£150 to spend

[Rapidaz]

Hi I've got a budget of £150 to spend , I've change my mind so many times on what my first telescope should be , any help will do . Thanks

[Tinker1947]

Something like this would be in budget........another £50 would get you a nice Dob....

£150

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-astromaster-130eq-telescope.html

The extra £50 would get this.....Much better.....

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

[rfdesigner]

what do you expect to do?

Travel / only use from home

Planets / Deep sky or both

Image / View  (Imaging is going to cost much more than £150)

I would normally advise a basic lightweight newt..  generally you get best bang for buck with them, don't bother with putting much cash into the mount, you'll end up throwing away any mount at that price level (usable deep sky imaging mounts start near £1000)

A nice portable scope will get used and used, even if you end up with £10k worth of imaging rig.

Derek

[algol]

The skywatcher 130pm was my first scope and quite good, helped me learn the sky.

[jabeoo1]

Aperture is where you need to spread the £'s.  Why not go for a secondhand dob?  

[Rapidaz]

Hi everyone I'm new to all this . I've always been interested in astronomy , thanks for all your advice I'm not going to be traveling anywhere yet , just star gazing from my back garden

[happy-kat]

+ 1 for thinking about where you would use it, home, park, further, are there stairs, space to store, a portable grab and go may never be resigned to the cupboard even if at a later date you get a much bigger telescope.

Also your budget does it need to cover all items for this hobby? If so don't spend it all at once, a reflector will need collimation (a cap with hole cheapest approach) you might want one improved eye piece.

[Brave Sir Robin]

Hi Rapidaz,

Whilst I am by no means an expert, my first scope was (and still is) a celestron astromaster 114eq. I've had it about 2 or 3 years and my experience with it as a noob have been mixed.

I would agree with algol, mine helped me to learn the sky, and how to use an equatorial mount. The most frustrating thing to get to grips with as a beginner is knowing with any certainty which bit of sky you are looking at through the eyepiece (EP). A good finderscope is really important. Unfortunately, the red dot finder on the astromaster series of scopes is appalling, and I found myself getting grumpy trying to find objects with it. Now - I don't have a dobsonian telescope (dob), but I wouldn't mind betting they're easier to use for a beginner. (I've let myself in for it now!)

In summary, a little more outlay will get you better optics, and (perhaps...) more immediate enjoyment with the skyliner 150p. If you want more EPs down the line, you can get them gradually.

Have you considered a refractor? Better for observing planets, not so good visually for the fuzzy stuff!

Good luck with your purchase, and let us know how you get on. Everyone here is happy to help, though you will probably get 50 different answers to the same question :-)

[andyb505]

As a newcomer to astronomy myself I would recommend this, which is what I bought last year:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

Very simple to set up and use and has provided some wonderful sights with the supplied eye pieces. It is also portable and takes minutes to setup. I have learned a lot about finding my way around the night sky by using this scope and the free software package stellarium.

I have used mine almost exclusively from my back garden and it performs really well.

Andrew

[cotterless45]

Superb scope, really lovely optics and so easy to use,

Nick.

[Lux1]

I'd second the idea of a secondhand scope. I got my Vixen custom 90 f12 for £70 secondhand complete with mount. For planetary use it could compete with a dobsonian 2 or three times it's size. But that's just my opinion. Refractors are maintenance free, and give better contrast. Reflectors give more aperture for your money so it evens out really!