Product Description

The Galileo FS-80 reflector telescope is a great beginner's reflecting telescope. The large 80mm primary mirror cell collects 33% more light than a 60mm refracting telescope. 1.25 focus housing permits the use of larger higher quality 1.25 eyepieces. Yoke mount makes the telescope easy to manage through altitude / azimuth (Up & Down, Left & Right) movement, and altitude slow motion control rod for precision adjustments. Galileo Trilogy software includes instructional videos and Planetarium program to help you pinpoint any star or planet at any given time. All of these features, along with all of the included accessories, ensure that you will have all you will ever need to observer the world around you just as Galileo did with your Galileo FS-80 refLEctor telescope.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Hammer Tone
• Brand: Galileo
• Model: FS-80
• Released on: 2005-05-01
• Dimensions: 66.00" h x 36.00" w x 42.00" l, 11.00 pounds

Features

• Yoke Mounted 800mm x 80mm Reflector Telescope w/ Altitude Slow Motion Control Rod
• Pre-assembled metal tripod with accessory tray and retractable rubber feet.
• Unique Features: 1.25" Format
• Included Accessories: Mars-Eye Finder, 2 1.25" Eyepieces(6mm & 20mm)
• Galileo trilogy software set - Planetarium progam, instructional telescope videos, Britannica educational program and 1 Year Warranty

From the Manufacturer

The Galileo 800MM x 80MM Astronomical Reflector Telescope showcases an 80mm primary mirror and an 800mm focal length. Also includes an electronic Mars Eye Finderscope, a large 1.25-inch helical rack and pinion focuser. The pre-assembled metal tripod has an Altitude Azimuth Yoke mount and retractable rubber feet. It's easy use up and down, left and right movement is great for beginners and casual star gazers alike. The Altitude Azimuth Yoke Mount features a slow motion altitude adjustment rod for precision altitude adjustments. The tripod also features an accessory tray with slots to place 4 1 1/4-inch eyepieces or lenses. The telescope tube features heavy duty metal primary and secondary mirror cells.

Galileo 800MM x 80MM Astronomical Reflector Telescope

The Mars Eye Finderscope allows the observer to locate objects from behind the telescope without losing the surrounding field of view when targeting objects in the sky.

Also included with the Galileo 800mm x 80mm are two 1/4-inch eyepieces:
1. 6mm eyepiece (133x)
2. 20mm eyepiece (40x)

Also included is our Galileo Planetarium CD-ROM, Your Road Map to the Sky. This software will help you locate and identify objects in the sky. It's easy, just input your location and time and date and you’re all set. You can even fast forward to see where objects will move or plan to see certain objects hours, days, weeks even years in the future and know exactly where they will be.

What's in the box:

• 800mm x 80mm Optical Tube Assembly
• Altitude Azimuth Yoke Mount
• Slow Motion Altitude Adjustment Rod
• Fully Adjustable Heavy Duty, Pre-assembled Metal Tripod w/Accessory Tray
• Galileo Mars Eye Electronic Finderscope
• 1 1/4-inch Helical Rack & Pinion Focuser
• 1 1/4-inch 20mm Eyepiece
• 1 1/4-inch 6mm Eyepiece
• Galileo Planetarium CD-ROM w/Instructional Telescope Tutorial
• One Year Warranty

Customer Reviews

Good For The Price
I was thinking of spending about $50 on a telescope, after a few minutes I found myself looking at a $300 goto telescope. I've never really used a telescope before, I quickly realized that the hardest thing about shopping for a telescope is figuring out what your budget is.
After I watched the video for this telescope, I decided I could afford to spend a few extra dollars on it. If this had cost $30 more, I would only give it 3 stars.

The good: It is a nice big telescope for the price. I have been able to see the moons of Jupiter, and can just barely make out a couple of bands, but don't expect to see the big red spot with this. Saturn has not been out yet, but I am looking forward to pointing this telescope at it. The views were stunning when I looked at the edge of the moon where the sun was setting. I have seen shadows filling lunar craters with my binoculars before, but the view from this telescope took my breath away. I also really like the Mars Eye finder. It took me about half an hour to calibrate it, but once calibrated it works very well. A better battery cover for it would be nice. For me the 20mm eyepiece is more rewarding. The lower magnification brings in more light. It was easier for me to spot Jupiters moons with the 20mm eyepiece the 6mm eyepiece. This telescope was pretty easy for me to set up. The only tricky part was calibrating the Mars Eye finder. There is a fine adjustment for the vertical plane that works marginally well. It is lacking any decent horizontal adjustment. The accessory tray is nice for changing eyepieces. Without my glasses I cannot see much, especially in the dark. I can get the eyepieces back and forth to the focuser with this tray very easily.

The not so good: The packaging was not very good. I could hear parts shaking around in the box when I brought it inside. There was a slight dent on the side of the scope. It was very small, right where the mount attaches to the telescope. The scope that I got was white, if it had been gray I may not have noticed it.
The mount is not very good at all. Most reviews of telescopes in this price range seem to say the same thing. When using the 6mm eyepiece you need to wait about 5-6 seconds after touching the telescope for it to quit bouncing around. If you try to adjust the focus, you need to start over. The 20mm eyepiece takes about 2-3 seconds to get steady enough to look at. I cannot imagine trying to use the 6mm eyepiece on a windy night, or with any type of Barlow lens.
The software included is about 10 years old, and it shows. It may be useful if you want to use it on an older computer, but if you have a newer system I would strongly recommend Stellarium. Stellarium is free, just Google it.

Overall I do not regret this purchase at all. It certainly does require a certain amount of patience. At this price range it is easy to get nit-picky about certain details that higher priced telescopes may overcome. But dollar for dollar I feel this is a very rewarding telescope.

Not a bad telescope - Mount needs improvement
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2NKBA6JMY8RLJ I will say that my experience with the Galileo Telescope is a bit of a work-in-progress. While I find the viewing to be powerful - I have a significant problem with the mount/tripod. It takes me time to simply find the moon. The issue is that the it is difficult to get the telescope to "sit" on the spot that you want.

Having said that it is important to recognize that while there are problems it is a decent telescope at a great price. It will require some patience in the set-up, but depending on your tolerance for trying to find targets.

Pros-

- Great value
- Decent power (See the video)
- Two lenses - low power and a higher powerful
- Assembly is relatively quickly
- Lots of extras with the software and Mars finder

Cons

- Tough to find stuff in the sky!
- Poor tripod makes it much more difficult to sit on a target

Final Verdict- While it requires patience this really is not that bad of a telescope especially at the price.

3 1/2 stars

Bad gift for a child, fun for the parent
I purchased this as a gift for my 7 year old who is all about space. I figured I would need to get the telescope aligned with whatever we were looking for first, then let her use the eyepiece. Unfortunately, this telescope just requires too much time and attention to get the objects of interest in place, in focus, and then by the time I put her eye to the eyepiece, the earth's rotation has the object well on its way out of the field of view. So with my daughter, I ended up using the lowest magnification almost exclusively. There are easier telescopes for kids available at the lowest magnification.

All that said, after she goes to bed, I've had a lot of fun with this telescope. The tripod is not as stable as I would have liked, so there is a lot of movement in the image, but otherwise its been fun!