Review on 🔭 SVBONY SV503 Telescope 80ED F7 OTA: Enhanced Views & Astrophotography by David Dortch

Disclaimer: Please note that this rating is only for the 102 version of this scope. or maybe even my special specimen. Below is a list of eyepieces that were mounted on a 2" diagonal BBHS Baader that WERE NOT FOCUSED in the SVBony 102ED: Televue Panoptic 35mm Televue Delos 17.3mm Televue Delos 12mm Baader Hyperion Zoom vs like the Morpheus 14mm from Baader, the Meade 28mm SWA also did a great job. This is the most unusual and unique problem I have ever encountered with a brand new astronomical telescope. The problem was INSUFFICIENT INFOCUS Travel. When observing Jupiter, for example, the focus tube hit the telescope body well before critical focus: the planet still showed a blurry round out of focus circle, even though it was completely twisted. This has never happened with any of my other refractors. Apparently others posting on backyard astronomy forums have experienced something similar. That's not to say that any random combination of star diagonals and eyepieces doesn't just work well in every enthusiast's collection. But it can happen that buying this optic becomes a bit of a crappy shooter. At the very least, this situation makes the 'Bony' less than ideal 'scalable' - which means owners must exercise extreme caution when attempting to upgrade their optics. At least in my case, the almost modern rear part (i.e. star diagonal and eyepiece) cannot be used. I gave it two stars because the fit and finish are absolutely average and actually pretty good. The focuser has some play (which could probably be corrected), but the image of Jupiter captured with the 14mm Baader Morpheus lens showed very sharp detail. You could see hints of chromaticism around the edge of the planet, but there was plenty of detail and great contrast. I have not rated the accuracy of the image other than this cursory sting. This area of application shows great potential, but the above problem needs to be addressed.