telescope would be great on a solid mount. On the mount provided, it is merely decent- for the price.That leads me to the scope.Considering its aperture, this scope offers some impressive widefield views... Actually, it provides very impressive widefield views. As stated before, and elsewhere, this scope would be very good on a solid mount.

From what I've read this telescope is identical to the discontinued Orion ST80. There are numerous videos on the Web showing how to improve this telescope and after following the directions on one of them I'm pretty pleased with it. I purchased a 8-24 celestron zoom lens for this along with a celestron 3x barlow. This combination will give magnification from 16x to 150x. I've found that the highest magnification that I could use with this combination is around a 100x so the celestron omni 2x barlow would suffice. Also with the 3x X-cel barlow views began to dim rapidly at 66x during daylight hours. With the Agena Astro Dual ED 5mm with a 1.5x barlow at 120x I get a nice sharp view and saw the GRS on Jupiter. The supplied accessories are pretty useless in my opinion. I thought the backpack might be o.k. but it ripped pretty quickly. Still this is a good deal on this little telescope.

The scope itself blew away my expectations looking at the moon! It truly floored me with the detail this little guy could pick up. This picture above was taken with my phone, with the low magnification eyepeice it came with. We did crop the photo down. However, it was even more clear in person! I live downtown, I had a street light essentially right above me and yet I was still impressed!!The mount... Is not even slightly usable. Idk why they even bother! My picture above shows how I had to Jimmy rig this sucker with a ratchet strap and gear tie to keep it from literally popping off the mount and hitting the ground. We had 2 near disasters, but it all ended well! DO NOT try and look more than a slight slant upwards or it will disconnect!!Like other reviews. Scope is fantastic! Stand isn't worth free fitty.

This scope will turn beginners off to ever using a telescope again.The Mead scope and optics are wonderful. The finder gismo is great and better than aiming scope ever were.However, The pan head and the tripod should never be used for anything requiring a tripod.The aluminum legs are thin and wobbly. The pan head and attachment to the scope are plastic and very flexible.The whole thing trembles before you ever touch it let alone try to view through it.I bought the Mead Infinity 80 mm for $149 and it is a real astronomical telescope. Strong heavy tripod great stable pan head with slow motion controls and an additional 25mm eye piece.Spend the extra $29 and get the Infinity by Mead.

I bought this last year to see the total solar eclipse with an Orion solar filter and it worked perfectly. I used a different, taller photography tripod, though, as the original one that came with it was too short. I agree that the price and quality is very good for the optical tube itself, the accessories are a bit marginal. I keep it as a porta scope for when I travel and it is perfect for that.

As per the other reviews the tripod is cheezy. But the scope itself is SOLID and the optics are pretty darned good! I use this as a secondary saddle scope and it is surprisingly good for the price. The tube alone is well worth it. If I could change anything I would not have the Vixen rail on it and use rings. To side mount it you need to get a bit creative. But well worth the cost! I have seen 300+ dollar scopes that do not perform as well, or at as good. Why pay more for 80mm of fun that exceeds expectations?

Sorry, but this is the worst telescope we've had. The stand is complete crap and every time you try to adjust it, it falls. My hands are covered in some kind of goo they put on it and there is no way to adjust it without touching said goo. The eyepiece is a toy the moon was soo small. I'm sure with some upgrades this could be fine, but as it is out of the box, it's junk