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Attaching the Guide Scope :
The 50mm Multi-Use Guide Scope’s mounting bracket has a Vixenstyle dovetail bar that can be mounted to your telescope in different ways. First, it fits the standard dovetail finder scope base included on many telescopes. Simply slide it into the dovetail base, then tighten the thumbscrew on the base to secure the guide scope in place.
The bracket’s dovetail bar has one ¼"-20 (center) for attachment to an optional universal dovetail plate. In the guidescope is mounted on a telescope.
Another method of attachment :
Another method of attachment is to bolt the guide scope bracket to an optional universal dovetail plate, which you mount on top of your telescope. The mounting bar has three threaded through-holes: the center hole has ¼"-20 threads. To attach the guide scope bracket to a universal dovetail plate, one way would be to insert a ¼"-20 socket head capscrew of proper length up through the dovetail plate and into the center hole of the bracket’s dovetail bar. Tighten the bolt firmly with an Allen wrench. Then install the universal plate onto your telescope’s tube rings or radius blocks.
Aiming the 50mm Guide Scope :
The 50mm Multi-Use Guide Scope is mounted in a dual-ring aluminum bracket that has six nylon-tipped thumbscrews to secure the guide scope in place. Although you may never need to do it in order to find a guide star, you can adjust the direction the guide scope is pointed within the bracket by alternately loosening and tightening the three thumbscrews on the front or back ring (usually you won’t need to make adjustments on both rings). Just make sure that all six thumbscrews are tightened before you begin guiding. Do not over-tighten them, however, or you could strip the screw threads!
antimatter
2025-08-30 17:07:38
This is a wonderful device and would be so at double the price. Build quality is outstanding. The focuser employs both a drawtube and helical unit, for coarse and fine focus respectively. Both have fine gradations so focus can be dialed in directly. The construction is metal throughout, and the aluminum adjuster screws have nylon tips that will not mar the satin black finish of the tube. Coatings on the cemented 60mm achromat are a deep green and very uniform. One assumes this is basically a binocular objective so it remains to be seen how well it will perform at high power visually, but of course as an auto-guider or finder such considerations are irrelevant. One complaint, the drawtube inner surface is quite shiny and required flocking. The unit can be used with a prism diagonal if one inserts a Barlow between it and the diagonal. This allows the scope to function as a high-power visual right-angle guide scope. Note however that the unit will not focus at infinity with any diagonal unless a Barlow is inserted before the diagonal. When I insert a Meade 2x Barlow and prism diagonal + 40mm Plossl eyepiece, I measure a 4mm exit pupil, giving an effective f/ratio of 10 and effective focal length of 600mm, which is right in line with a typical 60mm x 700mm traditional guide scope. One can substitute a roof prism diagonal for a naturally oriented image. Used this way the scope becomes a passable spotting scope. The one obvious improvement to the scope would be to make the tube from two pieces, one of which could be removed to allow focus with a diagonal without inserting a Barlow. This is a minor point in my opinion, one has a finder after all for low power views - this is a versatile, well-made device and I highly recommend it.
Linwood
2025-08-18 10:35:48
I am quite surprised actually. I bought this because vendors of named brands were all out and I decided to give it a try. It is exactly as expected, a decent, solidly built, 60mm guide scope. It has plenty of back focus for my guide camera (I have not tried it with an eyepiece), the focuser is a bit stiff but adequate. I used it for an entire night guiding and it did very well. The mount fit into an existing dovetail show, and was pretty easy to align (though for guiding I really did not need precision there). The only negative is that it came packed inadequately -- the top alignment screw head poking out of the thin cardboard. But there was no damage to anything inside, the scope itself was well packed. But this top screw rested directly against the box top (which is thin). But overall, a very nice guide scope for a very good price.
Lolo
2025-08-01 12:18:00
I wanted to start auto-guiding for astrophotography and debated a while on gear. I didn't want to spend a fortune on expensive glass that I was only using for guiding. I settled on the Astromania 60mm ($130), and a ZWO ASI120 MM Mini ($150) camera. I have a 900mm scope. The results have been perfect for me when auto-guiding. I'm using free PHD2 software and consistently getting "Total" under .40. Easy setup and the scope focuses just fine. There are several adjustments for gross and fine tuning. It's not the best scope, but it's solid and worked right out of the box for me. I didn't have any issues with backwards lenses or shiny surfaces that some mentioned. Focused during the day on a distant object no problem.
Surfwheel
2025-07-01 11:59:05
The stars do not focus we’ll go a point so I am pretty sure the collimation is off. Other than that it serves my purpose.
PrimeNurse
2025-05-18 12:13:03
My wife purchased this for me, and I am writing this review. This is being used as a guidescope on two telescopes, a 127mm APO refractor and a 9.25" SCT. There were two issues out of the box. The objective was installed at the factory backwards. I realized this the first time it was used. The image was extremely distorted and fuzzy. The objective is easily removed by unscrewing the front dew shield. I reversed it and voila, a nice clear image. The second issue is that the inside surface of the focuser tube is very shiny and smooth. This created glare on very bright objects. I coated the surface with ultra-flat paint to correct this. Ironically, the rest of the interior of the ota has a very flat non-reflective surface. Otherwise, the guidescope, rings and helical focuser work fine. Shame on Astromania for poor QC with an otherwise good product. This is a very sturdy and functional item once the flaws were corrected. The focuser tube locks firmly in place using the thumb screws For me this was an easy fix and was quicker than returning it. Astromania needs to monitor their QC program better. Three vs four stars . . . I was on the fence, but gave the extra star since the guidescope is constructed of aluminum, feels solid and is a good value when the optics are installed correctly.
Luca
2025-03-24 11:22:55
I'm positively surprised by this guide scope. Despite being not expensive at all, it is well built and - more important - stays in focus night over night.
Moria's Gate
2025-02-27 20:38:22
Bargain for the price. Easy to install in place of my existing finder (same dovetail, so it was a drop-in), or adapt however you want to your scope. I found that had to pull the extension tube almost all the way out to use an eyepiece. My camera like to be about 5mm in from there. If you remove the eyepiece retaining thumb screws, the outer thread of the eyepiece holder is T-thread so you can directly mount a camera without a 1.25" adapter. The rings and adjusting screws work well, no problems. The extension sticks a bit when moving it in and out even when the thumbscrew is loose, but I don't move it very often so it's not a problem, and I know it's secure. Focuser is smooth and very easy to use. Great guide or finder scope and given the wide view, I am thinking I might even try imaging with it. Highly recommended!
Jeffrey R. Clayton
2025-02-22 17:09:35
Used this as a guide scope with a asi174mm mini. Although I was able to get ok guiding, I was not ever able to get nice round stars. I have since replaced it with a much higher quality guide scope and get perfectly round stars. If this is all you can afford, it’s basic and just ok.
Home
2025-01-23 10:55:55
Very good as imaging scope for astrophotography to get a wide field.
Customer
2025-01-15 12:17:12
Excelente calidad, excelente producto, super bien protegido para transporte y llegó super mega rápido!!! gracias!!!
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