Well, not exactly true - the tripod mount was very good

I discovered that the telescope is - in fact - designed very well! The problem is that the (Chinese) factory used the wrong sized bolts on the primary mirror mount

I have spent many happy hours with a good set of binoculars that cost under $200

should not have waited so long Love it

Thus, I have upgraded my rating to 2 stars, since I am now able to see really nice views of the moon, planets, clusters, etc

I did not replace the bolts with shorter ones, because I wanted the black bolts to prevent light reflection and did not have any short ones