Scope for an 11 year old - and no its not me !!!

[Astro_Baby]

With all the hassle I have had recently and subsequent venting I thought I'd ask something thats a bit lighter. Wonder of wonders my youngest who will be 11 in a few months has ( faints ) decided mum isn't as weird as he first thought when I bought a telescope and has decided he wants to have a go at astronomy.

So much so that I am arranging a visit to an observatory for his day out on his birthday but he has asked if he can have a telescope as well.

I am tempted to let him have the SW 130-PM I have for sale but in my heart of hearts I know he will find it too complicated and I'd as soon he wasn't put off the whole thing at the start from something too complex. The 130 is also ( relatively speaking ) fragile - remember this is an 11 year old boy. Actually the same one who undid the spider vanes on it and made me learn the art of collimation.

He'll mostly want to see planets and the moon. What would people here recommend as a good ( cheapish ) scope that would excite his interest, not put him off and be easy to use and learn ?

I'm thinking of a cheap GoTo type thing and a sacrifice of optics for easy to see, steer etc. I dont want to spend too much because it might be a flash in a pan interest so I;d rather he starts small and IF he sticks at it we'll see about something bigger after all he can always use mine but he wants his own - its a boy thing.

[mik]

How about this one powerfull enough to see moon & planets and not to much for little fingers to fiddle with + ok for daytime spy work.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=mak90eq1

Mick.

[Lee]

That's a good shout Mick, That's the scope that started it all for me...

[Astro_Baby]

I hadnt' though of that - its a good suggestion.

[themos]

How does this grab you?

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/66.pdf

[The Warthog]

In Celestron's Nexstar series are both a 102mm refractor and an 80mm refractor. I don't know if they are within your budget, but either would make a good starter.

[stefski]

Hi Astro-baby ,

I'm with warthog on this one. The Celestron Nexstar series is great and very easy to use.

Stef

[scotastro]

Most telescope are to some degree "fragile". A refractor is more solid and no spiders to play with! The motors on small GOTOs are notoriously weak and inaccurate. Also children tend to have limited patience and want to get going straight away any problems with scope alignment may annoy him.

If you want something solid get a TAL1 - but an 11 year old may not be able to pick it up!

How about a 6inch Skywatcher Dob - relatively cheap and solidly made with enough aperture to give brighter views of planets and the capacity to venture beyond the solar system. Maybe fit an erecting finder to make locating objects easier.

Scotastro

[Astro_Baby]

Yes - most scopes are fragile but my feeling is a refractor will be a bit hardier than a reflector where things can get dropped down it.

Your right as well as that childern have little patience - thats why its a tough one really. I dont want him to get put off. My own feeling is to go for a refractor of some kind perhaps even with just an AZ mount because its easy to point.

I have a while before his birthday so I am going to see if he keeps the interest and let him use my 130 PM a little and see how we go. I just wanted som input to see if I had thought of everything.

The two pitfalls I see are cheap and nasty scopes with super bad optics and anythng thats too complicated for him to set up. It a bit of balancing act really. I like the idea of the small Skywatcher mak above as its a good split of durability and although not totally simple ist kind of the right thing.

[algol]

how about the supatrak? is that in with a shout?

[The Warthog]

Whether an eleven-year-old has the patience for astronomy depends on the eleven-year-old. Many will respond to the challenge of learning how this stuff works, and learning the sky. Don't sell kids short.

[rawhead]

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=19074

Just a thought...

[Solar B]

Im with Themos the SW76 is based on a classic and MUCH more expensive design

Its the ultimate kids stater scope.

Brian

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/sky-watcher/infinity-76/explorer-3i/starter-scope.html Bargain

[axolotl]

I bought a skywatcher 76 for my kids and I have to say I don't recommend it for two reasons. Firstly, whilst the optics are surprisingly good, it is very difficult to aim without any sort of finderscope - this makes it really frustrating. Secondly, alothough optically it's good, it looks very much like a toy - a 11 year old will probably enjoy showing off a "proper" telescope to his friends, whereas he much more likely to keep the SW76 out of view!

I'd agree with a decent refractor - either a short tube or someting like the Skywatcher capricorn