SVBONY SV501P Telescope Review - What does a Sub - $100 Refractor / Spotting Scope Give YOU?

[@johnbarry5036]

Appreciate the live view thru the EP. Useful, thanks.

[@AVTAstro]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MountainFisher]

I love checking out the Moon at that phase, just looks cool and everybody likes it. I have a really nice Burris 60mm spotting scope that is quite nice (even has a mounting ring), but can't put a diagonal on it so stuck with 15-45x max. I bought a magnetic camera ball mount so I can use it on my car while travelling, put on the roof to look at a high angle. I like that Svbony too as it can take eyepieces and filters and would fit on my magnetic mount. That scope is remarkable, costs the price of a good diagonal. edit; It is $89 right now on Amazon 02/14/2023.

[@AVTAstro]

Very cool, and reasonably priced.

[@robertbrown1876]

Thank you for doing this video. I've been wanting to get a budget scope for the ground and sky so thank you very much

[@AVTAstro]

Glad I could help!

[@AmatureAstronomer]

First scope I ever had was 3 months ago. A First Light 10" Dobsonian. Kinda heavy. Gave it away to a stronger fellow.

[@AVTAstro]

Cant blame you. No matter the scope, if you cant/dont want to use it for any reason its just a dust guttering device!

[@lornaz1975]

Thats one heck of a back yard view you have there Vlad!!

[@AVTAstro]

Thanks!👍

[@epic_playz4283]

I have a tree at whrre jupiter and saturn have their oppositions and street light and trees on the other side of that one I was talking about so there's just a gap

[@Mrcloc]

Excellent, thank you. The SV501 comes with a 90 degree prism and 20mm Kellner. They say it can be used for terrestrial, but it's more focused on astronomy because of the 90 degree diagonal. It is an f/6 scope, so slightly different OTA to the SV501P, but I'm guessing the optics aren't much different.

[@AVTAstro]

Yeah that's the version I'd pick up for astronomy then! In reality ether scope will do the same thing, just that for Astro as you said the 90* diagonal is better.

[@srdeku]

Thanks for this comment and this video. I was comparing SV501P versus the SV501 but now I'm 100% getting the former and might add a 90 degree diagonal along with some barlows. I am a total noob btw but I now have a ~100 USD fund to spare to get into astronomy as a hobby.

[@Mrcloc]

@@srdeku I just received SV501P, and it has impressed me massively for day time viewing. Dare I say it's better than my SV41 spotting scope? Colour correction is incredibly well controlled at this price point. I didn't notice any on bright spots. I'll look at the moon tonight. The tripod fully extended is a little flimsy and doesn't calm down. I recommend using it with the top piece at the lowest point, then it's a nice tripod.

[@stargazer042468]

Hi. I just bought that exact telescope. I am a noob on scopes so i really appreciate your video. What brand/model can you suggest that i buy for the diagonal & the eyepiece to upgrade it? Thanks!

[@AVTAstro]

Hi, staying under $100 I would do this eyepiece set: amzn.to/3HokH23 and this diagonal: amzn.to/3L1lxUI Or another option is the same diagonal and 7-21mm zoom eyepiece: amzn.to/3oeymBu Hope this helps, Vlad.

[@romeovelasco4151]

Does it come both with an eyepieces of 45 and 90 degree angles? Thanks, nice review...

[@AVTAstro]

Yes it comes with 45* diagonal and two eyepiece. Honestly the eyepieces and diagonal are not very good though.

[@peterschreuder2600]

Would you recommend a celestron c80-hd? Can’t really find anyting about it.

[@AVTAstro]

Hi, if your on a budget and it's under $100 then yes it would be a good scope to start with. Much of what I talked about in this video will apply to that one as well.

[@Jonas.2024YAY]

Can see The planets?,what I Can see with this telescope?

[@AVTAstro]

You sure can, but they will be very small and unimpressive. It's a wide field scope for the big bright deep sky objects.

[@dcobbism]

I've seen quite a few of your other videos which have been helpful! My 2 cents on this, I bought a scope very similar to this and it almost turned me off from astronomy completely as I was so underwhelmed. Luckily Amazon took it back and I ended getting an 8" dob, which I consider to be my first "real" scope, and so far I'm very happy with it despite it being a tank. This may be fine as a spotting scope, although I'd just assume to use a pair of binoculars. I would not get this for astronomy though, and with only 20x I doubt you'd be able to make out Saturn's rings or really anything else besides the moon and random stars, which to me would get old pretty quick. Not knocking your video and I know they sent this to you for free and asked you to review, but IMHO anything under a few hundred dollars on telescope is bound to disappoint

[@AVTAstro]

Thanks for the feedback! As I said in the video no $100 telescope will ever be perfect. As I also said in the video I started with a scope like this and was just swept up in the hobby for life! 25 years later I'm fortunate to own some of the best astro gear in the world. Sometimes when friends are over that are not interested in astronomy I will show them some deep sky objects with my high end gear. Some are really blown away. Some are like: "thats it???" expecting to see an image like that produced in full color by Hubble. I guess what I'm trying to say is that no mater the equipment, some people will get into the hobby and its not the thing for others regardless of the equipment. But I don't think that there will be much argument from anyone that a 8" dob will be much better than a 70mm Achro on anything besides wide field views. Its also at least 5x more expensive, not nearly as portable, and takes up way more room when stored. It's just not in the cards for some people to start with anything besides one of these really entry level scopes. Vlad.

[@dcobbism]

@@AVTAstro True on all accounts! Keep making cool videos bud!

[@dougrennie4901]

Excellent video: thorough and balanced, an honest and accurate overview of this scope, both its strengths and its limitations. An implicit comparison between it and an 8” Dob is ludicrous. I already own 8 telescopes (down from 14 just 8 months ago) so I did not NEED this little SvBony but it was inexpensive and looked like fun. So I bought the 501P and with upgrades such as those you demonstrate in your video, have enjoyed it immensely. Is it comparable to my Stellarvue 80ED or TV 85? No Of course not. But then it didn’t cost $600….or $1,800.00 either. I keep it set up and parked by the door and when Iast minute decide to go out for 20 minutes, I cart it out, sit down on a patio chair and observe. Very nice looks at open clusters, star fields (such as M24), even the Orion Nebula; No, not ED quality but for quick, casual looks and low power wide field observing, it’s totally adequate. And SO lightweight! My god, it’s like carrying a sandwich. The optics are better than “not bad” with reasonably pinpoint stars and surprisingly little CA. Your presentation style is excellent: engaging, conversational, clear explanations supplemented with solid video, the whole thing evident of Here’s a guy who knows what he’s talking about. Best, Doug

[@kmichaelp4508]

Is that Shasta in the background? Okay... so what will $200 buy you?

[@AVTAstro]

Mt. St. Helens. I'll need to come up with a scope at $200!

[@kmichaelp4508]

@@AVTAstro , yeah I think most people that would like to get into astronomy are more likely to be willing to put out $200 or so to see if it is ment for them. I even think if the scope was of decent quality one would be willing to invest in upgrades.

[@user-gruser-55]

Ёмаё, опять ни слова по русски не знает.

[@AVTAstro]

Да, я русский и поэтому говорю на языке. Проблема в том, что есть около 2-3 русских, которых я КОГДА-ЛИБО встретит которые увлечены этим хобби, поэтому сказать несколько слов по-русски было бы все равно, что сказать их в Египте среднему зрителю. Надеюсь вы поняли ;)

[@user-gruser-55]

@@AVTAstro это шутка была, спасибо Вам, жаль что я не знаю английский, а так бы думаю интересно было бы послушать Вас