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First look at jupiter using argos telescope.

divinityitself

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mindburner

mindburner

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these store scopes do serve a purpose in that they get people into astronomy for very little ££. The main problems are the over exaggerated claims of magnification and hubble like images on the box. They usually use inch eyepieces which are of poor quality and wibbly wobbly tripods. You have done it right,get a basic scope, use it and see if it's worth going larger. If definitely is!:)

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JimStan

JimStan

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No, you will not be "run out of town" by this group. A bunch of nice fellows and gals. We all started somewhere, and many of us with those "cheap dimestore telescopes". I personally had a 70mm "600 power" telescope when I was too young to know better, and the best thing that I did for that scope was to purchase a 15mm eyepiece. That slightly better quality eyepiece improved the scope so much that I actually hung on to it a little longer than I might have, otherwise!

I don't know what your scope uses, but many of that variety use a .965 barrel diameter on the eyepieces, and they are somewhat more difficult to find than the 1.25 and 2 inch varieties. I wouldn't spend too much money on that scope, but would, as others have advised, save up your money and purchase something between 6 and 10 inches for a step up. See what you can see with this scope, and then appreciate how much better things will look with a higher quality future purchase!

Welcome to the avocation!

Jim S.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Everyones been brilliant, thanks guys! I was half expecting to get run out of town for having a "store" scope! And told to never darken this door again! I made the mistake of telling my workmates last night about seeing Jupiter and had to suffer 8 hours of Uranus jokes so its good that people here appreciated my enthusiasm (if not my equipment!)

I see that a lot of you have your equipment listed under your names so i might just put my beast of scope in there! And maybe the argos code for it!:)

SGL is really friendly and you will never be "run out of town". We might advise against buying department store scope, but once you've bought it, we will give you as much support as we can.

A basic entry level telescope like a Sky Watcher Heritage 130p will set you back approx £130

If your budget is below £100, the normal advice is to purchase a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 binocular. A £50 pair of bino usually have better optics than a £50 telescope. While binos do not have enough magnifications to show planets like Jupiter in detail, they will show you constellation and brighter deep sky objects better than the average department store scope. Furthermore, even after buying some big fancy telescopes, the binocular will remain useful. In fact most of us here have a pair even if we don't list it in our signature.

If you are considering upgrading in the future, I'd recommend first getting a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 over upgrading eyepieces. For now, just enjoy the sky and make the most out of your current telescope.

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perrin6

perrin6

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The moon will look amazing through your 3 incher, especially by the terminator where feature's shadows are the longest which makes them stand out well and I look forward to hearing your first view of saturn with it, your socks may very well be knocked off !

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tuxzek

tuxzek

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Hi guys, So a couple of weeks ago my girlfriend got me a cheap newtonian 700x76 telescope from argos ebay. It cost the grand total of £27.99, she got it for me in all good intentions as she knew that i had always wanted one but been unable to afford one. After checking the internet it seemed to be generally agreed that my telescope was no more than a toy and would be useless. Last night was a lovely crisp clear night (the first in a week!) and it was with some trepidation and no expectations that i took my telescope into the garden. I lined up the viewfinder with what i believed was jupiter, then hunkered down for a look through the lens marked H20. A donut like blob greeted me! Heart sinking i turned the focusing knob and suddenly a glorious sight emerged, jupiter and her four galillean moons! I couldn't believe it! For the first time, with my own eyes i was seeing another planet, i felt like a 10yr old. This is a bit of ramble but here are my thoughts.

1: the viewfinder is a cheap nasty plasticky thing, very wobbly.

2:the mount is also a bit wobbly, but i stuck a bag of sand on it and it was fine.

3:The lens marked sr4 was all but useless, fit for the bin.

4:the h20 lens combined with the barlow lens gave me the best view.

5: Jupiter, although quite small, was lovely and crisp, two brownish stripes were clearly visible across it.

I can only imagine what it looks like through a decent telescope as i was blown away with what i saw and i even dreamt of it last night.

So there you go, the best 27 quid ever spent! Sorry if this is too long winded but i had to tell someone about it. Cheers, Col.

Welcome fellow Argos telescope owner. We must have been out on the same night as I too was hunting down Jupiter. This is my first scope and when I saw the four moons I did suspect aberration on the lens only to find out later it was true. It really is good to hear someone elses experience with this cheap scope. I quickly worked out that the supplied lenses are not that great, H20 is passable, but you are right SR4 takes in so little light that it was impossible to use on that night. However I will go through the eyepieces when its a clear night again and I can see the moon clearly. That said I did buy two Skywatcher eyepieces from FLO today, a 20mm and 7.5mm plessl. With regards to the tripod I have found it to be quite stable, but I did tighten up all the screws without going to tight and that seems to work well. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with yours.

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tuxzek

tuxzek

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Using the scope was as described above but then......blumming hell there's JUPITER!!!...and bands of cloud!!!!.....and moons....I can see 4 moons!!!!

Ditto. I had the same experience. While it is no hubble image it is still amazing that living on this planet we can observe distant objects in our solar system.

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divinityitself

divinityitself

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Excellent news! Now the Argos gang is 2 strong! The solar system shall surely yield its secrets when confronted by the awesome power of our catalogue bought telescopes! I have been pretty unlucky with the moon so far, since that night i have had nowt but cloud cover. Iv'e become a compulsive sky checker at night, my girlfriend is sick of me diving up to see if the clouds have magically parted for me.they haven't.

I think i'll do the same and get those two eyepieces, did you find it improved your views by quite a bit? Col.

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divinityitself

divinityitself

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Hi

Just checked out the fleabay offering. Although advertised as a Maksutov it is a Skywatcher Newtonian (different design of scope). The scope itself looks OK and being motorised would compensate for the Earh's rotation. Seems worth the money.

HTH!

Thanks John i appreciate you taking a look for me.

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Alan_B

Alan_B

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Hi - really refreshing to read this thread, sounds like youre enjoying youre first foray into the hobby .

If Argos could tap youre enthusiasm I reckon their scope sales would be astronomical (pardon the pun)

Maybe we should all get one and start a group

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Dave Dubya

Dave Dubya

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No, my girlfriend got it from argos outlet on ebay but it looks exactly like this one.Even the mount is the same.

TELESCOPE NEWTONIAN, Reflector 76/700 XXL,StarScope | eBay

I wouldn't rush to upgrade yet. Get as much use out of that one first (as it looks like a decent starter scope to me) and then decide if you want to take it further later on.

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JonF

JonF

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I had one of those scopes for a while, and I also found that for the money the views were amazing. I subsequently upgraded to a Skywatcher 13/900 Newtonian, second hand for eighty five quid. It's great, and just goes to show you don't need to spend a fortune.

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superjody

superjody

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how much can you afford??

my first scope was a skywatcher 130, bought it for £100 secondhand but virtually brand new and sold it on about 6 months later for about the same. i then went on to buy a skywatcher 250 for a bargain price of £400 on ebay with an eq6 tripod.

Id say get the biggest and best you can afford, although the skywatcher 130 was superb, i couldnt resist the big upgrade.. look out for second hand bargains and keep a look out on the for sale section on here, even ask in the wanted section as some people have a collection of scope and might sell one.

There are plenty of brilliant people on here who will give you brilliant advice.

If you have an astronomy centre nearby you should try that, they will have a range of scopes for you to sample

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