New Telescope Buyer Seeking Expert Advice

[Stratosphere]

I have never owned a telescope before (only 20x80 binoculars) and I am looking to buy one now. I have 600 dollars to spend so i went and picked out what I THINK is a good good one for the price, however I'm not sure. So can any of you telescope experts out there take a look over this one?

Also what does an eye piece do (will I need any additional ones other than what comes with the scope?).

http://www.telescopes.com/telescope...umellz10deluxedobsonianreflectortelescope.cfm

I also found this one, http://www.skywatcherusa.com/10-dobsonian-telescope-s11720.html

 

[turbo]

Zhumell has a pretty good reputation, and by sticking with a Dob', you're putting most of your money into optics, not fancy mounts and electronics. I already own a 6" Apochromat, but if I ever get another scope with more light-grasp, a Zhumell Dob' is at the top of the list. Have fun!

 

[Stratosphere]

What about eye pieces?

 

[turbo]

What about eye pieces?

try the scope for a while and see. You have to pay some attention, though. If you start buying EPs in variations of 2, you' be pretty stupid to buy a 2X barlow, since you'd be duplicating all but the highest and lowest EPs. Borrow EPs from friends and plan!

 

[Nabeshin]

I would recommend you get at least one additional eyepiece. From the zhumell scope, I saw it comes with a 9mm eyepiece, which gives magnification of something like 120x. This is pretty good for planetary viewing (although a little more magnification can be useful), and also good for lunar viewing. For DSOs though, often times you want a little less magnification (also for just general viewing and spotting things). I'd recommend something in the 20-25mm range.

 

[Chronos]

more shopping choices http://www.opticsplanet.net/telebesandtop.html I am partial to cats.

 

[turbo]

What about eye pieces?

My response was abrupt and I apologize. Get together with some observing buddies (you might want to join an astronomy club, which I always recommend as step #1) and swap EP's in and out. You will want a nice wide-angle EP (long focal length) for many objects, but some of them do not "play well" with fast Newtonians. You'll have to find out what works well for you. Then, when you have identified some EPs that you might want, you should look at their focal lengths and see if you might be best-served by a 2, 2.5, 3X Barlow and still avoid duplication of powers. Barlows can be handy when boosting the power of an EP while still retaining the eye-relief of the EP. Some really short EP's can be terrible in that regard, especially if you have to wear glasses to correct for astigmatism, etc.

 

[chemisttree]

What about eye pieces?

The http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=8933" covers focal lengths of 21 mm, 17.6 mm, 15.5 mm, and 14mm. Any of those can be barlowed as well.

Those combinations retain the flat field, 68^o AFOV and 20 mm eye relief. I can't imagine a better deal for the price.