which is the UK best starter telescope

[red3]

Hi everybody,

Hope you can help me to choose a decent scope for my kids. My kids are 5 and 7 years old and I'm looking to buy them something worth having for xmas. Every year they get bags of plastic Rubbish that doesn't get touched after boxing day so I'm considering a telescope. Some people have said they are too young and other say its a good idea. I think its a great idea as who doesn't want to gaze in to space!

I have a budget of about £150 so I wonder if you can advise me as to which scope would see them through their next 3-4 years.

I have read that you can't really get a decent scope that works for daytime watching and star gazing so I think star gazing is the best way!

If you can list me 3 of the best scopes along with positives and negatives I'd very much appreciate your advise. 

Thanks

Mark

[Stormwind]

I've just bought mine the Skywatcher heritage 100P.

I'll try to get some links for you!

[Stormwind]

Have a look at this page:

First Light Optics are great.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

[David Smith]

Hello Mark and welcome to SGL.

In your situation I would probably go for one of these

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage.html

Not too big to handle (or to store) but will show good detail on the Moon and some detail on the planets. If you go for the 130 version which is still within your budget, you will also have access to some of the brighter nebulae and clusters. I'm sure others will add their thoughts in due course.

Hope whatever you end up with is a success. All my kids have been out for a look through my scopes at some point or another although none of them have expressed an interest in one of their own.....yet

[Stormwind]

In have the 'big' version of the 130p - l love it. This looks much more compact and straightforward (mount wise - I'm still learning how to use mine properly!)

[laudropb]

I agree the Skywatchers Heritage range is probably the best place to look. The one thing you will have to face is collimating your scope. At first this can look quite daunting, but once you have mastered the process it is very easy to do. The other thing to point out is that the image you get will be upside down, but again this is no problem once you get used to it. All mirrored scopes give this image.

[Charic]

Its very daunting choosing your first scope. The adds will always say you will see this and that, and some do, under the right conditions, yet when I look through a larger telescope, I still often wonder how the smaller telescopes even work, with the prices they command, yet they do. Sir Isaac did not have an array of scopes to choose from, and some of the kids telescopes these days could even better his first scope?

For children, a 7x50 binocular is always a very good call too, easier to use and conceal from a 'den' much easier to hold and view, great in daylight for birding, planes, sports and much wider views than the telescope will give, and no setup involved, just grab & go.

The choices are endless, the results are sometimes dissappointing, and not what was expected, there is no coloured images in the night sky when just using your eyes!

First Light Optics have enough information to get you started and links have been provided above.

Have fun choosing, and welcome to SGL.

[The Admiral]

Just to add, you will probably need to take up the hobby as well . The kids will want Dad or Mum to be out there with them in the dark! Which then begs the question, do you buy something better for yourself and let them share your interest, until they're old enough to sort things out for themselves (if they are still interested), or do you buy something perhaps more appropriate for their age? With my Grandchildren, I've gone down the former route, but then, they don't live that close. I'm not sure how interested their Mum and Dad would be in standing around in the cold!

Ian

[Roy Challen]

Just to add, you will probably need to take up the hobby as well . The kids will want Dad or Mum to be out there with them in the dark! Which then begs the question, do you buy something better for yourself and let them share your interest, until they're old enough to sort things out for themselves (if they are still interested), or do you buy something perhaps more appropriate for their age? With my Grandchildren, I've gone down the former route, but then, they don't live that close. I'm not sure how interested their Mum and Dad would be in standing around in the cold!

Ian

Good call!

Do you know enough about the night sky to be able to show them the main sights and get them started properly in this hobby? Developing their interest is important, and not just from a point of not wasting money!

Perhaps, as Charic suggests, binoculars would be better. The kids could use them during the day as well.

[happy-kat]

The heritage 90mak can be used for daytime (not the sun you must use a special solar filter for that) and night time. The mount tracks which will mean once you have it looking at the Moon it will stay tracking it good for children sharing. The telescope will not need collimation.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html

Daytime use might need a rightway up 45 degree diagonal which does not come as standard, I can't remember the orientation of the image in MAK telescope.

The downside is this sort of telescope has a narrow filed of view when you look through the eyepiece.

There is a 114p reflector in the heritage tracking mount range that will have a wider field of view but less useable during the daytime as the views will be reversed.

[nameunknown]

The Heritage  90MAK does come with a 90 degree diagonal (the bit of "bent pipe" at the back), and, being a MAK, will show images the "right way up" in daytime (and at night). It should be fairly good for daytime use and you should be able to get an adaptor to use it with a DSLR camera and a sturdy camera tripod (so you get a very powerful telephoto lens). The max magnification is better than ten times what you get with typical binoculars (you can get a half-decent pair of bino's for a tenner at a Charity Shop), and with the lenses supplied with the 90 you get x50 and x125. Don't let the kids play with this unsupervised on a sunny day unless you are sure they won't look at the sun - that can cause blindness and damage the scope. As noted above it tracks (but it will drift very slowly when looking at the Moon, as the Moon and stars move at slightly different rates.). As it is a "MAK" it has a "lens" at the front and so things won't fall down the tube and hit the mirror at the back.

If you or your kids get further into astronomy (an observatory (aka "second shed") is more fun than a tree-house) it would probably then be useful a "guide scope" for a bigger telescope. It's also portable (with a suitable power supply - normally known as a "power tank" - and MAYBE (I don't know) can run off a car cigarette-lighter adapter.). The red dot finder is like a gun-sight (don't forget to switch it off! as it has a battery).  It isn't going to give you views like the Hubble space telescope, but you should get the rings of Saturn and the Moons of Jupiter, Venus showing as a crescent and some nice views of the Moon.

P

P

[John]

.... Don't let the kids play with this unsupervised on a sunny day unless you are sure they won't look at the sun - that can cause blindness and damage the scope....

I'd re-phrase this: ".....that WILL cause blindness....".

And for that reason I'd never allow children to use a telescope or binoculars unsupervised during the daytime.

[Dave Lloyd]

I'd re-phrase this: ".....that WILL cause blindness....".

And for that reason I'd never allow children to use a telescope or binoculars unsupervised during the daytime.

My sentiments exactly.

[happy-kat]

The heritage virtuoso mak90 can be run off 8 AA batteries if you were out and about.

[spaceboy]

Welcome to SGL Mark

If I was to be brutally honest I would say your better off looking for a used scope on http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php , https://www.gumtree.com/ or http://www.ebay.co.uk/ as you going to get far more bang for your buck and in doing so get a far better viewing experience. Just make sure you check on repeatable dealers sites like FLO for new prices before you go over paying for used scopes as this is not uncommon. 

If new is the way to go you could always try http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html with the EX-DEMO revelation EP set  http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Clearance1.html#aCS055 and http://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/cheshire-collimating-eyepiece.html to collimate the scope. This all comes in a little ways over budget but you could always make do with the supplied eyepieces and collimator until you have the funs to add eyepieces. Other than this set up there isn't much else that will offer you a similar light gathering capacity for the money that doesn't require you to buy a separate mount.

I have a 9yo son who enjoys getting out under the stars with his dad but young minds get distracted very easily and they rarely spend the time required at the eyepiece to appreciate what it is they are looking at. You also have to bear in mind that stargazing is something done at night which might sound obvious but younger kids are often in bed by 19:00-20:00 ready for school the next day. Not wanting to sound negative but I feel it is something to bear in mind.

[spaceboy]

There is a 4" newt with heratige base on astroboot now for £40 http://www.astroboot.co.uk/AstroBootwhich would leave you plenty spare cash.

[Astro_Baby]

With small kids I would tend to go for a refractor as they need no maintenance and are  bit more hardy in the hands of young children.  I'd also go for an Alt/Az mount because its so much more intuitive to a child than n EQ (which lets face it baffles a fair few adults )

I'd look at something like this http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html

or something like this as its quite compact http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-102-az3.htmlit a bit over your budget but you may be able to find one second hand in good condition.

[Alien 13]

I am a big kid at heart and often think what would have me jumping up and down with joy on Christmas morning and it would have to be http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html it should give great Lunar views and has buttons to play with perfect for my inner child.

Alan

[spaceboy]

I am a big kid at heart and often think what would have me jumping up and down with joy on Christmas morning and it would have to be http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html it should give great Lunar views and has buttons to play with perfect for my inner child.

Alan

I agree, anything with buttons was always a fascination as a kid but you just knew after you'd finally got it out of the box that look on mom and dads meant they had forgot to buy the batteries for it  .......