Baader Planetarium Sky Surfer III 30 mm Red Dot Finder

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 Baader 30 mm Sky Surfer III Red Dot Finder offers several advantages over the typical low-cost red dot finders.

The extra-large 30 mm 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 dew problems.

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 included). 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, as used on many imported refractors. Each Sky Surfer includes a replaceable 3 Volt lithium battery for extra long life.