Celestron Illuminated RACI Finder Scope, Black (93781)

A pending 4-star... UPGRADED Dec 2015 to 5-stars: I retired my factory finder in favor of this RACI + Definitely easier for matching charts to the cosmos for navigating. + Definitely appreciate the parallel reticle, you can place your intended target in the center box. + Definitely appreciate the illumination, thought it would not be bright enough, but have been using lowest light and then turning off (saves the batteries) All seems OK with this finder, with the major exception there are NO INSTRUCTIONS. Not a big thing for those familiar with eyepieces, focusers and other telescopic equipment, but it would be nice to have SOMETHING, whereas the finder arrived with NOTHING. At the very minimum someone needs to ID the batteries for eventual replacement! Newcomers will find this exasperating. After 30 minutes of fiddling, the finder is now ready for some star-time; will update this review after ward, but it looks like a nice finder. I have been using a Telrad finder on my 8-inch SCT, and like it for the illuminated reticle and wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) view for star-hopping. It is however, not magnified, still very ok for general celestial navigation (planetary, constellations, major galaxies, nebulaes and clusters), but I wanted to try this magnified, illuminated and "upright" wysiwyg finder for a large telescope with deeper capabilities. Pros: 1) double crosshairs, meaning parallel vertical and horizontal lines (etches actually) so that you can place your target inside the crosshairs for a precise alignment. This means of course that your new snazzy RACI and your optical tube are 100% in agreement. Not always the case, and stars being what they are keep moving on us, or us moving relative to them. 2) Having your intended object appear "correctly" (upright, wysiwyg) as shown on star atlases and charts makes star-hopping easier for us amateurs. 3) I use an 11" Celestron SCT that has a big optical tube, so having the right-angle makes sighting (ie, "targeting") far easier than with the original factory in-line finder. ps on the absent instructions: this RACI uses the same mounting method as the factory finder -- 1 fixed set-screw (spring loaded), and 2 adjustable set-screws for exact adjustment. If your RACI body moves, notice a hex allen set-screw within the fixed spring loaded screw, one that can be tensioned for a more secure placement and alignment of the RACI. I had to increase that adjustment tension as the RACI body was "too soft" and easily moved. Not a big thing, just look for that buried allen screw. Cons: none technical. My RACI arrived with some scuffs and smudges and a noticeable scrape down to the bare metal near the mount, and it appeared to be somewhat put together but sloppy. Also a number of dirt/dust particles here and there inside the optics as if this unit had been partially disassembled. "In" as is requiring partial disassembly and blowing out the foreign debris. This leads me to believe this was once someone else's and they returned it. I hope to add positive feedback after it's been in service a while.

The Celestron Illuminated RACI finder works great. When I first got it, the illuminator was missing. Before I was going to hassle with Amazon for a return, I double checked the box one more time and found the illuminator in the bottom. Assembly was easy except I got a metal burr in my thumb when adding the illuminated reticle. By removing the included base bracket, which took some manipulating to find the sweet spot in the lock screws, it slid right in place of my old finder with no extra work. As for using it, the illuminator is extremely touchy and comes on sometimes just looking at it. I’ve unnecessarily drained the battery figuring all that out. As for aligning it, it just took a few adjustments with the two variable screws to get it right in there. No need to try the more permanent screw which is admittedly, tucked down so it’s hard to get a screwdriver on it. The reticle is just right with double lines and a nice square in the middle to set the alignment star. I still need to zero it in using Polaris but it was good enough with a nearby light pole during daylight. Right now, I’m struggling to learn how to operate the main telescope mount. The field is nice and wide and in combination with the illuminated reticle, does the job. Once I’ve star aligned the scope, if I ever get that far, I won’t even need the finder until the next session. Overall, a great product even though there are no instructions, which I have to admit, I didn’t need anyway. Highly recommended.

This five degree width of field finder telescope with an illuminated reticle is a superb piece of equipment for use with a reflector or refractor telescope. It is particularly easy to mount on a home-built Newtonian Reflector telescope with a fibreglass optical tube. I simply drilled two holes through the tube with the finder scope in a good position, then tapped the holes with the size of the threaded connectors convenient to use. The optics are coated with anti-reflective material and the illuminated reticle has a red LED light source which has adjustible intensity. This is a convenient feature for centering an object of interest in the center of the eyepiece of the primary optics of the telescope. The upright view is extremely effective in aiming the telescope because the object of interest moves in the same direction as the front of the telescope moves during the aiming procedure.

Cercatore di ottima qualità, immagini pulite e molto luminose. Si ha la possibilità di mettere a fuoco sia sulla lente primaria e sia sull'oculare. La diagonale è raddrizzata sia sopra-sotto che destra sinistra, il crocicchio è orientabile, peccato che venga fornito solo con supporto per SC e non per barra vixen. Bello robusto fa proprio una bella impressione. Una nota che devo fare è che non c'è uno straccio di istruzione nella scatola.

Muy cómodo

This finderscope is just so much easier to use than the red dot finder supplied with my scope. Well worth the investment.

Una mejora sustancial sobre el 6x30 original. La imágen es clara y nítida. Fácil de instalar y el retículo iluminado funciona bien. Buena construcción, es de metal... considerar que agregará peso.

Vraiment pratique de pouvoir viser à 90° avec un oculaire éclairé.