7,500+ items available from stock
Personal advice & service
Best price guarantee
Get closer
Astronomy > Telescopes > Skywatcher > AZ-3 > Skywatcher Telescope AC 120/600 StarTravel BD AZ-3
( 4 / 5 )
Product no.: 16710

Telescope AC 120/600 StarTravel BD AZ-3

$ 570.00 incl. VAT, plus shipping costs
too expensive?
in stock
ready for shipping in 24 h + lead time
Express shipment possible for delivery tomorrow, 02.11.2024!
This product is available in the following variants:
Type of build Price
AZ-3 $ 570.00
EQ3-2 $ 750.00
OTA $ 452.00

Product description

More about the series AZ-3...

A super+bright Kometensucher when short dimensions.
with azimuthal installing Az-3, Sucher 6x30mm, zenith prism 1.25", eyepiece set 1.25"and aluminium tripod.
A perfect companion to large spotting scopes, this all-metal alt-azimuth mount is exceptionally sturdy and easy to operate. It features slow-motion control cables on both axes, allowing horizontal and vertical operation.

a completely new Design: nearly 5 tariff opening with only 600mm focal length.
an absolute world novelty!

The Skywatcher AZ-3 is a practical altazimuth mount, easy-to-use and providing good stability.

It can serve as a base for terrestrial or astronomical observing and support telescopes or spotting scopes up to a maximum weight of 5kg (refractors of up to 120mm aperture and reflectors of up to 150mm diameter).

The AZ-3 has horizontal quick adjustment plus a locking screw, and vertical quick adjustment with a slipper clutch. There is fine adjustment with flexible slow motions available on both axes. The tracking is absolutely smooth and sensitive adjustment and allows fine adjustment even at high magnification.

The vertical angle can be adjusted between 50 and 90 degrees, allowing viewing from the horizon up to nearly the zenith and panning 360°. The AZ-3 mount is hence equally suited for terrestrial and astronomical observing. The telescope/spotting scope is mounted via tube ring clamps.

Technical data:

  • altazimuth mount allowing 360° panning and adjustable from the horizon to almost the zenith
  • vertical rapid adjustment with slipper clutch
  • fine adjustment via flexible slow motions
  • aluminium tripod - infinitely adjustable from 70cm to 123cm
  • entire weight only approx. 3.9kg, including tripod


Included in delivery:

  • AZ-3 altazimuth mount
  • height-adjustable tripod

It not only matters which telescope you buy but also where you buy it. Our additional services:

  • We are a leading telescope dealer and know the devices we sell. Our customer service team will gladly help you after your purchase if you have problems with assembly or operation.
  • We provide a copy of the 80-page "Telescope ABC" beginners handbook with every telescope.

Our expert comment:

Refracting telescopes with a focal ratio of f5 are particularly suitable for wide field observing at low magnifications. The 2 inch focuser accepts appropriate wide angle eyepieces such as the Omegon 32mm SWA eyepiece and a 2 inch star diagonal. For observing extended nebulae, such as NGC7000, a 2 inch nebula filter is the ideal accessory ( 2 inch CLS filter ) all doublet Fraunhofer telescopes have chromatic aberration inherent in their design, but this colour fringing disappears when using a nebula filter.

(Bernd Gährken)

Tip: Optimal alignment of AZ-3 mount

The AZ-3 mount is well suited for both terrestrial and astronomical observing.

1. Terrestrial observing

For terrestrial observing, just set the telescope in the AZ-3 in a horizontal position. Slightly loosen the tube ring clamps and push the OTA slightly forwards or backwards so that the tube is balanced and does not tip forwards or backwards. Then re-tighten the clamps.

2. Astronomical observing

  • loosen you the large side screw and position the OTA pointing upwards at an angle of about 45°.
  • loosen the tube ring clamps slightly and slide the OTA forwards or backwards until optimal balance is achieved. It should not tip forwards or backwards.
  • then set the OTA in a horizontal position and tighten the locking screw so that the instrument is just prevented from tipping forwards. This ensures an optimal load distribution on the mount.

(Bernd Gährken)

Specifications

Optics


Type
Refractor
Type of build
Achromat
Aperture (mm)
120
Focal length (mm)
600
Aperture ratio (f/)
5
Resolving capacity
0,96
Limit value (mag)
12,2
Light gathering capacity
290
Max. useful magnification
240
Tube weight (kg)
4,0
Tube construction
Full tube

Focuser


Gear reduction
without
Type of build
Gear rack
Connection ( to eyepiece)
2

Mount


Type of build
AZ-3
Mounting type
Azimuthal
GoTo control
no

Tripod


Material
Aluminium
Type
Tripod
Accessory plate
yes
Max. tripod height (cm)
121
Min. tripod height (cm)
71

Included accessories


Dew Shield
yes
Prism rail
Vixen-Style
Tube clamps
yes
1.25'' eyepieces
25mm, 10mm
Deviating optics
Amici prism, 1.25", 45°
Eyepiece adaptor
1,25" & 2"
Finder scope
Red dot finder
Camera adaptor
T2 (M42 x 0,75)
Slow motion cable (piece)
2

General


Total weight (kg)
12,0
Series
AZ-3
Special recommendation
yes

Area of application


Moon & Planets
yes
Nebulae & galaxies
yes
Nature Observation
yes
Astrophotography
no
Sun
no (Only with appropriate Sun filter)

Recommended for


Beginners
yes
Advanced
no
Observatories
no

Recommended accessories

Media (3)

John Wiley & Sons Astronomy For Dummies

$ 24.90*
Outdoor > Lamps (3)
Astronomy torch

Explore Scientific Astronomy torch Astro R-Lite

$ 14.90*
Outdoor > Other (1)

Omegon aluminium case, large

$ 89.00*
Astronomy > Telescope accessories (24)
Carry case

Oklop Carry case Padded bag for 120/600 refractors

$ 54.00*
Astronomy > Eyepieces (21)

Omegon Suitcase with eyepieces and accessories

$ 199.00*
Astronomy > Filters (17)
Filters

Baader Filters 1.25“ contrast booster filter (plane-optical polished)

$ 97.00*
Maintenance & Cleaning > Lens cleaners (3)

Omegon 7-in-1 lens cleaning set

$ 19.90*
Maintenance & Cleaning > Other (2)

Omegon microfibre cleaning cloth 20cm x 20cm

$ 4.90*

*All prices include VAT plus shipping costs.

Skywatcher Telescope AC 120/600 StarTravel BD AZ-3
Skywatcher Telescope AC 120/600 StarTravel BD AZ-3
Skywatcher Telescope AC 120/600 StarTravel BD AZ-3
Skywatcher Telescope AC 120/600 StarTravel BD AZ-3

Customer reviews

an update on my review

Review by ralphy1976 on 11.01.2014 11:20:57

( 4 / 5 )

Having had this telescope for some time now, i have had the opportunity to use it more and here are my thoughts (some are identical)

1 - focusing and adjusting the position with the fine focus will blur and shake the picure, which has become extemely annoying: if you have a "webcam type" camera you will lose recording material due to the shaking. Staying on that subjectyou need very good eyepiece with good eye relief length to get the best picture

2 - the focuser is extremely cheap and weak: i have tried to take pictures with a normal digital camera with the lightest mount available and i could see a focuser creep as the angle of the telescope was increasing. The positioning screw used in the focuser feel extemely cheap and i am always wary of using them to tighten things up

However last night i was able to see a very detailed Orion Nebulae and Jupiter was well detailed (with an upgraded eyepiece).

Overall i think the telescope itself is good, but it needs a better focuser and definitively very good quality optics, so as a result my upgrade will be nearly as much as the telescope...why? well i think the portability and the dimensions of the telescope are really great (easy to set-up and light) therefore i want to see what it can give which good quality optics (i have an omegon planetary 18mm and it gives a great picture) and a sturidier focuser.

If i decide to change the scope, these items will be useable with the next oen anyway, so there will be no loss anyway

So in conclusion: i recommend it as a beginner's telescope with a bigger budget and i would recommend you to get a basic 32mm, good quality 18mm and 12mm, as for barlow, start with a basic 2X and 3X

some cons...

Review by ralphy1976 on 17.05.2013 11:22:42

( 4 / 5 )

Hi there,

I agree with everything which the previous reviewer has mentioned, but i'd like to add some cons.

1 - when tracking, the telescope wobbles which at a medium magnification and above is annoying as you may have to refocus.

2 - focus is a bit too coarse i think

3 - i find the spotting scope to be useless

4 - the manual travel adjustment is not an infinite screw system. Every now and then you have to totally re-adjust your position to give you some "screw" for your find tracking. This gets tedious after a while

5 - to adjust the scope vertical position you have to use the scope as the handle / lever, which puzzled me for a while as i didn't expect this

Overall, i still think it is a great introduction package as it does everything i want it to do and i have fun looking at the plantes.

I think i will upgrade the focuser as i'd like sharper images.

Ultra-portable

Review by asd on 05.11.2010 14:15:48

( 4 / 5 )

Portability:
Highly recommended for people who need portability. If you don't have a car to go to a dark location or if you live on the 5th floor of an apartment building and carrying a large scope up and down the stairs is a problem for you, this telescope is perfect. At 120mm of aperture, it's still reasonably bright, considering the small weight and size. The telescope + the mount + all the accessories fit in a large backpack, so you can carry it anywhere.

What I've seen:
An achromat refractor at f/5 is always going to suffer from a bit of chromatic aberration. It is the same for this scope. However, the chromatic aberration isn't severe and you can still get quite nice views even at higher magnifications. I have seen Jupiter with its satellites at 120x magnification (with a 10mm eyepiece and a Barlow lens) and it looks reasonably good. You can very clearly see one of the cloud bands of Jupiter, maybe even more with the aid of some color filters (I haven't tried yet).
The Double Cluster in Perseus looks magnificent through this telescope, and so do other open clusters. For globular clusters, I've managed to see M13, but the telescope couldn't resolve any details, I could only see a round smudge and no clearly separated individual stars. (with a 200mm Newtonian, I was able to distinguish individual stars in this cluster)
The Andromeda galaxy also appears like a smudge, I couldn't see any details at this aperture (but neither with the 200mm Newtonian).

Photographic use:
If you own a DSLR, you can buy a T2 adapter ring for your type of lens mount and use this telescope as a 600mm lens for your camera. Photos of the Moon show a certain degree of chromatic aberration, but you can get by this by stopping down the telescope with the aid of the front cap (from which you can remove the central part to let some light in). This will reduce the chromatic aberration, at the cost of darkening the image (but the Moon is bright enough anyway, so no problem here) and losing a bit of angular resolution (but you can't focus perfectly anyway, so again, no real loss when photographing the Moon).

Other things to consider:
The mount is easy to use and gives good stability to this telescope. The image shakes a little bit while focusing, but nothing serious.
I've noticed that bright objects, such as Jupiter, appear as having a luminous band emerging from them. I've traced the problem down to the 45° erecting prism, which isn't of exceptional quality.

Delivery:
Very quick. It was delivered to France in only 2 days after making the payment, with the cheapest carrier.

Conclusions:
Overall, a very good telescope at a very attractive price. One of the largest apertures that you can own, but still carry around easily from one place to another. It's better to have a small telescope that you can really use than to have a very big one that's too heavy to use frequently.

Compose your own review

Do you have specific questions about your order or products? Please contact our customer service!

Customers who bought this product also bought...