I'm a novice/intermediate birder and bought this scope used - in excellent external condition - a year ago, as my first decent spotting scope. I chose the Pentax because I have a collection of 1.25" astronomy eyepieces to use with it. I've been enjoying it with a 13mm Baader Hyperion eyepiece - the contrast and wide field are great.
The 30x delivered by the 13mm is about the maximum power this scope handles well. I tried a few 10mm and 8mm eyepieces and they were all soft. With no other references I thought that was just the limitation of the scope. My birding friends mostly have Swarovski or Kowa scopes and when their scopes are sharper, I've just said "well, you get what you pay for." But the other night I used the PF65 on the sky for the first time, and noticed the diffraction patterns of stars suggest my scope is misaligned internally. The "bullseye" diffraction pattern of defocused stars is badly off center.
Is this typical, or should I seek to have the scope serviced? Can it even be realigned? As the second owner I'm not sure I have US warranty coverage. I have the original box but no paperwork.
Thanks!
Matt in California
The 30x delivered by the 13mm is about the maximum power this scope handles well. I tried a few 10mm and 8mm eyepieces and they were all soft. With no other references I thought that was just the limitation of the scope. My birding friends mostly have Swarovski or Kowa scopes and when their scopes are sharper, I've just said "well, you get what you pay for." But the other night I used the PF65 on the sky for the first time, and noticed the diffraction patterns of stars suggest my scope is misaligned internally. The "bullseye" diffraction pattern of defocused stars is badly off center.
Is this typical, or should I seek to have the scope serviced? Can it even be realigned? As the second owner I'm not sure I have US warranty coverage. I have the original box but no paperwork.
Thanks!
Matt in California