DJT1984

Thank you all so much for the tips and tricks here. My dad has a pair of pretty powerful binoculars that he never uses, I might borrow them and go for a walk around where I am going to be moving to and take a look around with them.

Thank you for all the responses, I really appreciate it. For a little bit of context I am moving back to back with a green belt area and with a 5 minute walk I will be in almost complete darkness with no light interfering, so I do intend to buy in the next few months. As I am in the process of buying a house I can't really start swinging seriously big money round on a telescope but I do have in the region of £300-£500 available. This was (approximately) what the 102 SynScan was priced at, but having created this thread last night I clicked on a link I saved to my favourites a long time ago and it's suddenly £425 - this is no doubt pandemic related. Whilst I intend to do some astrophotography in the future (I have a 7 year old Sony camera, the model of which I can't remember but know it is suitable for astrophotography) I am more concerned about getting to understand astronomy and using a telescope first. If I really take to it, and this is something I have always wanted to get into, then perhaps I could look at getting another telescope more suited for the photography side of things. Thank you for all the advice and for being so welcoming. Something I have always wanted to do and no clue where to start! And of course if it's an appropriate scope, I am completely open to a second hand purchase.

Small world! Thanks for replying. I would like to try Astrophotography at a later date but for now I'm looking at getting to know the night sky and visuals of the planets. I do think a GOTO scope will help me, I like the idea of entering some coordinates and getting the telescope to do the work for me, but if people think it's a bad idea I will of course listen as I am a total novice.

Hi everyone, Brand new member here and I'm sure you're familiar with the post where the new guy asks for help. I'm based in the north west of England and I've been looking at getting a telescope for some time. I'm just about to move house and I'll be living back to back with some serious green belt land so I think it's about time to get one. A while ago, I was recommended a Sky-Watcher Startravel 102 SynScan AZ GOTO scope by a professional astronomer. But when I say a while ago, this is ten years ago! I'm looking for one that has a GOTO in order to help me get around the night sky as it is not something I'm too good with even though I know lots about about. Would you recommend this telescope still or have better models come along, or am I completely not in the right ballpark with this kind of telescope? Thank you for any and all advice. Dan