beginner....go easy!

[ccfcbob]

Hi John,

Going to give you something different to think about. About 12/18months ago I stumbled into astronomy and decided to buy a telescope but didn't want to spend a lot of money on a something I didn't know if I would take to or would it just be a passing fad.

I purchased an Astromaster 70AZ, cost about £70 from brand new from Amazon if I remember correct. Now this isn't a patch on the various dob's mentioned but for that you have something that won't break the bank.

You won't get the stunning views on here some speak about but the views of Saturn, Jupiter are stunning still, not to mention the moon.

Its no trouble to setup and takes no time to cool down (very much 'plug and play' in computer terms) which means you won't have to setup the scope and leave it to cool down, at which time your son gets fed up of waiting and changes his mind about going out. Whilst it not a 'goto' system it also means you and your son get the chance to find things in the sky for yourselves without the setup hassle.

Given the chance I would do exactly the same as I did 12 months ago, gave me time to get into astronomy without breaking the bank and now about to spend what I class as serious money on a 250px dob. No way I would get rid of 'old faithfull' though

[happy-kat]

The nice thing about an ST80 and the 70AZ mentioned above is they are both refractors so always ready to use, can be made with the right diagonal to have right way up views. Generally pretty hardy and no open end, and the eyepiece goes in at the bottom end and for a child they look like what a telescope is expected to be.

My ST80 is on a altz3 mount which I prefer to use as I did not want an equatorial based mount but even if using that sort of mount with a refractor the eyepiece can be easily turned to suit the viewing position that an equatorial mount can create.

I have just remembered this post on the scope linked underneath.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/223257-new-scope-for-young-eyes/?fromsearch=1

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-mercury-705.html

Shorter length refractors do show chromatic aberration on some objects which bothers some people more than others but they have lovely wife field of view.

[Daniel-K]

The ST80 is a super little scope. totaly agree

[Piero]

Hi, 

I would join your local association of amateur astronomers, learn more about constellations and objects to see. Joining to a local association may not be necessary, but it gives you an opportunity to watch through members' telescopes and ask people directly. 

With a budget limited to £100, you are quite limited as buying a telescope is not the only thing that you need. You also need eyepieces to make use of it. Although you can go with 1.25" plossl (which are generally very cheap) they still cost a bit compared to your available budget. 

As said above, I think you should go for a Dobson too, and choose one with a decent finder included. I would also consider size and weight among the variables beside cost.

Possibly contrary to some people, I would suggest you a 150mm instead of 200mm. True, the 200mm will show you more, but will also weigh twice and you might get tired of moving it around. This of course depends on your own size and strength, but is worth considering. A 150mm also cost less, and it should cool faster though!

Anyway, you cannot go wrong with either: 

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

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

These both come with two eyepieces. Instead of buying others, you can consider (later) a barlow lens. With this, you get an additional 12.5mm and 5mm, and you can use:

25mm and Barlow(25mm) for DSO

10mm and Barlow(10mm) for planets/moon

You don't really need anything else.

If your budget is strongly limited to 100.. well either you wait and save a bit, or you can pick up a Dobson 150mm second hand, or you go for a pair of binoculars Revelation 15x70 and you accepts a "limited" wide field view, discarding planets.

Piero 

[Piero]

Hi, 

I would join your local association of amateur astronomers, learn more about constellations and objects to see. Joining to a local association may not be necessary, but it gives you an opportunity to watch through members' telescopes and ask people directly. 

With a budget limited to £100, you are quite limited as buying a telescope is not the only thing that you need. You also need eyepieces to make use of it. Although you can go with 1.25" plossl (which are generally very cheap) they still cost a bit compared to your available budget. 

As said above, I think you should go for a Dobson too, and choose one with a decent finder included. I would also consider size and weight among the variables beside cost.

Possibly contrary to some people, I would suggest you a 150mm instead of 200mm. True, the 200mm will show you more, but will also weigh twice and you might get tired of moving it around. This of course depends on your own size and strength, but is worth considering. A 150mm also cost less, and it should cool faster though!

Anyway, you cannot go wrong with either: 

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

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

These both come with two eyepieces. Instead of buying others, you can consider (later) a barlow lens. With this, you get an additional 12.5mm and 5mm, and you can use:

25mm and Barlow(25mm) for DSO

10mm and Barlow(10mm) for planets/moon

You don't really need anything else.

If your budget is strongly limited to 100.. well either you wait and save a bit, or you can pick up a Dobson 150mm second hand, or you go for a pair of binoculars Revelation 15x70 and you accepts a "limited" wide field view, discarding planets.

Piero 

[Piero]

The ST80 is a super little scope. totaly agree

I also think a small refractor can give you awesome views,  it is light and portable too. The problem though, is that not everybody understands or appreciates what these little scopes are able to. 

My first telescope was a Newton 114 and when people looked through it, instead of being surprised about what could actually show you (that you couldn't see with your eye), they constantly 

said that the image was dark and small.

I don't even tell you what people said when they looked through my binoculars 15x70! 

Personally, I don't care much and I think that these small telescopes (or binoculars) are great, and I always think about what they allow me to see and how easy to use they are. Not casually I am looking 

for a refractor 60, as I love wide field observations and seeing *DSOs together with their context*. 

However, I must admit that most of people seem just not to appreciate this and want to see the object only.

Possibly the best thing for a novice, is to join a local group and look through these different classes of telescopes, and then make a decision on what s(he) wants. 

[happy-kat]

Meant to add that having got both the Mercury 705 and the ST80, even though the Mercury has a slighly longer tube is showed more CA than my ST80 so I would if I had to pick one pick the ST80 out of my two small refractors.

The ST80 is also hand lugage sized for travel opportunities.

This thread if not already seen is a very good read on what to expect to see.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/