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Mallereon

By Mallereon
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Mallereon

Mallereon

Posted
Posted

Hello to everyone

I'm here for a bit of friendly advice

I'm looking for a refractor telescope for less than 150 pound for my 8 year old nephew and I am open to all suggestions as my head is spinning with reviews and guarantees from every company imaginable

I would also like some advice on a suitable telescope for myself I am currently using binoculars but will be upgrading in the new year I have an upper limit of 500

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Helite

Helite

Posted
Posted

Some good sky's you will have there on the Islands. Any reason why it is a refractor you want for your nephew? You would get a little more aperture in a reflector. But for that kind of cash you would maybe be looking at an ST-80 or similar, I use mine a lot as a grab and go scope though it was bought initially as a guide scope. It probably sees more use than my other 4 scopes combined, fantastic little scope, just wondering if it would be enough to give your nephew the wow factor compared to a larger scope.You could always pinch it back and use it as a guide scope if you go down the imaging route though!

A scope for you is more difficult, what do you want to do with it? Just visual or do you have plans on imaging? Do you have to carry it far to use it etc, are you planning concentrating on our solar system or do you want to explore the deep sky ?

For 500 quid you can get a good sized dob etc. But remember to budget for postage, I like yourself probably , get skinned on shipping, usually to the tune of 30 quid to Inverness and probably more to get to the West.

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pipnina

pipnina

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For a starting scope, I would recommend the sky-watcher 130p heritage since it's cheap, easy to use and set up as well as being of good quality for the price.

If you waned something a little bigger for yourself: I would recommend the 250px dob since it is just a bigger version of the heritage really. I would recommend getting a UHC and either an OIII or a H-beta filter (the sky watcher ones will screw into the bottom of the eyepiece, remember to buy filters for the right size focusser you have (1.25" or 2")

(H-beta is a litle limited in use, but it really shines on some objects (horse head, california, barnard's loop and the eridanus bubble), some others as well I think, but most of the thing's it's useful for are pretty faint and require dark, transparent skies!)

Good luck with your endeavours and potential new scope!

    ~pip

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JamesM

JamesM

Posted
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Hi and welcome to the forum. You might want to post your equipment question over on the Beginners' Section 'Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice' as more people visit that area than here in the welcome section. As a general rule, dobsonian type scopes offer the most aperture for your money and in particular, Skywatcher's Skyliner 200P  is certainly worth a look as it is the U.K's best selling scope and for good reason, namely that it provides 8" of aperture which will great for both planets and galaxies. Aperture equates to the ability to resolve detail and this function is directly related to the amount of light (..in this case a mirror) that can be collected. This scope is of course above your stated budget but perhaps it would make a great starter scope for both you and your nephew to share till you're able to decide which direction you wish to go.

Clear skies for now and hope you enjoy the forum. 

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swag72

swag72

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Posted

Hi and welcome to SGL! On the FLO website they have a section specifically for starter scopes here  - Do buy from a proper astro retailer, they know what they are talking about and offer a service far better then Amazon for example in this specific field.

Good luck and look forward to seeing you around :)

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

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I have an ST80 and I like it very much. The only complaints I hear are about chromatic abberation (CA), a purple-blue haze around bright objects. But for an 8 year old learning the sky? - PERFECT! That and a simple AltAz-mount & tripod and an eyepiece or two - pretty much bombproof! He'll love it!

Dave

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