new to the world of stars.

[skip]

hi to you all. brand new to your world. looking for advice re buying or hiring a telescope and what sort of price to pay for a beginner.

[daz]

Welcome along skip,

We will happily give you advice on your requirements - question is, what are they??

Are you interested in planets, deep sky objects, imaging?

How important is portability?

These are some of things to think about initially. Telescopes4u will hire you a scope to take a look at, and this may help you decide as well. Also, it may be worth investing in a pair of binoculars (10 x 50's for example) and start gazing with these.

Also, worth buying a magazine like Sky At Night - this will have star charts to help you identify the constellations and other things.

Sorry if this sounds a lot, but we'd rather advise you BEFORE you spend your money!!!

Anyway, make youself at home, browse thru the posts and enjoy this fascinating hobby!!

[Jamie]

Welcome Skip have fun.

[col]

welcome skip, its a great sight, with people who know, im sure your questions will be answered, when i first joined i was up half the night reading everything, still didnt see it all, it can be addictive

[tom.yates]

Welcome enjoy the forum.

[lunator]

Welcome Skip

Telescopes 4 you hire scopes out so if your're really itching to get viewing and don't want to buy the wrong scope I would recommend trying one out.

Keep your monry safe until you have a better idea on a scope that should best meet your needs.

Don't worry about finding your 'ideal' scope if you really like the hobby your'll end up with more than one

Cheers

Ian

[skip]

many thanks for all your replies. looks like i have to sit down with all YOUR knowledge and then choose a telescope . i have a sniper scope at the mo and can see clearly onto the moon, stop laughing now we all started somewhere. having visited NLO a couple of times iam begining to find my way around i found the north star once. okay okay iam a bit better, but it is nice to know night people are friendly.

many thanks again for the welcome

[daz]

Skip - we don't laugh at your kit, we are all too aware of the cost of the stuff and we are just glad to have you along...

We are only too willing to laugh with you, never at you

[Greg]

Welcome Skip,

Also what's your budget??

"Show Me The Money"

Greg

[Jamie]

Nice avitar Greg like it. :clouds2:

[stargeeza]

Hi Skip!

I am still very new to astronomy - and I was completely skint when I decided to spend my chocolate money on a scope. I looked around second hand ads, and I found a 6" Celestron is great condition for £120

I was originally going to buy a SEBEN from Ebay but was talked out of it by some knowledgable dude.

I thank my lucky stars that I deicided to get a half decent scope from a reputable maker because some scopes are really poor.

[daz]

Something you want to tell us, Greg????

[The Warthog]

Hi Skip. Before you make up your mind, ask some questions here. If you can hire a telescope for a while, that's a good idea, as you can take it back easily if you don't like it. Think about what kind of astronomy you want to do - visual or photographic; lunar and planetary or deep sky, or general - and post your questions here.

Welcome!

[CELESCOPE]

Hi Skip and welcome to the forum, relax and enjoy plenty here ,info images , loads of stuff .

Rog

[FLO]

... having visited NLO a couple of times iam begining to find my way around ...

Welcome aboard Skip

There are a lot of useful threads here that discuss choosing a first scope; for general advice, try this one:

http://tinyurl.com/dqtfw

(I know a few of the NLO members, if you search out Kathleen during your next visit she will also be happy to advise)

Steve

[MartinB]

Welcome Skip,

I'm at a similar stage to you. I have a planisphere and a starchart and have been getting to know the sky. Am itching to spend my money and get a big fancy scope which will find every star in the universe at the touch of a button and then make me a cup of tea but at the moment I am using a very cheap refractor on a german equatorial mount. Am finding my way around the sky, learning about polar alignment and tracking. Have even started taking images using a toucam web cam - a total disaster so far I think it's better to buy something basic to start with rather than going for all the computerised stuff thats around.

Martin