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Just a quick update, since the clouds parted for a few minutes off and on tonight.
I took a look at Jupiter, M42 and some defocussed star images.
The star images showed that collimation (after centering a laser spot on the primary) is out but not by much. Using the secondary collimation screws alone I could get an almost concentric figure in the centre of the field. The defocussed images reveal coma towards the edge of the field, but this doesn't result in noticeably elongated star images in focus.
Jupiter looked best at 58x (6mm Ortho). I could clearly make out two bands but nothing more. At 70x (5mm Ortho) the image didn't improve and started to become mushy.
M42 looked best at 39x (9mm Ortho). It was not much to behold, not very extended but just recognisable. The trapezium started to resolve at 58x, but only just (3 out of 4 stars usually, the 4th occasionally). Again, 70x didn't improve things.
For general wide field viewing the GSO 15mm Superview appeared to be ideal. It also balances the scope reasonably well.
The friction and stiction of the mount (esp azimuth) proved rather frustrating. This is probably fixable.
In summary, the scope is far from useless, I'd go as far as saying that for $50 it is good value. It performs and handles better than many beginner refractor packages up to about $200 that I had the misfortune to witness. On the other hand, $50 is about what we pay for 2" extension tubes, so don't expect any miracles.
Cheers
Steffen.
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