New Telescope - Orion Spaceprobe 130 EQ

[chucknews]

I just bought my second telescope (the first one probably shouldn't count) - it was more of a toy 20 years ago. The new one I bought is the "Orion Spaceprobe 130 EQ". I'm still a beginner and I took a stab in the dark and bought it through Amazon. Unfortunately it's still in the middle of a somewhat cold winter in Detroit and I'm not planning to use it until the spring - if anyone has experiance with this scope I'd like to hear about it - it's not too late to take it back.

Chuck
The Planets (http://www.the-planets.com/)
http://www.the-planets.com/saturn/120px-Saturn2.jpg

[Fr. Wayne]

Used to have one like that too. Is the barrel still cardboard? How sturdy are the screws that hold the mirror? Can you keep it away from dust and dew? If not, expect a lot of crud on mirror even after just a few uses. I recommend this scope for boy scouts age but not for high schoolers as they will expect brighter images when they look in the lens. It will be fun if it is a first scope.