From: TerryMoselaol.com
Date: 17 December 2006 00:24:07 GMT
Subject: Lidl Scopes update

Hi all,

I've now got more details on the Lidl telescope offers mentioned in my
last E/M, all available from 21 December.

A. The 70mm refractor is the Bresser rather than the Skylux - much the
same. It comes with 3 Kellner eyepieces: 20mm, 12mm & 4mm, giving
magnifications of 35 to 175. It has a 6x30 optical finder, star
diagonal, terrestrial eyepiece, and an astro-software CD. The equatorial
mount has manual drives on both axes. The tripod has round section legs,
with a stabilising plate/eyepiece tray. Total cost £39.99.

B. As I surmised in my last E/M, the Bresser 90mm telescope is NOT a
Cassegrain! I don't know where they got that idea from! It's a standard
short-focus refracting terrestrial telescope - it looks approximately
F4.5. The 90mm lens is anti-reflection coated. It has a prism system to
produce an upright image, with a 45 degree viewing angle, and this is
said to be high quality BAK4 glass. It has an extending sun/dew shade,
and caps for front lens & eyepiece. It also has a camera adaptor. It
appears to have a zoom eyepiece, giving x25 - x75. There's a mounting
plate on a ball and socket head for a standard camera tripod. The
3-section adjustable tripod shown IS included in the price. It also has
a lunar filter, and a carrying bag for both telescope & tripod. Total
price = £99.99.    Not primarily an astronomical telescope, but it could
certainly be used for sky viewing as well as bird-spotting etc, but the
ball & socket head would not permit viewing objects near the zenith.   
If you like tinkering you might consider removing the prism system, &
extending the tube, to make a standard 90mm refractor with improved
light transmission & less internal reflections etc, but you would have
to make some sort of a focussing mount unless you just wanted to use the
existing zoom eyepiece.

C. The astronomy book is entitled "Astronomy - An introduction to the
universe". 384pp hardback, well illustrated. No author shown. Price
£8.99.

D. The 10x50 binoculars are Bresser, with BK7 prisms, and lens caps,
neck strap, and soft carrying case. There's a socket for a tripod
adaptor (not included). Price £13.99. The quality of these binocs on
previous occasions was quite satisfactory, and very good value, but they
are not really high quality, which you could not expect at that price.

E. They also have an offer of a night vision infrared 3x monocular, also
by Bresser. It's £99.99, and in case you are wondering, it's of very
little use for astronomy! It has its own infrared light source, but I
don't think it's quite powerful enough to illuminate any celestial
bodies.... It also has an image intensifier, but the practical
applications for astronomy are limited. The image produced is in
monochrome green. It might be of use if you dropped an eyepiece or your
car keys in the middle of a field when out observing, but that's about
all I can think of!

I have no more details of the computer GoTo 70mm telescope available in
ROI, but not in N.I.

If anyone wants to be removed from this list, please just email me back.

Clear skies,

Terry Moseley

Last Revised: 2006 December 18th WWW contact:webmaster@arm.ac.uk

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