Anyone thinking of buying an ST80?

[AliMac]

Maybe try this instead, courtesy of Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog;

Canadian Telescopes - MIRA 80mm Alt Az Telescope - (Astronomers Without Borders Program Edition) - Telescopes.net from Woodland Hills Telescopes: Sky and Telescope, Astronomy Telescope, Binoculars

The setup looks pretty good (nice tripod, at least), and if you donate $20 they'll give a telescope to a group in the developing world.

Don't know if it's worth doing from the UK though.

[Marine Bio]

Loving the idea of donating a telescope to the developing world. Acts that seek to inspire or educate are always worth support. It would be nice if there were a scheme here in the UK to support schools setting up their own astronomy clubs, something akin to the above....