Takahashi Starbase 80 Achromatic Doublet Refractor on Alt-Azimuth Mount

Takahashi Starbase 80 Achromatic Refractor
on Alt-Azimuth Mount & Tripod

The Starbase 80 is designed and constructed under contract with Takahashi by an optics company in Japan and it is sold there through Takahashi's company-owned telescope store, Starbase. It is Takahashi's goal to introduce beginning astronomers to Japanese quality optics, with the hope that one day they may become Takahashi customers. Takahashi prides itself on being 100% Japanese made, and is continuing that tradition with the Starbase 80.

• The Starbase 80 has an aperture of 80mm and a focal ratio of f/10, making it a classic refractor telescope capable of viewing the Moon, planets and bright deep-sky objects like nebulae, star clusters and galaxies. This telescope would also work wonderfully well as a spotting scope for viewing wildlife, ships on the water, or other terrestrial objects.

• The solid rack and pinion focuser accepts 1.25" accessories, including the star diagonal that comes in this package. Focus is as easy as turning the black knobs slowly in or out until the view is sharp for your eyes.

• The Starbase 80 comes with some quality accessories, including the aforementioned star diagonal, two orthoscopic 1.25" eyepieces (6mm & 14mm) and a peep sight (see annotated picture with an arrow). This very simple sight helps you center objects in your eyepiece. Just put what you want to view in the hole of the peep sight and voila! Depending on what objects you view with your Starbase 80 telescope, you may decide that you'd like an additional finder with some magnification. The Takahashi 6x30 finder is optional but recommended for this purpose.

• The Starbase 80 comes with a sturdy alt-azimuth mount and tripod that is lightweight (8.2 pounds) enough to easily carry and set up. A pan handle moves the telescope when you want to get from one side of the sky to the other quickly, and the included slow-motion controls move the mount up and down as well as back and forth in smaller increments for centering objects or to keep a moving object in the eyepiece. The tripod has adjustable legs so you can raise or lower the height of the telescope to suit your needs.