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.