This is my first telescope. First thing I noticed when I took it out of the box was its size. It is large but it still fits in the corner of my little apartment for easy storage. Once I got it out of the box everything went together easily. The tray is installed from the bottom of the tripod and is screwed in with the central screw, this was the one thing that gave me any gruff. To be fair though I did not use any instructions putting it together. I did a fair amount of research before picking this scope and one thing that I don't think I read was that the dew shield is removable. If removed though the dust cover does not make a tight fit over the front objective. Also the dew shield is not secured to the scope in any way. The three eye pieces work really well. Like all other quality reviews I've read I can't stress enough to use the lowest power first. Center the object then quickly put in the next magnification and focus then center. Once it is centered and in focus move to the highest. And the slow motion control knobs are awesome.
The moon has been large and high in the sky since I got it but I've had it out every night since I got it and the morning of the blue blood lunar eclipse of 2018. I can have it set up and viewing objects in less than 10 minutes. The pictures below were just taken from my cell phone through the EP.
The first is of the Pleiades open cluster.
Jupiter and the four moons, I was able to see the bands and zones but wasn't sure If the red spot was in transit. Also Jupiter has been out in the morning so not exactly ideal viewing conditions.
The moon with a 25% filter and a day from full.
The moon during the lunar eclipse.
One final thought on astronomy. One thing that kept me away was people saying that its too bright at night to see anything good. I think that if one can go outside and see stars then a telescope is only going to make it better. Starting off with binoculars is what I did for about 2 months and then I finally bought this scope and couldn't be happier with it.
-Nick

Better than expected. Bought this because it was easy to set up. Have taken it on multiple camping trips with no fuss. Once you figure out the best lens combo for what you're looking at it give a pretty good view. Can easily see the cloud bands on Jupiter and the ring of Saturn. Best thing to do is point it at a random spot in the Milky Way and let the stars come to you.

These are fantastic! I bought one for my 8 and 10 year old grandsons, & they love them. But the 8 yr olds dad put it n his bedroom when they was expecting a lot of company. He doesn't want any body to mess with it unless he's rite there. If u buy it I don't think you'll b disappointed

Used as a solar projection scope during the last eclipse, then gave to friend with young children. Worked very well projecting onto a white board under a large shading umbrella. Gave a very distinct (could easily see sunspots) 10-11 inch image. Friends and their children love it.

Just be aware that this is a manual az/el mount and requires manual tracking on both axis.

Meade 102mm it's a great telescope first night out I saw Jupiter and it's bands with three moons, Saturn with its rings, and the moon. I also looked at Vega. The tripod is pretty sturdy doesn't shake too much only when you adjust it. Assembly was a breeze. The red dot finder scope makes finding things easier I haven't gotten it fully accurate but got it close enough to find it with in 5-10 seconds. A great telescope for beginners or even amateur. Update the more I use it the more I love it you can see clusters and some galaxies. But I would recommend upgrading the lenses