By Alexander Merz · Updated on · Details checked on 11 October 2026
This page explains how sterngucker.de reviews telescopes: which scopes we use ourselves, how we count owner reports, where specs and prices come from, and how we earn money. It applies to every buying guide on our site, including our best telescopes guide.
⭐ In short: every review rests on up to three sources, and we name them on the page: our own use, a count of real owner reports, and verified manufacturer specs. We only call something “tested” when we have used it ourselves.
Our data in numbers
Our recommendations draw on more experience than a single tester could ever gather. As of October 2026.
| Source | Scope |
|---|---|
| Personal telescope advice | more than 1,700 answered requests from all language versions of the site |
| Experience database | more than 290 sourced entries from astronomy forums, YouTube reviews and comments, manufacturer data and our own research, growing all the time |
| Forums | forum.astronomie.de, Astrotreff (German), Cloudy Nights, Reddit (English), Webastro (French) |
| Review videos | German, English and French YouTube channels, counted per scope (e.g. 12 video reviews and more than 80 owners for the Seestar S50 Pro) |
| Our own scopes | 8-inch Dobsonian and Unistellar eVscope 2 |
When we say “top pick”, we mean “top pick according to the community”: the scope that performs best across these sources combined. It is not a lab measurement, and we say so on the page.
Three sources, clearly labelled
Each review states at the top which of these sources it uses. That way you know whether you are reading hands-on experience or a careful analysis.
| Source | What it means | How we label it |
|---|---|---|
| Own use | We have set up the scope ourselves and observed with it | Named in the text, with our own photos |
| Owner reports | We counted what real owners report in forums | Number of owners, threads and period |
| Verified specs | Manufacturer and dealer data, checked against each other | Source and month in the spec table |
The telescopes we use ourselves
We observe with an 8-inch Dobsonian (Omegon Advanced 203) and the Unistellar eVscope 2 smart telescope. Both appear in our own videos, for example focusing the eVscope with a Bahtinov mask and observing the globular cluster M13.
For every other scope we say plainly that we do not own it.
How we count owner reports
One tester has one unit and a few nights; hundreds of owners have hundreds of units over years. Where we lack hands-on experience, we therefore count what owners report instead of paraphrasing a single review.
- Sources: forum.astronomie.de, Astrotreff, Cloudy Nights, Webastro and Reddit (via a public archive), plus review videos and comments on YouTube in German, English and French
- Our advice service: from more than 1,300 telescope consultations we know which questions beginners really have and which scopes they end up keeping
- Only owners count: we read every post and drop everyone who is only asking or still waiting for delivery
- Once per topic: each owner counts once per topic, however often they repeat it
- Numbers are minimums: we give the number of threads, posts and the period
Bias, named every time: people with a problem are more likely to post than happy owners, so problems are over-represented. We never turn forum voices into star ratings, because they are our reading of other people’s reports, not a survey.
Specs and prices
Specs come from the manufacturer and at least one dealer, and we note where they disagree. If a figure is not published, such as battery life or mirror glass, we say so instead of guessing.
Prices update automatically from the retailer. On our English pages, readers in the US see US dealers and dollar prices.
Data we calculate ourselves
Astronomical data on our site is calculated, not copied: Moon phases, rise and set times and distances come from the JPL ephemeris DE421 and are cross-checked. We compare object data with databases such as SIMBAD.
Where sources disagree, we show it on the page instead of picking the most convenient number.
How we make money
Links marked with an asterisk are affiliate links: if you buy through them, we earn a commission, and your price stays the same. Advertising is always labelled as such.
Which telescope we recommend does not depend on the commission rate. Where a scope is not worth its price, we say so and name better alternatives.
Corrections
When we find an error, we fix it and update the date at the top of the page. If you spot one, write to us at info@sterngucker.de.
Guides built on this method
- ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: who should buy it
- Celestron StarSense Explorer
- Best telescopes: the complete buying guide
Who is behind the reviews
Alexander Merz writes our telescope guides and answers the requests in our free telescope advice service. He observes with his own 8-inch Dobsonian (Omegon Advanced 203) and a Unistellar eVscope 2.