What do you think of this telescope?

On Oct 26, 10:46*pm, lal_truckee wrote:
The keyword is parabolic or paraboloid.

A company selling a paraboloid primary will say so - it's a strong
selling point. Since it costs them more to manufacture a paraboloid they
would never ignore it in the advertisement.

Examples: Look at

http://www.telescope.com/control/telescopes/reflector-telescopes/orio...

and

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=reflectors/~pca....

Both mention the optics prominently.

So even if it was a well-known brandname company, like Celestron, it
is likely spherical rather than parabolic?

Yousuf Khan

On Oct 31, 4:44*pm, YKhan wrote:
On Oct 26, 10:46*pm, lal_truckee wrote:

The keyword is parabolic or paraboloid.

A company selling a paraboloid primary will say so - it's a strong
selling point. Since it costs them more to manufacture a paraboloid they
would never ignore it in the advertisement.

Examples: Look at

http://www.telescope.com/control/telescopes/reflector-telescopes/orio....

and

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=reflectors/~pca...

Both mention the optics prominently.

So even if it was a well-known brandname company, like Celestron, it
is likely spherical rather than parabolic?

If you don't see specifics about optical quality, you are entitled to
draw your own conclusions.

However, the major, well-known brands usually have good reputations.
Their scopes are more likely to show up at star parties, where you can
see them first hand and they are sometimes the subject of unbiased
reviews. You can also contact the manufacturers via phone, email, or
talk to their dealers if you have detailed questions. With some of the
on-line sellers, all you can do is order the product, examine it for a
few weeks and pay return shipping if you don't like it.