SOLOMARK Telescopes: Four Beginner Scopes and a Moon Filter

What SOLOMARK makes

SOLOMARK telescopes in our Amazon US data are four beginner kits, plus one accessory. Our data tracks the brand across telescopes, phone adapters, eyepieces, Barlows, finders and filters. The live listings are:

• 80900: 80 mm refractor, 900 mm focal length, manual alt-az mount, 10 mm and 20 mm eyepieces
• 90mm Telescope Vertisteel AZ Mount: 90 mm, 1000 mm focal length, manual alt-az mount, smartphone adapter
• 130EQ Newtonian Reflector Telescope: 130 mm reflector, manual equatorial mount, smartphone adapter
• 130mm Astronomical Telescope 650mm Alt-Az: 130 mm, 650 mm focal length, manual alt-az mount, WAK10mm and WAK20mm eyepieces, smartphone adapter, ages 8 to 12 listed
• 1.25 Inch Variable Polarizing Filter

With five listings, this page includes an "Alternatives to SOLOMARK" table from other makers. More on how it's built below.

SOLOMARK telescope lineup

The 80900 and the 90 mm Vertisteel: long refractors

Both refractors have long focal lengths for their size. The 80900 lists 900 mm on an 80 mm lens, which works out to about f/11. The 90 mm Vertisteel model lists 1000 mm on 90 mm, also about f/11.

A long focal length gives more magnification from each eyepiece. On the 80900, the 20 mm eyepiece gives 45x and the 10 mm gives 90x, by the arithmetic: focal length divided by eyepiece focal length. That's a good pair for the Moon and the bright planets. The tradeoff is a narrow field of view, so big star clusters and the Milky Way don't fit as well, and finding things takes a steady hand.

The other tradeoff is length. A 1000 mm focal length means a long tube to store and carry. Measure the closet before the box arrives.

Lucho saw the 1000 mm number and said, "Long tube, light legs. That's a lever. Tighten every knob before you let go." He's right. A long tube on a light tripod shakes when you touch the focuser, and every knob that's snug cuts the shake a little.

These suit a beginner who mostly wants the Moon and planets. Skip them if you want wide views of star fields, or if the scope has to fit in a small closet.

The two 130 mm reflectors: same mirror size, different mounts

The 130EQ Newtonian and the 130mm 650mm Alt-Az both list 130 mm of aperture. A 130 mm mirror gathers about 2.6 times the light of an 80 mm lens, by area. That's the reason to pick a reflector: fainter clusters, nebulae and galaxies.

The difference is the mount:

• 130EQ: manual equatorial. Aligned with Earth's axis, so one slow knob follows the stars once it's set up. That setup is polar alignment, and it takes some practice.
• 130mm 650mm Alt-Az: manual alt-az. Up-down and left-right, like a camera tripod. No alignment step.

The alt-az version lists 650 mm of focal length, which is f/5, a short tube and a wide view. It's the one with the 8-to-12 age range on its listing, and it lists WAK10mm and WAK20mm eyepieces. That's 65x and about 33x.

The 130 mm Alt-Az suits a family starting out, especially with a kid in the listed age range. The 130EQ suits someone who wants to learn an equatorial mount on a beginner scope before buying a bigger one.

SOLOMARK polarizing filter: dimming the Moon

The 1.25 Inch Variable Polarizing Filter screws into the bottom of an eyepiece. It's two polarizing layers you twist against each other to let through more or less light. Think of it as sunglasses for the Moon. The Moon has never once asked for them, but a full Moon through a 130 mm mirror is bright enough to make you squint.

It's not for the Sun. See the safety section at the bottom of this page.

My one opinion: pick the kit with a phone adapter

On a family's first telescope, I'd take a smartphone adapter over a third eyepiece. The reason is about people, and it's checkable. Only one person can look through an eyepiece at a time. A phone held over the eyepiece shows the same view on a screen, so the whole porch sees the crater while the youngest still has a turn at the real view.

Three of SOLOMARK's four telescopes list a phone adapter: the 90 mm Vertisteel, the 130EQ and the 130 mm Alt-Az. The 80900 doesn't in our data; adding one is easy, but check your eyepiece's outside size before you order.

How to pick within SOLOMARK

1. Kid in the 8-to-12 range: the 130mm 650mm Alt-Az, the only one that lists it.
2. Mostly Moon and planets, simple mount: the 80900 or the 90 mm Vertisteel.
3. Want to learn an equatorial mount: the 130EQ.
4. Already own a scope and the Moon's too bright: the polarizing filter.

Magnification check for all four: Celestron's eyepiece guide puts the highest useful magnification at about 60x per inch (25.4 mm) of aperture. That's about 189x for 80 mm, 213x for 90 mm and 307x for 130 mm. The included eyepieces in our data all land well under those numbers.

Alternatives to SOLOMARK

The alternatives table above lists ten telescopes from other makers chosen by type and aperture: refractors and one Maksutov from 70 to 105 mm, and a 114 mm reflector, all in the beginner range. What each group adds:

• Similar manual refractors: Gskyer's AZ90600 (90 mm, 600 mm) and 80 mm (400 mm), and Celestron's AstroMaster 70AZ and 90AZ. The Gskyers have shorter focal lengths than SOLOMARK's refractors, so they show wider fields.
• A refractor kit with a phone adapter: the SVBONY SV520, 90 mm and 800 mm.
• GoTo: the National Geographic 70 mm computerized refractor, if you'd rather a motor did the finding.
• Manual equatorial: the Celestron PowerSeeker 114EQ, a 114 mm reflector, and the iOptron 6002, a 70 mm, 900 mm refractor.
• Tubes only: SVBONY's SV48P 90 mm and MK105 Maksutov, for someone who already has a mount.

Focal ratio: the number the boxes leave out

None of the SOLOMARK listings give a focal ratio in our data, but you can work it out. Divide the focal length by the aperture:

• 80900: 900 ÷ 80 = f/11.25
• 90 mm Vertisteel: 1000 ÷ 90 = f/11.1
• 130mm 650mm Alt-Az: 650 ÷ 130 = f/5

A high f-number like f/11 means a long, slow tube: narrow field, high magnification from ordinary eyepieces, and less of the colored fringe that short refractors show around bright objects. A low f-number like f/5 means a short, fast tube: wide field, lower magnification per eyepiece, and room for star fields. Neither is better. They're for different skies. I write the division in the margin of my observing notebook, because I'd rather check it than remember it.

Setting up the 130EQ's mount, briefly

An equatorial mount has two axes. One, the polar axis, has to point at the celestial pole, near Polaris in the Northern Hemisphere. Once it does, turning one slow-motion knob keeps an object in view as the sky turns.

The steps are the same on most manual equatorial mounts:

1. Level the tripod.
2. Set the latitude scale to your latitude. Las Cruces is about 32 degrees north; look yours up.
3. Point the polar axis north, toward Polaris.
4. Balance the tube with the counterweight so it doesn't swing when you loosen a clamp.
5. Find an object with the finder, then follow it with the right-ascension knob.

It's fussy the first night and routine by the fifth. If that sounds like work you don't want, the 130 mm Alt-Az has the same mirror size without the step.

Using the phone adapter on the Moon

The adapter is a clamp that holds a phone's camera lens over the eyepiece. It takes a few minutes to line up the first time. These steps work on most clamps:

1. Find and focus the Moon by eye first, with the lowest-power eyepiece.
2. Clamp the phone with its camera centered over the eyepiece. Center it with the screen on, so you can see the circle of light.
3. Lock the exposure on the phone's camera app. The Moon is bright, so pull the brightness down.
4. Use the timer or a remote so pressing the button doesn't shake the tube.
5. Take several. Unsteady air blurs some frames and not others.

On the long refractors, the Moon will drift out of view fairly quickly at higher power, since the mounts are manual. Nudge it back and shoot again. That's normal, not a fault.

Storing and carrying

Store refractors with the dust cap on and the focuser racked in. Store reflectors upright or flat with the front cap on, so dust doesn't settle on the mirror. Keep eyepieces in a case, not loose in a drawer. A drawer is where an eyepiece goes to collect lint.

Who should skip SOLOMARK for now

Skip this list if you want GoTo; all four are manual. Skip the long refractors if storage is tight. Skip the 130EQ if nobody in the house wants to learn polar alignment this year. And if the goal is long-exposure photos of galaxies, start with our astrophotography telescopes page instead; none of these list a tracking mount.

Sun safety

Never look at the Sun through a telescope, binoculars, a finder or a camera, or with your eyes, without a certified solar filter made for that purpose and fitted correctly. Eye damage can be instant and permanent.

A Moon filter or polarizing filter is not a solar filter. The American Astronomical Society warns that filters which thread into an eyepiece can be burned through by sunlight concentrated by the telescope. A real solar filter covers the front of the tube.

Twist the filter until the Moon stops shouting. Then look for the craters along the edge of the dark.