This is my second one of these - it works very well and I like the series of concentric rings it projects instead of a single red dot which can sometimes obscure the object you’re trying to find. It has a series of shoes to attach to different telescopes which I find handy. It’s very well priced and my first one is still in use after several years. Overall I definitely recommend this. Thank you FLO for the fantastic service as always!

Great little RDF, that works really well. Finding circles are a real bonus, as good as more expensive finders.
Excellent speedy delivery and service too.

The flimsy construction has already been criticised. I would put it at adequate (just) but unconvincing.
It is a very useful accessory, despite its drawbacks.
Reticle brightness:-
pro: more than adequate for daylight use.
con: minimum setting is more than bright enough for star pointing (too bright).
Speculum coating:-
pro: reflects red (LED colour) preferentially, giving a cyan tint to the target background.
con: too dense, reduction in target brightness is too great.
Reducing the speculum density would help solve the brightness problem.
Reducing the minimum LED current to barely visible at night would contribute to usability and increase battery life.
The price is pitched fairly low.
If it were increased by up to 50% in order to make the product more convincingly robust, I think it would still sell well.

I bought this starpointer for my new telescope and it is very simple to set up and align.

Fitted as instructed, but found that even when fully adjusted, the alignment, (circles) was a little to 10 o'clock position. Have packed the foot to compensate. Otherwise a great finderscope for this size of telescope.

I greatly prefer this to my old cheap red dot finder. It has a much wider view and putting circles around a target star is somehow easier than placing a dot over it. I used to find it hard to find the red dot unless I was looking *exactly* along the axis. This new finder has no such problem because of the wide view.

Centering and adjustment - easy.

One drawback is that seems prone to dewing up. I’ll make a little card housing for it. Not a big problem.

Another drawback is that the circles aren’t quite steady. If you bob your head around, they move across the little patch of sky you are aiming it (until you are looking straight along the axis). It’s just a matter of getting used to. I tend to use a finder to get approximately close then moving closer in with conventional eyepiece/adjust/next eyepiece/adjust until I reach the desired magnification.

The final comment is that it’s a bit plasticky for the price. I expected something a little sturdier. The shoe/mount clampy bit was held together with a pair of adjustment screws that weren’t long enough to hold it together when I put the correct foot in place. I ended up using the clampy bit from the bottom of my cheapo red dot finder.

I think I’d buy another if this broke but I’d also be tempted to look at something a little sturdier.

It very much looks the part but it has a cheap plastic feel to it.
One of the bolts would not thread so I couldn't attach the dovetail bracket so I brought two longer bolts and job done.
The new bolts only cost 28p but that's not the point.

Disappointed with this. Build quality is very flimsy, Thumscrews tight on one loose on the other mounting rail fitments.
Looks good but that's all I can say about it that's positive.
The only reason I chose it was that it fits in the finder shoe on my Mak 127 and there is no room for a Telrad where its not obstructed by the diagonal /EP. Surprised Celestron put its name on it.

This finderscope was purchased to replace the standard red dot device which came with my 8" Celestron SCT, 10 years ago. This unit claims to improve upon the old ‘red dot’, and by and large it does. The glass display area is much larger making it easier to look through. The red dot always obscured the star you were looking for, but the new display has 2 concentric circles. The star is placed in the centre of those circles, and remains visible throughout. The adjustment knobs are easy to find, and more importantly are a completely different type to the on/off switch. With the previous model it was all too easy to accidentally move the alignment knobs when trying to turn it on. The battery is the same type as the old one, (CR2032) so my stock of replacements can still be used. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the battery compartment is still on the bottom of the unit. In the old unit, the battery often slipped on to the floor while trying to get it in and out. The battery is now secured by a screw cap which opens using a coin as a tool. However, there isn’t enough room between the finder and the body of the telescope to use a coin while it is on the bracket. Therefore you are forced to remove the unit from the mounting bracket and turn it upside down in order to change the battery. The old finder required screw bolts to fix the unit to the bracket. The new one comes with bolts with a thumb screw which should be easier. However, I was not able to tighten the thumb screw bolts sufficiently tightly to grip the mount. The holes in the plastic are probably just a little too small and the resistance too great. It might be possible to wear the hole down by working the bolt in and out a few times. Since the mounting bracket is identical to the old one, I simply used the bolts from the original unit, and tightened with a screwdriver instead. The previous on/off switch was hidden on the side, but the new one is on top, and the 2 white dots which will line up if the unit is off can be seen much more easily.

It is certainly worth the upgrade.