Recently purchased new polar scope for EQ5 mount/Meade LX70. Very clear new reticle with modern "clock face" center etching for Polaris placement. But when screwed into the mount tube, mine did not have the grid lines correctly vertical. So I ended up inserting and removing the scope many times and loosening the inner locking ring and rotating the long black tube shaft to eventually get the grid lines vertical. Took almost half hour. Plus the lubricant used to focus the eyepiece would seep out and get on my fingers, very difficult to clean off. Don't get this lubricant on the glass surfaces! The scope is not illuminated, as I feel it should be, so then you'd have to buy an extra add-on red illuminator to see the reticle etchings at night. Good product but needs refinement to be more user-friendly.

Feature & convenience: I bought this scope for my DIY polar scope project for AZ-EQ5 mount. And this one fits best, and the new clock-like reticle works great, making the polar alignment very very easy. It is exactly the same as the polar scope on Star Adventurer star tracker. To polar align, Just use the Skywatcher or Synscan mobile app, and place the polar star on the dial as shown in the app., and you are done. This new version of polar scope is the much better than the other (old) version that has Cassiopeia cartoon and a circle to place Polaris within (which I tried for 2-3 days and returned).

Price: The price here is much cheaper than similar Astromania polar scope on Amazon.ca.

Shipping: Polar scope was packed in double boxes. Outer box filled with foam noodles protecting polar scope box. The order arrived Canada (Toronto) in 12 days by cheaper standard shipping (International signed), which is not at all bad. Tracking stopped once it left LANGLEY HWDC. Canada post didn't provide any tracking info.

Many thanks to First Light Optics.

- Pinak Oza

A great polar alignment scope. The reticle is very sharp and clear and the view also has a date chart to show which of the three circles to place Polaris over several years. I highly recommend downloading the free Polar Clock app by Zsolt Naggy off Google play as it shows the new Skywatcher polar reticle and Polaris' position. When the scope was fitted to my mount the reicle needed hardly any alignment, just one grub screw need a 1/8 turn. I highly recommend this Polar Scope.

Super fine display allowing spot on alignment of Polaris on the appropriate circle. So far Ive been able to double my exposure lengths without drift or star elongation using a 1000mm lens on a DSLR

Excellent service from FLO regarding my questions about the product (so much better than original and easy to install/setup), and delivery concerns (Canada Post delay in customs ugh). I will purchase again from FLO!

Hello staff-thank you so much for your kind-speedy help in getting this to me. first class product-quality-price and nearly turn-around delivery time. pity there is not 3,000,000. more like you-we would not be in a mess economically.
kind regards-keep up the very good work--Garreth

New polar scope engraving with this product makes polar alignment very easy. Etched reticle looks like a clock face. Skywatcher synscan handset tells you where to put polaris on the hour angle of the reticle, during start up. Much easier than before, and no need to dial in date and time above polar axis scope at the rear of the mount. Finely etched laser reticle with position for polaris to year 2032. Fast next day delivery, as usual from steve and the team at FLO.

Sirve para polo norte y sur. Super facil de utilizar en el polo sur. Antes me costaba dejar alineada la montura. Ahora en 10 minutos la dejo ok. Envio a chile muy rapido y sin problemas. Excelente embalaje.

I purchased the EQ-5 version of SkyWatcher's polar scope to replace the older Celestron polar scope in my CG-5 mount. The item was dispatched quickly and arrived the following day, excellent service by FLO. The latest SkyWatcher polar scopes have an improved polar reticule which makes alignment much easier and more accurate. I like to capture Ha images using a modified Canon DSLR and 135mm lens at f/2 and the polar alignment accuracy afforded by the SkyWatcher polar scope easily allows 5+ minutes of unguided exposures.

Without this I wouldn't be able to get 50-60 second exposures. They're a bit fiddly to use, getting on hands and knees but once you get used to the routine, it's fine.