Quick View of the Moon Tonight

The moon was shining brightly through our living room window as we headed to the bedroom so I figured I would take a quick view through that new little Orion 102mm Mak-Cassegrain telescope I evaluated recently.  

Sheila was in the bathroom getting ready for bed so I had a few minutes to kill.  I went to retrieve a lightweight mount and the telescope and set it up at the window to take a quick look...  I easily found the bright moon in the sky and saw nothing but out-of-focus mush.  I again repeated what I had been saying all along about this little Mak-Cass telescope...  "what a piece of junk."

This prompted me to go retrieve my Skywatcher 72mm refractor which is equally as small but with a much short focal length.  I brought that out to the living room and I was immediately treated to a stunningly sharp view of the moon.  

Viewing through a window with optics is a no-no because glass will cause all sorts of problems.  Heat escaping the house through an open window is often even worse.  I tried both ways and both views were a mushy mess through the Orion Mak-Cass telescope.  On the other hand, the views both through the glass and through the open window with the Skywatcher 72mm refractor was stunningly sharp.  The miserable view through the Mak-Cass had absolutely nothing to do with the conditions because my tiny refractor telescope produced sharp views under the same exact conditions.  

I honestly cannot understand why anyone would prefer any type of reflector telescope.  These cassegrain variations are probably a bit worse than a typical Newtonian reflector telescope but I would not have the patience for any type of reflector telescope because of the constant tinkering and tweaking they seem to need all the time.  

This tiny Mak-Cass telescope has two mirrors which magnify the view but the mirrors must be in perfect alignment to get a crisp view.  It is a pretty good bet that the mirrors are again out of alignment since my last use.  Aligning the mirrors is not a task I care to do...  ever.  I especially do not want to have to perfectly align mirrors when I want a quick view of something.  

What a hunk of junk.  

It seems that today's theme here on my blog is products that are hunks of junk.  This Orion 102mm Mak-Cass telescope is one and the Lionel LionChief train set I recently tried was another.   

Let's hope tomorrow is a better day.