Compatto, nitido e luminoso.

2026-01-09    -Raffaele Pezzella

Ottimo telescopio perfetto anche per uso in terrestre.Potente, sufficientemente luminoso ed estremamente nitido. Ottimo telescopio, costruito interamente in metallo e con una buona dotazione di base. Compatto e non troppo pesante, è facilmente trasportabile. Gli oculari forniti a corredo sono già validi per iniziare. Il cercatore di tipo red dot funziona bene ma è di scarsa qualità. Buono il prisma raddrizzatore.Mi ha soddisfatto al 100%

buen telescopio para planetas, estrellas y luna, no para DSOs

2026-01-08    -Manoantares

Incluye el telescopio con montaobjetivos de 2", un objetivo 28mm de 2", un adaptador de 2" a 1.25" y un buscador normal que es algo dificil de alinear al principio, muy bueno para observar planetas y la luna, aunque los planetas se ven muy claros con el ocular incluido, yo preferi usar el adaptador de 1.25" para poder usar un objetivo 9mm y verlos mas ampliados, aunque con mas movimiento aparente y mas oscuros, una montura ecuatorial bien amortiguada por un peso es necesaria para poder observar sin tanto movimiento. La luna se ve espectacular, aunque muy brillante, debe ser necesario un filtro lunar. Los objetos de espaco profundo aparecen muy tenues al ojo, como es de esperar.

5.0 out of 5 stars The scope you'll actually use (and night hiking!)

2025-12-24    -Jordan Newman

I was looking for a lightweight Mak-Cass or similar to mount on a small Alt-Az mount for night hikes. I did NOT want this for go-to or astrophotography. Though I imagine this scope would be great for that too.I wanted a scope that's easy to bring outside and actually use.The first Sky-Watcher I ordered had a damaged O-ring. I returned it and they new one was fine.I mounted the Skymax 102 to an old surveyor's tripod and a Svbold alt/az mount.Moon gazing was phenomenal. Jupiter, Saturn, Orion, Pliedes were sharp. Edge-to-edge field of view was crisp. No chromatic aberration that I could see.Overall I am very impressed! Perfect for what I need.

Compatto, nitido e luminoso.

2025-12-29    -Raffaele Pezzella

Ottimo telescopio perfetto anche per uso in terrestre.Potente, sufficientemente luminoso ed estremamente nitido. Ottimo telescopio, costruito interamente in metallo e con una buona dotazione di base. Compatto e non troppo pesante, è facilmente trasportabile. Gli oculari forniti a corredo sono già validi per iniziare. Il cercatore di tipo red dot funziona bene ma è di scarsa qualità. Buono il prisma raddrizzatore.Mi ha soddisfatto al 100%

5.0 out of 5 stars Great scope for the money.

2026-02-19    -Dustin

I started with a small 90mm Orion Mak-Cassegrain and wanted something a bit bigger. The 127mm Sky-Watcher was the perfect choice for me. It is a bit larger and heavier than the Orion, but is still much smaller than a Dobsonian. The added focal length and aperture give me a better, brighter, and sharper image. You may not be able to see large deep sky objects with this scope, but if your interest is the moon and the planets, this may be the right fit for you.

4.0 out of 5 stars SW180 Maksutov: Great for Lunar/Planetary, Good for Deepsky

2026-01-30    -Peter Besenbruch

I received this from Amazon Warehouse Deals. It had been repacked incorrectly and taken a terrific pounding from UPS. Had a Schmidt-Cassegrain received that beating, the corrector plate might have shattered. I'm keeping it. It doesn't do wide field views, but will go down to 48x (with a 56mm Plössl) or 68x (Pentax 40 XL). That's just under one degree, but it is sharp across the field, though suffering from some vignetting.On the other side of the coin, 450x is a sharp, useful magnification, and 386x is routine. I carry it on an EQ5 class mount (the old Celestron CG5). This a lot of resolution and aperture for a reasonable price, and it doesn't make too many demands on how it's mounted. A Celestron AVX with 15 pounds of counter-weights would do fine.The telescope comes with an 8x50 finder. It works. A Vixen style dovetail plate is screwed to the bottom of the scope. You will need to make, or purchase a dew shield. You also will want to buy a case. You get a three element, semi-wide angle, 28mm eyepiece that works fine, though I haven't really used it much. Since this is an f15 telescope, almost any eyepiece with work well. The supplied 2" diagonal was out of collimation. I replaced it with a GSO 2" diagonal. I also use a 1.25" Takahashi prism diagonal.The scope focuses just like a Schmidt-Cassegrain, with all the good and bad that implies. You get an excellent focus range, and you can take advantage of it with a whole host of standard SCT accessories. On the downside, there is a bit of mirror shift. A further consideration: This isn't a scope that you can grab and take outside in the cold. It takes a while to cool. I haven't run into that issue, because I view from the tropics, but like any scope of this size, stick it outside a good hour before you go viewing in the winter.Keep these things in mind, and you will be satisfied with a very high performance telescope.Edit (Oct 2017): I have now had the scope a full year. In that time, I have watched Jupiter's moons (not just their shadows) transit the planet. I have watched Saturn at 386x, and the moon at 540x. I have looked at the Veil Nebula at 48x with an OIII filter. When I first received it, I figured I would send it back, due to the rotten job Amazon did with packing the scope, and UPS' treatment of it. I did a daytime check of it's collimation, and found it still collimated. I took it out for a quick star test, and decided to try and hang on to it. Synta Optical did a good job controlling for spherical aberration. In addition, the rings inside and outside of focus were smooth. That explains the scope's ability to push such high magnifications. There is always variability in mass market optics, but this scope stands out.

Really great telescope

2026-01-01    -Stoian Petru

Had only but bad weather since receiving this telescope but I did test it on daylight and it was sharp even at extreme magnifications. I was able to also check jupiter and it showed up nicely. I think this is the sweet spot between portability and planetary ( especially planetary) power

Very good finder and 2 » eyepiece and diagonal

2026-02-17    -Bruno Haubertin

Wish there is a version with a nice GOTO Mount

4.0 out of 5 stars SW180 Maksutov: Great for Lunar/Planetary, Good for Deepsky

2025-12-26    -Peter Besenbruch

I received this from Amazon Warehouse Deals. It had been repacked incorrectly and taken a terrific pounding from UPS. Had a Schmidt-Cassegrain received that beating, the corrector plate might have shattered. I'm keeping it. It doesn't do wide field views, but will go down to 48x (with a 56mm Plössl) or 68x (Pentax 40 XL). That's just under one degree, but it is sharp across the field, though suffering from some vignetting.On the other side of the coin, 450x is a sharp, useful magnification, and 386x is routine. I carry it on an EQ5 class mount (the old Celestron CG5). This a lot of resolution and aperture for a reasonable price, and it doesn't make too many demands on how it's mounted. A Celestron AVX with 15 pounds of counter-weights would do fine.The telescope comes with an 8x50 finder. It works. A Vixen style dovetail plate is screwed to the bottom of the scope. You will need to make, or purchase a dew shield. You also will want to buy a case. You get a three element, semi-wide angle, 28mm eyepiece that works fine, though I haven't really used it much. Since this is an f15 telescope, almost any eyepiece with work well. The supplied 2" diagonal was out of collimation. I replaced it with a GSO 2" diagonal. I also use a 1.25" Takahashi prism diagonal.The scope focuses just like a Schmidt-Cassegrain, with all the good and bad that implies. You get an excellent focus range, and you can take advantage of it with a whole host of standard SCT accessories. On the downside, there is a bit of mirror shift. A further consideration: This isn't a scope that you can grab and take outside in the cold. It takes a while to cool. I haven't run into that issue, because I view from the tropics, but like any scope of this size, stick it outside a good hour before you go viewing in the winter.Keep these things in mind, and you will be satisfied with a very high performance telescope.Edit (Oct 2017): I have now had the scope a full year. In that time, I have watched Jupiter's moons (not just their shadows) transit the planet. I have watched Saturn at 386x, and the moon at 540x. I have looked at the Veil Nebula at 48x with an OIII filter. When I first received it, I figured I would send it back, due to the rotten job Amazon did with packing the scope, and UPS' treatment of it. I did a daytime check of it's collimation, and found it still collimated. I took it out for a quick star test, and decided to try and hang on to it. Synta Optical did a good job controlling for spherical aberration. In addition, the rings inside and outside of focus were smooth. That explains the scope's ability to push such high magnifications. There is always variability in mass market optics, but this scope stands out.

Really great telescope

2026-01-09    -Stoian Petru

Had only but bad weather since receiving this telescope but I did test it on daylight and it was sharp even at extreme magnifications. I was able to also check jupiter and it showed up nicely. I think this is the sweet spot between portability and planetary ( especially planetary) power