7 year old boy first scope?

[captaincaveman]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the Top Ten Telescopes from Green Witch Skywatcher Infinity- the reviews are very good, he can use it on its stand or by holding it and its cheap enough that if he doesn't really get into it then its not too expensive. Sky at Night gave it an excellent review- may be in the market for one for one of my children too this christmas.

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/66.pdf (review s@n)

Hope this helps

posted while i was looking:D

[Earl]

To throw a Spanner in the works, There is much to be said about Binoculars.

[ivrytwr3]

agreed - but definately after a scope.

[Capricorn]

Where about in the UK are you?

Lets face it if someone is close enough with one or two scopes of different types maybe they could show you them and you would get a better insight.

Additionally clubs are starting to get active. Several will have public evenings, again good to visit.

[ivrytwr3]

I'm in Lincolnshire - LN4.

[smudgeball]

Hi

I had a shot on a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ

When my Astronomy club had a "bring along ya scope" evening

I was very impressed and I seem to remember it being brought along by a teenage boy ?

Neil

[Capricorn]

Don't know if any of the following as active, would suspect that most are:

Cleethorpes & District Astronomical Society

Lincoln Astronomical Society

Spalding Astro

Also I know there are a few people on SGL from around there. Have a look at the collection of groups/communities they may have formed a group. Just not densely populated so people tend to be a bit spread out.

As you will have guessed I have no idea where LN4 is, Just Lincolnshire. Will go look it up in a minute.

There is a North Lincs Group:

Stargazers Lounge - North Lincs Astro Group

PM Nexus 6 and ask them as they seem to be the main contact I would say.

[Vicky]

posted while i was looking:D

Great minds and all that

[jamespels]

I have just been having a very similar conversation with on eof the guys at work who wants to get his lad a scope. Budget was "under £100".

Best we came up with (based on reviews) were the Infinity as mentioned above or, for a "proper" scope, this: Sky-Watcher Sky-Watcher Capricorn 70x900 Astronomy telescope starter kit.

I agree with the comment above about bins... a decent pair that can be popped on a tripod nay well give a better view than either of these telescopes for less £££s. My Rev 20x80s are excellent and cost £40 from Scopes n Skies Astroboot (though you do need to be a tad lucky - the quality of Rev bins seems to vary quite a lot from pair to pair and Astroboot's stock depends entirely on what cheap deals SnS can find). Something size of the 20x80s wieghs a reasonable amount and I wouldn't get them without a tripod for me, never mind a 7yo.

Best of luck win Afghanistan. and hth,

J.

[lexyastroman]

>>>>

Best we came up with (based on reviews) were the Infinity as mentioned above or, for a "proper" scope, this: Sky-Watcher Sky-Watcher Capricorn 70x900 Astronomy telescope starter kit.

<<<<

Well i can certainly vouch for the Capricorn 70mm as it was my first scope. I actually done a review on here

http://stargazerslounge.com/member-equipment-reviews/152095-skywatcher-capricorn-70mm-review.html

The only thing is though i'm not sure it would be good for a 7 year old as it can be bit big and clumsy and will almost certainly need some parental supervison. So i would still consider the Orion 80mm tabletop if i was going for a kids first scope. That being said the capricorn would be a good second scope if the child maintains interest in the hobby after a year or two. You get some really good views of the planets from it.

[studdedsole]

When my son was 7 his attention span was limited so we went with 10x50 bino's so he could nip out when it suited and look around, mainly at the moon. He wouldn't have be able to navigate the night sky looking for DSO's anyway at 7yrs and wouldn't have spent the time required to set up a scope.

He is 13 now and has just aquired at 250mm dob and is just able to move it around and set it up without help.

So it would be bino's for me, tripods, collimation etc are just too much for young uns and some of us older folks.

Maybe something along these lines

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/helios/helios-naturesport-plus.html

[astronymonkey]

Id be tempted to agree with the binoculars suggestion, probably some 7x 40mm or similar, and get an astronomy book and planisphere to go with them. You should be able to get the lot for less than £40.

I was lucky enough to get a pair of 8x30 bins when I was six and used them for everything from birdwatching to astronomy so they came in handy for lots of things.

A scope is great, but at 7 you can only see the stars in the winter (unless you are allowed to stay up late during summer) and the higher mag of the scope means its difficult to aim and can be difficult to store.

If he gets into astronomy then great, if not at least he has some binoculars to take on holidays etc,

cheers

[Smeg]

It looks like a tea kettle or a Cauldron

[GazOC]

I would definately consider a refractor on an alt/az or fork mount for a 7 year old, something like this maybe First Light Optics - Skywatcher Evostar 90 (AZ3) The reflectors will need maintenance at some point ie. collimation and an eq mount may be difficult for a child of that age to manage. Be safe out there bud.

That was the setup I went for when my 8 year old niece started taking an interest in astronomy.

[martynjjones]

I'm in a similar~ish position. My 5+1/2 year old is mad keen on sapce/planets/stars and in fairness to him has been throughout all of Summer and indeed earlier. Even in July he decided he wanted a telescope for Christmas. The last couple of weeks he's been up most mornings desperate to look for Jupiter before it disappears with dawn.

He's a couple of years younger - probably quite a significant couple of years but I'm now looking at these two:

Celestron Firstscope 76 Special Edition ~ £50 and includes a kit with 4 eyepieces, moon filter etc.

SkyWatcher Infinity 76P ~ £35

Obviously for that money I don't expect anything much at all, I did for a second think of splurging and getting a Skywatcher Skyliner 130P (as much for me as him) but as has been said, not the most sensible and not really appropriate. Maybe in a few years - the stars won't be going anywhere soon! To be honest, I think I'ld be so uptight with him near my brand new £200 telescope, in the dark, that he'd be put off astronomy for life.

Obviously I've heard really good things about the Skywatcher but less about the Firstscope, but the mount makes me a little worried about how easy it will be to keep still. The Firstscope looks more like a telescope and makes me think it might last the few years until he's ready (if he's still keen) for a 'proper' telescope.

[brantuk]

I too would recommend the Skywatcher ST80 on a camera tripod. Easy for the mrs to set up, and pretty robust for a 7 yr old with next to no maintenance required. I have this set up myself and I'm 57yrs old lol

[anuvid]

I have bought for my 7 year old and ended up getting a goto scope. I know it's not the purist thing to do but I don't want his initial interest to fizzle into apathy because of the wait times and effort involved in setup and also locating objects. Whatever you do, I hope your son enjoys what you get him, and the best of luck to you on your work over Christmas.