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wiz1

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wiz1

wiz1

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Hi,i'm a newcomer and bemused by the choices etc re telescopes. i have very little money-40! and have seen various scopes for sale-unfortunately i have to rely on postage due to anxiety attacks-can't travel-back garden astronomy for me!! i've seen celesteron firstscope,skylux 700/70 ,262 power scope and others available at my price-which would you recommend for a newbie? i keep seeing good and bad reviews for them, so am hopelessly confused-doesn't take much! any advice gratefully accepted. thanks.

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knobby

knobby

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Hi Wiz, sorry about the attacks. As 1995 said for £40 you're better off with binoculars... Or save a while and look on astro buy and sell, something decent might come up!

as for the attacks , hope you get them under control

All the best and welcome

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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anxiety attacks.....................

Understandable, but dont even worry about them oR let them put you off astronomy. You can do astronomy from your back garden just as much as you can from traveling to a location near to you.

Most people here observe from their back gardens (MOST OF THE TIME). In 30 yrs of observing i have been outside my back garden ONCE.

A pair or 10x50 binoculars is within your budget and will give you really nice views.

Anyone here will tell you that no matter how big of a scope they own, they started out with a pair of 10x50 bins and they still own a pair today and use them very often.

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Gweedo

Gweedo

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Plus 1 for binos. I've just been out in the garden with my 10" dob and I've been using my binos just as much as the scope. In fact, I was just gazing up at Perseus and saw a beautiful white long tailed meteor shooting westwards. If I'd had my eyes in the scope I'd have never seen it!

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Jiggy 67

Jiggy 67

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[

Anyone here will tell you that no matter how big of a scope they own, they started out with a pair of 10x50 bins and they still own a pair today and use them very often.

After the grief I've had tonight with a 2 star alignement, I sometimes wish I'd just stuck with bino's!!!!!

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ronin

ronin

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If it is a scope you want then a relatively small refractor the 70/700 seems reasonable although I have no idea on the overall quality.

Check out a few retailers like :

First Light Optics,

Sherwoods Photographic (Yes they are astronomy)

Green Witch

Rother Valley Optics

Also Telescope Service (Germany)

All should have a selection of inexpensive starter scopes, have a look round their web sites and have a look at what is available. Ring one or two up as well and ask for information. Green Witch have a shop south of Leeds in case that is close.

Get a 70mm diameter one if possible, although I think that of the ones I have read they tend to come with not great eyepieces, usually Ramsden (SR) or Huygens (H) neither are that good. At some stage a plossl or two would be a good upgrade.

Most of my observing seems to be from the front door these days, back garden is too overgrown. :grin:

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wiz1

wiz1

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thanks a lot for the advice-will have a good long think re binos. also thanks for the encouragement re anxiety-at least it is something i can do at home-tho my back garden is also overgrown-mebbe use binos to look at wildlife too! thanks again.

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wiz1

wiz1

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hi,just an update-i eventually decided on a telescope rather than binos-mainly because i know i wouldn't be able to hold them long enough!! have got a skylux 70/700-£35-and have been working out how to use it-having never hada telescope before! though haven't hada clear sky since i got it-jonah i think! but am looking forward to exploring the stars. thanks a lot for your encouragement andadvice-will let you know if i manage to see anything! liz

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rwilkey

rwilkey

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Hi Wiz1, welcome to SGL. I am with bino's as well, will make a great introduction to the hobby. Also, can I mention when looking at telescopes, ignore statements like '262 power', the 700-70 you were looking at is not capable of such power, it's highest practical power is 140x (ie twice the objective), however, it's optimum power is 70x, so ignore rediculous claims on power, Magnification is not everything, a pair of 10x50 binos will do you proud.

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Albenn

Albenn

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Hi Wiz1 and welcome.

I started with 10x50 binos which really open up the sky compared to the naked eye so are a great starting point. Another option may be the Celestron Travelscope 70 refractor that comes complete with a tripod and carry holdall. I have seen these for sale at or around the £40 mark and may be worth a look. I can't tell you anything about the optics of this scope but according to a couple of members of my astro club, they are great value for money.

The binos in my experience give you a more 3D experience and have no set up time - just pick them up and get out there. I now use 8x40's due to my inability to keep the 10x50's steady enough without a tripod. The binos are always with me on an observing session.

As Robin pointed out, forget about wild magnification claims, the atmosphere won't allow such high values (ever wondered why professional observatories are on top of mountains and the Hubble telescope is out in space?) When you magnify an object, you also magnify the turbulence in the air by the same amount.

P.S. Just make sure if you go for binos that there are no double images when you look at a star as that means that they are out of alignment and should be returned for a replacement. This mis-alignmet is not so obvious in the daylight and sometimes only becomes apparent with a point of light such as a star.

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jason.p

jason.p

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Hi Wiz and welcome to SGL. Naked eye and bins are a great way to start. It's well worth spending time finding your way around the night sky, recognising constellations and star patterns is invaluable when you get your scope up and running.

There are also plenty of free downloadable things like Stellarium, Google sky etc which can be a great help.

Good luck, and let us know how you're getting on and don't be afraid to ask anything everyone on here had to start somewhere

Clear skies :smiley:

Jason

www.stellarium.org

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Dude_with_the_tube

Dude_with_the_tube

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that skylux is great scope to start on with.I have one and my son uses it.got it for a tenner of gumtree :D its good for planetary use and will give you good views of moon and Jupiter to get you hooked.obviously you will be after an upgrade sooner or later as if you are after star clusters and galaxies this scope is a bit too weak to show them in full,other than that,i cant say anything bad about it.

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Stargazer_00

Stargazer_00

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This might do for £40

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Celestron-PowerSeeker-50AZ-Telescope-/321094181698?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DMRU-625%252BUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D21%26pmod%3D200782084907%26ps%3D54

It wont be amazing, the mount will probably wobble, the optics wont be the sort of grade the people on this forum usually discuss but for only £40 this will show pretty good views. The good thing about this is you can raise and lower the magnficiation which you cant do with binoculars. It's got 3 eyepieces and a 3x barlow which are all probably of the same quality but for £40 this is a good way to get a telescope and eyepieces and see if it floats your boat.

Celestron are a reputed brand that carry a pedigree which should ensue some level of confidence that this isnt compelte rubbish. It wont be great by some peoples standards but within your budget i think you'll struggle to find better value for money.

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