Damon B

Hello, and welcome!

Hello, I recently purchased an Astronomers without Borders OneSky that I have some difficulty getting to stay on target, so I ordered a "beginner" telescope to get used to aiming a scope. After much reading and shopping, I settled on the Popular Science version of the Celestron 80AZS, from Celestron's website (it also has some extras not included in the "plain" Astromaster package). I also ordered an SVBony dielectric diagonal to do an upgrade from the included prism diagonal. The 80AZS is on sale right now for 150$ (USA) and the diagonal was another 40$. It came in yesterday, and I couldn't be more pleased. The aiming is more intuitive, and I don't seem to have any odd color fringes on the moon, Jupiter, or Saturn. I didn't get a case for it, but they have them for sale on Amazon for up to another 100$. All told that would be right to the top of your budget. Hope this helps, as I am a beginner myself.

Hello, I am Damon B, logging in from Oklahoma in the USA. I am a non traditional college student that got some exxposure to astronomy in a general science course. While I had already enjoyed watching science documentaries, my interest was really piqued about using a telescope to view the stars. Got myself an AWB OneSky a week ago and have been out observing most every night since. Not much schooling left to go before I have some real free time, I'm hoping to enjoy the telescope with my grandkids!