Price:
$39.00
It seems everyone offers some type of low-cost red dot finder these days. The relatively low cost and intuitive ease of locating objects make these finders the perfect companion to telescopes, large and small. Baader Planetarium has taken this basic concept another step forward. Finding objects in dim star fields or light polluted skies is now easier than ever. The Sky Surfer III offers several advantages over the typical low-cost red dot finders. The extra-large 30mm optical aperture and improved optical quality delivers a much larger undistorted view and razor-sharp red dot. Unlike many red-dot finders, the Sky Surfer III incorporates optimized anti-reflective lens coatings which deliver proper locator dot brightness with virtually no image dimming. One other new feature you will really come to appreciate is the extra-long lens housing, which acts as a shield to effectively prevent dewing.
Mounting and adjustment of the Sky Surfer is simple. Elevation and Azimuth adjustment is accomplished by turning the two knurled adjustment knobs. The red locator dot intensity is adjusted by a knurled adjusting knob. Attachment to your telescope is also straightforward, with all necessary parts included. Simply attach a base to your telescope, slip on the finder, and tighten the two dovetail clamp screws. Three bases are included. The short base works best for large tubes. It includes two mounting slots (for screw mounting) and may also be attached with double sided foam tape (not supplied). The taller base fits smaller diameter tubes (as well as large tubes using the included spacer plate) and the slotted holes accommodate the factory hole pattern of popular SCTs. The third base fits the Vixen finder dovetail standard used on many import refractors. Each Sky Surfer includes a replaceable 3V lithium battery for extra long life.
"Just to let you know, the order arrived on Saturday. Thanks so much for the quick service! Had a chance to test out the Sky Surfer a bit; no question, it totally outclasses the Tele Vue QuikPoint that was mounted on my grab-and-go scope. It's simply much easier to use in every respect. It mounted onto the base for the QuikPoint w/o a problem. I will definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an inexpensive RDF." Jack Beuthin
"I got the sky surfer Thursday. Wow! Thanks for the fast shipment. I have tried many units currently on the market, and this looks to be the best designed red dot finder I have seen so far." John Miele
Brand
Baader Planetarium
Telescope Accessories Series
Finderscopes
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 13 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
92%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Most Liked Positive Review
Nice finder scope and a great price
This is a red dot scope. A red dot appears where the scpe is pointing. I feel that this allows more precise aiming. You have to pick a fairly bright object though. Even ...Read complete review
This is a red dot scope. A red dot appears where the scpe is pointing. I feel that this allows more precise aiming. You have to pick a fairly bright object though. Even with that I found I needed to turn the power on and off because the dot overwhelmed the object. It came with several different bases which made installation easy.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
A bad Baader red dot finder
The frustrating thing about this product is that it
cannot do what it is supposed to do. It is poorly
designed.
The frustrating thing about this product is that it
cannot do what it is supposed to do. It is poorly
designed.
Reviewed by 13 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-5
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Pros
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Best Uses
Comments about Baader Planetarium Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finderscope:
This is a great finderscope! The dot is clear and precise and the brightness adjustment is nice. However, there is no way to line your eyes up with the dot consistently. This means that the red dot moves depending on where you place your eyes in relation to the scope. This makes calibration and sighting are a tad more tricky. But otherwise solid construction.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Baader Planetarium Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finderscope:
Baader Planetarium easy to instal and works perfectly. Also, the Celestron 25X100 Binoculars in same order arrived in perfect condition and I can not say enough about them, the construction, the optics all in focus, and the heavy duty tripod is strong enough to allow easy manipulation of the large Binoculars. All three items arrived at the same time and I am perfectly happy.
Pros
Cons
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Comments about Baader Planetarium Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finderscope:
The red dot finders are easier than the finder scopes. I have a 10x50 right angle correct image finder scope(RACI)on my telescope but I always go to the red dot finder first if I have a visual on the target. It is just quicker.
I had to buy the shoe attachment in order to mount it to my scope, but it was worth it.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Baader Planetarium Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finderscope:
I use this red dot finder on my Farpoint FAR-Sight binocular mount. Aligning the finder with the binocular view is quick and intuitive. Once aligned, pointing my binoculars at the right object in the night sky is easy.
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Baader Planetarium Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finderscope:
I Love this finderscope! I have a Celestron Powerseeker 127 and as a total beginner I was set up and ready to go in 10 min. I had to loosen the screws that were on the slide track of the finderscope but once set on the mount provided, I tightened them down and calibrated the scope and was provided with dead center views.I was very hesitant to buy because I had no idea what would work with my scope. The fittings are versitile-depending on the scope. It fit perfectly without taping. I impatiently waited for it to get dark and I was able to zero in on stars. What a relief!
Service and delivery comments:
I was disappointed with Fed EX for excessivly roughing up the packages as usual. This put scratches on the front end of the scope, some fairly deep. It didn't mess with the function of the product plus I waited too long to have this so I didn't want to deal with sending it back. They did deliver when they said they would. I just wish my scope looked brand new.
Displaying reviews 1-5
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