I’ll start of this review by firmly stating that I am not a star gazer and have absolutely no experience of or knowledge of astronomy, I just thought it would be interesting to give it a go and I didn’t want to shell out huge amounts of money to do so. The reviews on the Gskyer AZ80400 seemed pretty decent all round so I thought I would give it a try.
The build of the telescope was pretty simple, nice clear diagrams showing the process in a step by step manner. As other reviewers have noted I do think it would benefit from a guide or something to accompany it, however, a quick search online gives you all sorts of information so that’s definitely not essential.
It has a pretty robust feel to it and comes with a variety of lenses so that you can view whatever you are looking at with different magnifications.
I took it out into my back garden and unfortunately my first night was a little cloudy so it was a bit of a struggle to find something worth looking at, however, setting up the sighting scope against a neighbour’s satellite dish did the trick and eventually I was able to get a clear view of a couple of stars and once I found them, focussing was pretty simple. My next step will be trying to find something specific (a planet or something) and not just pointing at random lights in the sky!

Overall I am pretty pleased with the purchase and fully intend to keep using it regularly and hopefully, I'll remember to post updates as I get more accomplished in it’s use.

This is a review of the Gskyer 80 mm refractor telescope. I am not an employee of Gskyer, I am an astronomy hobbyist. I have 3
other telescopes and a spotting scope. My review is based on this background and is a fair and honest assessment of the package both for daytime use as a spotting scope and as a night time astronomical telescope.

This is an entry level 80 mm short focal length refractor telescope/spotting scope package. It includes the optical tube assembly (the telescope), a mount/tripod, three eyepieces and a 3X barlow. Based upon my tests, it works well during the day as a spotting scope and at night as an astronomical telescope. The simple operation and stable mount make it an good first scope.

The Mount – This is a shining feature of this package. The tripod/mount of the Gskyer 80 mm is solid, stable, easy to direct and does a good job. The mount of the Gskyer 80 is an outstanding feature of this package. Note that it uses a dovetail attachment for the optical tube which means that the mount could be used with other optical tubes or other dovetail mounted accessories in the future. It also includes a standard 1/4 20 stud on top of the mounting rings which can be used to mount a camera or other accessories. The finder scope uses a standard dovetail mount so other finder scopes could be used. This is a level of flexibility you don’t typically see in a package at this price.

The Optical Tube Assembly – This is what you might normally think of as the telescope. The OTA works well and presents a good image. In side by side comparisons it compared well with my Meade 80 mm scope.
The included finder scope works well. The bracket is sturdy and provides ample adjustment so that you can align it with the optical tube assembly.

You will have to align the finder with the optical tube. This is a normal procedure required on any telescope and is best done during the day. Find a target as far away as possible, but at least 500 feet away.

Eyepieces – The included eyepieces present good images and are well matched to the scope. A nice touch is that they are threaded to accept standard astronomy filters which will help improve your view of the Moon, planets, nebula and other targets. The eyepieces, when combined with the included 3X barlow, provide 16X, 40X, 48X, 80X, 120X and 240X.

What can you see with this package?

During the day I tested the scope by focusing on the leaves of a maple tree at about 150 feet, about half a football field. I was able to see the veins in the leaves without difficulty. I have not taken it to a shooting range but I would expect it would do well for target practice. At 800 feet I was easily able to resolve leaves on the top of a tree as well as a bird perched on a branch. Many spotting scopes use zoom eyepieces so I tested it with the included eyepieces as well as my 8-24 mm zoom eyepiece with good results.

As an astronomy telescope it did well compared to my other 80 mm scope. The mount is easy to direct and the focuser made focusing easy. It worked well on Mars, Saturn and the rings,the Moon and star clusters. I expect it to work well on Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and its moons, stars, star clusters and double stars.

To a large extent what you can see with any telescope will depend on your ground and sky light pollution levels. I live in a very light polluted suburb of NYC. Even under these challenging conditions, in addition to the Moon and the bright planets, there are hundreds of star clusters, asterisms and double stars within the capability of this telescope. At a darker site, the range of what you can see greatly expands. That would include galaxies and nebula that would be challenging from a light polluted location for any telescope. Don’t expect things to look like the pictures in magazines. Those are produced with long exposure astrophotography, often have false color added, and do not represent what you will see through the eyepiece of a telescope many times larger than this one.

In summary, if you are looking for a compact, easy to carry, easy to use scope that can serve as a spotting scope during the day and an astronomical scope at night, the Gskyer 80 mm refractor should serve you well. And since it uses the standard 1.25” eyepiece and diagonal size it will let you add eyepieces, filters, diagonals and other accessories in the future. You can also take photos or videos through the eyepiece. You can hold the phone up to the eyepiece but there are attachments made for “digiscoping” with 1.25” eyepieces that make this a lot easier. Or add an eyepiece webcam to project the image on a screen or enter into the world of planetary imaging.

If you are looking for a scope for a tween or teen that they can use on their own, this would work. A smaller child would need help setting this up but a 10 year old can likely handle it on their own.

You should have a lot of fun with this scope.

Good and well made, high quality and fun

This is an awesome telescope for starters. Especially those that live in smaller spaces.

1. It’s collapsible, and I store it in my closet when we don’t use.
2. Great magnification for looking at the craters on the moon.
3. The price is so affordable for gifts.

Definitely recommend this telescope for starters