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Beginner telescope for husband's birthday - help please


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I'm really sorry if you all have seen posts like this before. I've been trying to research buying a telescope for my husband's birthday. I don't want to spend more than £200 so hopefully this budget will still get a decent telescope?.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me please. He is totally a new beginner, we do not own any telescopes at all.

Thank you all so much in advance.

Kezzy

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Hi there,

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

This would be a good start for slightly over your budget. An easy to use telescope, kind on eyepieces, should perform well enough all around (moon, planets, DSO)

If you are deadset at a £200 price cap then I'd recommend:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html foir £138

or http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p.html for £165

In telescopes the bigger the aperture the better. The £165 one on the mount would be more difficult to use given the mount style but as it's on a tripod it'll also be elevated from the ground and therefore usable whilst standing.

Oncehe gets the scope be sure to send him this way to get any questions answered :)

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Thank you already for such quick replies, everyone seems really nice on here thank you. I know my husband will love one as he has always wanted one so just trying to get the best for the budget i have.

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It's worth noting that he might need a few wee accessories too - something to collimate with (align the mirrors if they get bumped around during transport, etc.), and maybe a book to help him find things (Turn Left at Orion is often recommended; I find it's good). That might take you up to the full budget if you went for one of the 130mm scopes...

I got the 130p Flextube recently, and so far, as a first scope, I'm delighted. Though it also needs a chair to sit in while I look through it.

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Collimation shouldn't be too much of an issue in these aperture ranges. They tend to be quite robust.

I'd leave those sort of questions for when the OP's husband comes here though :) I certainly didnt buy all that to start with.

What you want is a good, easy to use, robust telescope that will give the best possible views for your budget. I believe those are the ones I've listed.

If he gets hooked then the rest will naturally follow in time :)

Edit: Turn Left at Orion is actually incredibly useful. I would recommend that too, to be honest.

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I guess it depends how definite your £200 cap is, the 150P and 130P are good choices but there will be extra expense above the delivery costs, on a Newtonian every so often the mirrors go out of alignment so you need some kind of collimation device to help when adjusting them to get them set properly. Still this and any other extras can be bought later on by your hubby.

/edit spent too long typing it, points already made above ^ :)

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I've got the Skywatcher Evostar 90 on an EQ2 mount, which is within your budget. I chose it as a first scope because I wanted something capable, but which wouldn't break the bank. My thought was if I didn't take to astronomy, I wouldn't have wasted a lot of money.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-eq2.html

As I said, it's my first scope, so I can't compare it with others, I can say it's been great for getting started in astronomy. I've used it to see Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon, and the Sun (obviously with a solar filter). I haven't done much viewing of deep sky objects, but that's due more to the weather than anything else.

Good luck with whatever you choose, and as you say, this forum is very friendly and helpful, so make sure and let your husband know it's available.

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I would second the suggestion for the 150P dobsonian and the extras (collimation tool/book etc) might be something for other members of the family to chip in with. You might want to make a note of this FREE piece of planetarium software called 'Stellarium' which will help him find objects in the night sky as well as identifying objects he comes across in his celestial travels. It can be configured to replicate the same night sky as he can see from the garden and contains loads of other great features to keep him 'quiet' when the clouds come in - has to be worth its weight in gold! :grin: :grin: :grin:

Clear skies for now and make sure he signs up to be a participant on this forum as there will be plenty of experience and knowledge here for him to draw upon.

James

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Hi Kezzy and welcome to the forum.

I have had the Heritage 130p for a couple of months now and would reccomend it for the great views you get with it and its ease of use, just sit it outside for thirty minutes before using and your ready to go. :smiley:

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Hi Kezzy

I would go for the largest scope you can go too, like the 150p that stargazing 00 recommended this way your hubby will enjoy his present and will not be trying to get a bigger one straight away

because that is just a waist of money in the long run even a second hand one would be a good idea, let us know what you decide

and do not worry about asking any question we love to help

Doug

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My wife bought me the 130P for my birthday a couple of years ago and is delighted to have found me a hobby that gave her a whole list of things to get me for every birthday and Christmas for years to come! The 130P worked straight out of the box and has never needed collimation - even though I now have both laser and Cheshire's to check it with thanks to subsequent presents!!

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Take husband down to an astro shop and see what he wants.

It is very easy to take someomes idea and find that someone else looks at it an thinks "What is that?"

The 130p Heritage seems a small scope, it will have to sit on a table, it is also fast so a couple of budget eyepieces for it may not be applicable, in effect more costly eyepieces, the flextube will need collimating at intervals.

The 130P on the EQ2 mount is a better option, it is on a mount and will need less collimation but still some, still fast so eyepieces need to be considered.

It is no good saying ignore collimation as it is nesessary at some time, rather like considering the servicing of a car, it is there in the background.

The Evostar 90 is a good choice, main disadvantage is smaller then the 130P in diameter, however not sure ultimately how much of a problem this is especially at first. Most of the faint things stay really faint immaterial of the scope. I have looked at M1 through an assortment of scopes, 70mm to 250mm, it has always been a very small faint dot.

If you would consider the 150P dobsonian then it is £205 at Sherwoods.

Really suggest that husband is involved in the choice.

Hate to say it but if someone stuck the 130P Heritage in front of me I would think they had gone nuts, the 130P on a EQ2 would look like a scope and the 150P dobsonian nice - for the extra size, and the Evostar 90 nice - I like refractors.

So a lot of personel preference.

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I'd buy him the 150p dobsonian and let him buy the accessories himself :-)

If I had to choose between accessories or aperture, I'd prefer the latter first! Trust me, he'll thank you for it in the long run.

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Thank you all for your help, i am now looking at either the dobsonian as I think I could stretch to this or the explorer 130. I am hoping it will start him off and he can then read up on it and look at what else he would like to get for it. Thank you Sub Dwarf for suggesting to take my husband with me but I really want it to be a surprise as he has no idea. The book sounds like a great idea and an idea I can pass on to family to go with this so thank you very much for that idea.

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Thank you all for your help, i am now looking at either the dobsonian as I think I could stretch to this or the explorer 130. I am hoping it will start him off and he can then read up on it and look at what else he would like to get for it. Thank you Sub Dwarf for suggesting to take my husband with me but I really want it to be a surprise as he has no idea. The book sounds like a great idea and an idea I can pass on to family to go with this so thank you very much for that idea.

Sorry i meant Ronin - didn't scroll up enough to see your name (did wonder why i was vacuum lol - feeling like an idiot now!)

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I'm not going to say about as big as a washing machine, but...well....you might start to get the idea.

Look on youtube for 'unboxing' videos. Should give you a guide of the size of the scope boxes :) There are a bunch on youtube for the 8" dobsonian. The focal lengths of the scopes the same so the tube length, and therefore the box length will be the same. The tube is a little thinner but I wouldn't be surprised if the box isnt the same. The base box will be fractionally smaller, not much though.

I wouldnt get too hung up on the size of the box though, you want as big as possible.

Certainly not something that goes under the bed (unnoticed) or above a wardrobe :D

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