Planning to buy a first telescope?

chemisttree

I would be very skeptical of that. Spotting scopes on a tiny tripod are a recipe for shaky, marginal quality astro views. If it were good enough to be an astronomical telescope, the makers of this spotting scope would certainly brag about that!

Chronos

Anything less than 6" aperature would be disappointing for planetary viewing.

nickthrop101

Can anyone guve any idea of a good model telescope to get?
I've had previous telescopees, but I am now lookign for something that is as good as you can get from the range of £100-£250.
Thanks Guys :-)

Chronos

Some nice newtonians in that price range. I would check out ebay.

Littlejenny

with about 400$, any suggestion for me ? what i should buy, pls me a store or brand in US pls :D

turbo

An Orion XT8 is well within your budget. It is an 8" Newtonian on an alt-azimuth (Dobsonian) mount. By staying with a simple, inexpensive mount you get the best optics for your money.

Chronos

I would browse ebay to see what is available. There are some nice cats there in your price range on a regular basis e.g., http://cgi.ebay.com/Meade-8-LX90-Scm...10907123046014

Littlejenny

thx for that suggestion, hmm, i've searched for it in google, seem to be quite good :D

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turbo

It has parabolically-figured primary mirror (not spherically, so you can escape some coma) and has enough aperture to get you into some pretty serious fuzzy-hunting territory. This is a decent scope with reasonable aperture. Buy a nice atlas or set of charts, so you can learn your way around the night sky, and you'll be busy for years.

blitzfu

Binoculars vs Telescopes

Which one would allow me to see farther into space:
A 20x80 Astronomy Binocular or a 60x600 Telescope?

Does an impression of depth with binoculars actually enhance the star-gazing experience?

Sorry for the noob questions, but I'm about to buy my first AB/Telescope and wanted to get some opinions. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

russ_watters

Welcome to PF.

If seeing "farther" means seeing more distant objects, then a telescope is the answer.

turbo

Many people find it more natural to view with both eyes instead of just one. That comfort (as opposed to an "impression of depth") drives lots of folks to buy binocular attachments with duplicated eyepieces for their telescopes.

If you buy a telescope, you'll have the opportunity to change eyepieces, so you can use a range of magnifications and get a range of field-of-view. Lots of people think that they will want lots of magnification, and are surprised at how often they use longer (lower-power) eyepieces in order to get a wider field of view.

If you can arrange it, please attend a star-party or two before making your decision. You'll be able to view through a few instruments and get an idea what you can see through them. There is no point in spending money on decent gear before you actually know what you can expect it to do for you.

Chronos

I agree with turbo-1. Balance aperature with portability. A scope too difficult to handle and set up will not be enjoyable.

Chronos

No argument on Questar, not a a good value. Meade and Celestron make better instruments for less $$. I'm somewhat partial to Meade's Schmidt-Newts [great bang for the buck]. On the other hand, the Meade ACF has phenomenal optics, better mount/goto, and is more portable - but, about twice the price per inch of aperature. I'm lazy so I prefer the ACF. Allow me to add, however, any scope over 10" is a royal pain to lug around.

northern lass

I want to buy a telescope for my husband for christmas but as he does a lot of camping I am wondering if the Explorer 130 or Astromaster 130EQ would be too big to transport?

northern lass

My budget would be max 150 pounds

russ_watters

When you say camping, do you mean hiking or does he park his car near his campsite? I have occasionally taken my rig on the road and it weighs about 70kg. As long as I can park my car within 50m or so of where I'm setting it up, it is fine.