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Hi from Bolton... 600mm Refractor or 700mm Reflector?

MartinMR2

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MartinMR2

MartinMR2

Posted
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Hi folks and folkess's...

I've been after getting a cheap telescope (at first) while its getting dark early. Then I spot a groupon offer:

http://bit.ly/Vkzkdn

I know you get what you pay for but for the prices, are any of these any good? And if so, which one is better (a general question), reflection or refraction?

Thanks :D

Martin

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ismangil

ismangil

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Hi,

Welcome!

For £50 I would recommend http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-76-mini-dobsonian.html

Or get a pair of binoculars.

It's of much better pedigree, from a proper astronomy dealer.

The general rule is the larger aperture (higher mm) the better. Of course other factors such as portability and what particular interest you have (planets? Deep sky?) needs to be taken into account.

Refractors vs reflectors each have their pros cons, so not easy to say which one is better.

Hope this helps.

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Carbon Brush

Carbon Brush

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Good advice from Ismangil.

Barge pole for handling and million year timescales come to mind when looking at these sort of scopes.

The cheapie scopes sold for Christmas are often worth little more than their cardboard packing boxes.

Stick with something offered by a 'proper' astronomy retailer.

Hope this helps.

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

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dont they have spherical mirrors and a corrector under the focuser :icon_puke_l: i have had one of those heritage dobs great starter scopes but knowing what i know now i would have a pair of binoculars, with binoculars you will still be able to see galaxys starclusters and the moons around Jupiter, the moon is very good with binoculars too.

Dan

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Alma

Alma

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Just pointing out that the sellers of this junk don't appear to know much about their own product. The reflector is pictured mounted horizontally with the finder pointing in the wrong direction --- seems they don't know which way to point it ! They also state at the bottom of the page that it has a 760mm focal length, which would make it one of the largest amateur scopes in the World.

Don't waste your money.... The advice given by the other posters above is sound - go for binoculars.

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keithatrochdale

keithatrochdale

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The mount on the reflector is near to useless, but you may well be surprised by the views from the refractor. Not sure about the mount on this, but you may well stand a better chance.

If you pop up to see us tonight (it is being collected to-night) we have a Tasco reflector of similar type grafted onto a better mount and have been quite impressed with the views, for the price!

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

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The mount on the reflector is near to useless, but you may well be surprised by the views from the refractor. Not sure about the mount on this, but you may well stand a better chance.

If you pop up to see us tonight (it is being collected to-night) we have a Tasco reflector of similar type grafted onto a better mount and have been quite impressed with the views, for the price!

:eek:

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LeeB

LeeB

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Avoid awful scopes. if you are on a v tight budget look at ebay secondhand. For around £50-£60 some real bargains can be had but do a little reading first and if possible get to a club or find a local astronomer to help. The extra bit of research will pay dividends

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MartinMR2

MartinMR2

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Cheers for the advise :D

I'll stay away for groupon. Just found it rather coincidental that that offer pops up just as I start looking, haha.

I have tried doing a bit of basic reading but there is an awful lot of abbreviations in this hobby, haha.

I'm in no rush to buy but don't want to spend a lot on a first bit of kit...

I already have a tripod that I use for my dslr, is it possible to buy a mount so the scope will fit on that? May help me get a better bit of kit if I don't need another tripod ;)

Again, cheers for the advise :D

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RikM

RikM

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Unless you are thinking of a very small lightweight scope, your photographic tripod probably won't be stable enough for a typical mid-sized telescope. I use a Televue Tele-Pod mount an Manfrotto 294A3 tripod as a portable mount, but they cost a couple of hundred pounds even before you think about a scope to put on it :eek:

It's also worth remembering that for visual use a telescope doesn't have to sit on a tripod. The Dobsonian mounted scopes are pound-for-pound more stable and easier to use than tripod mounted scope and since more of the cost goes into the optics rather than the mount, Dobs are able to be larger and give better views as well.

For something around £50 you probably would be better with binoculars. Unless you get a second hand bargain, telescopes under £100 - 150 could well be disappointing. The Heritage 130P Dob is a very well regarded entry into visual astronomy. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html but which scope is best, depends to a large degree on what you want to look at. If you are more interested in the moon and planets, and less interested in faint fuzzy smudges, the Evostar 90 would be worth considering as an alternative http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html.

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MartinMR2

MartinMR2

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Haha, fuzzy smudges, made me chuckle a little...

I am interested in planets, moons, maybe the odd galaxy cluster (I've heard andromeda is something good to look at), I'm not all too interested, for the time being, in deep space. Especially not on a small budget.

It would be good if I could attatch my dslr to it but I know things like that will cost extra so I'll just take one step at a time ;-) Cheap kit first so I can get the hang of it, that way I should know exactly what I want when/if I spend more on something.

Both of those links lead to the skywatchers range, I take it that's a good make to stick with?

Again, cheers for all the help, I truly am a newb whe it comes to astronomy.

Martin

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RikM

RikM

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I have a few SkyWatcher telescopes(and some other brands) and they certainly seem to be good value for money. Other brands to consider would be Celestron, Meade, and Tal. To a large degree with astro equipment you do get what you pay for and equipment bought from a proper astronomical retailer would likely be better than a toy scope from a department store or online catalogue shop.

Take a look in our supplier reviews section to get a feel for which shops give the best service.

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