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ITE brand Telescopes?
JD wrote in message ...
Does anyone have any comments- good or bad regarding this company and their products (specifically their telescopes)? Thanks! They mostly sell Russian-made (INTES/INTES-MICRO) Maksutovs. I recently purchased a 5" Intes-Micro Alter M503 Mak-Cass. Very good scope. Best views of Mars of any scope I've owned. They individually test each scope (both in lab and under the stars, if possible) before shipment, and include optics certification/report for the individual unit. Weak points? Focuser not "buttery-smooth" (though adaquate and no mirror-shift). Supplied finder has almost invisible cross-hairs in daytime (and at night totally invisible). Better to get a Rigel or Telrad as a finder. The supplied (12mm) eyepiece is ok for casual viewing (and has a generous 70* afov), but an Ortho of the same fl will give a noticebly better view. The tube's primary baffles, while increasing contrast somewhat can also increase cool-down time as well. Other strong points. The scope loves high magnification (seeing permitting). Tube assembly is lighter in weight than other 5" maks, thus easier to mount (does a fine job visually on an EQ-2/CG-3 mount). Has 2" Schmidt-Cassegrain compatible visual back and diagonal allowing use of 2" eyepieces (for wide field viewing). Tube has carrying handle which helps alot in alleviating the fear of dropping it when attaching/unattaching to the mount. Price significantly higher than Chinese-made Maks (and the price was just recently increased since I bought mine). I will probably keep it until I someday get a 4" or larger APO. If I had to make the purchase again, I might've gone with a 6" Mak instead of a 5". But since I had something lightweight in mind (and a 6" would've required a more massive mount and possibly less usage), I made a good choice. ITE's service was very good and they take the time to advise and answer questions. Hope this helped. |
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