Very Amateur

I've gone retro and bought the Philips SPC900 webcam. I installed the SPC900NC_00_dw7_eng.exe driver using Hildo's procedure above and it's working on my Windows 10 PC in Sharpcap. Fingers crossed for some clear sky soon to put it into action! Thanks Hildo.

Ive got my eye on the Bresser. It says it needs a new mount weight. I guess that can't be too hard to replace? Depending on what is needed it does look like it might add another £20-40 but it seems worth it unless anyone thinks otherwise?

Looks like it's already gone. Thanks for pointing me there though.

I've been around the houses researching for my first telescope. Refractor v reflector, Goto/ wifi v manual. I had narrowed it down to 4 for my budget; SW Skymax 102/ Explorer 130PS or the Goto variants or the Celestron equivalents. I was then reading some more info and thought maybe to ditch the Goto and go with a manual 150mm for the bigger aperture. My eyes were then turned by a 8" dob (SW or Orion) or maybe 10" if i can find it at a good price. Having said that and just checking prices again I think the 10 will be out of budget. I then read that the dob might not be that good in light polluted areas so i've come full circle not knowing what to go for. I'd like to do some astrophotography but think that might come later so isn't a priority at the moment. The scope will mainly be for garden use to explore as much as possible and learn the night sky. So, with a budget of £350, living in north Surrey and the above info, what would you go for if you were buying your first telescope again?

Thanks, i'd probably shine a light down at the mirror but that sounds like it should be avoided. Thanks for the eyepiece info. When you can't go along to a group and speak with people this is a great help.

Great info. Many thanks. Some things I didn't think of. I have however been doing as you suggest about researching reviews and prices online and sticking to well know brands.

Hi all First post here! I'm looking to get my first telescope and currently looking at second hand on the usual online places. I'm looking at telescopes that would perhaps retail up to about £300 but are maybe a few years old. What sort of prices are reasonable? I looking at it that if I was to buy a brand new scope of same or similar specs today, what price would I expect to pay secondhand? 50%? More? Less? (Hope that makes sense!) Also, when I rock up to collect, other than obvious damage, what should I be looking for to confirm its in good working order? Anything else i need to consider? Thanks