Shops for telescopes in uk, northern ideally

[adamjames101]

Merry christmas everyone, right after much patience and deliberation I'm gonna treat myself to a scope, my first, so I'm really wanting to go to a shop in person and pick one. Is there and good scope shops which any of you could suggest to visit with a range of telescopes, ideally some under £200. I live in Whitby north Yorkshire so something within 2 or 3 hours drive ideally. Thanks

[Parus major]

| Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories

[Chris H]

Green Witch have a new shop in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

[adamjames101]

Perfect, ill pop in tomorrow on my way to seeing the family in halifax as its right on the way. Thanks for that

[Parus major]

Perfect, ill pop in tomorrow on my way to seeing the family in halifax as its right on the way. Thanks for that

According to their website their shops are closed until the 2nd.

Telescopes and Binoculars from Green Witch of Cambridge, the Astronomy Specialists

[Grunthos]

Not sure if Rother Valley Optics (nr Sheffield) are open tomorrow?

Give them a bell on 01909-774251 or 774369

If it's your first scope do you already have an idea of what you want to buy? Still planning on a dobsonian?

[jonathan]

There was a shop just near St. Nicholas Cliff in Scarborough called Gamecentre, they used to be near the cliff top just opposite the Grand but they seem to have either moved or packed up. They had a range of Skywatcher telescopes in the window. The only other place in Scarborough I know of is Jessops, they have their own Jessops brand telescopes in the window at the moment but to be honest I would rather get something Skywatcher or Celestron-ish.

I would recommend feeling the weight of the mount+tripod and then the telescope (seperately), imagine carrying them (one at a time) through your house and to your back garden. Typically you will set up the mount on the tripod and then attach the telescope, although if it's a small one such as a Skywatcher ST80 (80mm Achromatic, the stereo-typical telescope with glass lenses in a metal tube) then you could probably get away with carrying the whole thing as they're fairly light even with the counterweight attached (assuming it's on a German Equatorial, or EQ, mount).

What ever you decide to get, investment in a good quality eyepiece should improve your viewing pleasure. The 25mm that came with my Celestron 8SE is actually a pretty good one, but the two eyepieces that came with my Skywatcher ST80 are noticeably lesser in terms of optical quality compared to Celestron ones I own.

[adamjames101]

No I'm swinging towards a newtonian on an eq mount, skywatcher maybe, Its just when I really think about my needs I need it to be portable, as portable as possible so I can walk up to the abby upon the cliff where its dark and get the most out of it. So probably newtonian or possibly (which I have opened a thread on in beginners help section) a refractor, I am unsure if a refractore of 70 to 80mm will meet my needs in the future. I have noticed that the shops are shut now so it just gives me more time to think, think and think about what I need and best suits. Thanks for the advice

[onesmallstep]

Hi

This link is for Skywatcher stockists in North Yorks. I don't know how current the list is though so call first.

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/distributors.asp

HTH!

[Ewok]

Green Witch have a new shop in Birstall, West Yorkshire.

This is perfect for you. See a chap there called Dr. Neil Sprote. He is an extreemly nice chap and is more than willing to help.

They stock all of the main brands and have different telescopes on display.

[brantuk]

Actually its Lee Sproats in the Birstall branch - Neil is Neil Parker and he runs the Cambridge branch (used to be deputy director of RGO). Both very nice chaps and extremely knowledgable and helpful.

[faulksy]

as said rvo speak to ian or james great lot. sell demo models as well

[Grunthos]

Its just when I really think about my needs I need it to be portable, as portable as possible so I can walk up to the abby upon the cliff where its dark and get the most out of it.

Thats a bit of a hike with a scope, tripod and misc bits of kit. You'll be busy compromising one aspect of scope collection over another (happens a lot in the astro game:)).

Take your time to plan it out and get it right first time (the sky will be there for you when you get back).

Maybe go for a 10x50 binocular on a camera tripod to see how it goes?

Many, many people start off that way.

[adamjames101]

Well I actually have a pair of binoculars, 8x40, really good, yeah I agree with what your saying I think ill be looking a back garden and putting in the car upto moor tops maybe not walking with it. I just don't want something so big and bulky, I looked at the travel scope which sky watcher do, the short tubed achromatic refractors. Hopefully going to see them in person ill get a good idea of the size as I've never seen a telescope before.

[toxic]

there is a shop in darlington that has a few skywatcher scope's in there is a 130 newtonion on a eq for £100 new shop is Darlington Photo Centre hope this helps