Hello, which telescope do you recommend?

[Tof1234]

Hello.

So i am very new to the world of astronomy and i just want to stargaze. I would like a telescope to look at the Moon in decent detail and maybe some other planets too and some stars too. I type this to get some help. Below i have multiple options for telescopes. I am on a strict budget, under $50 and i want a telescope that just does the job. i do not need any extreme scope just one that'll do the things mentioned above.

Here are the options:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360-x-50mm-Reflective-Monocular-Astronomical-Telescope-Space-Spot-Scope-Tripod/132194688993?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D43781%26meid%3D9616727f6af84b67ad88a06df4fed9bb%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D152515267398

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Performance-700-76-Reflector-Astronomical-Telescope-NEW-UK-FAST-DELIVERY-/191464648175?hash=item2c942eadef:g:6gEAAOSwBahVaDII

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/900-60-Reflector-Astronomical-Newtonian-Performance-Telescope-60x900mm-Silver-/262966529588?hash=item3d3a06ce34:g:QRMAAOSwurZZNgwR

Which one of those will be the most suitable for me and which one would you recommend.

BTW, i live in Birmingham, UK.

[Peco4321]

I would save for a bit more until you can get something 2nd hand for £100 or your equivalent. These options will not give you what you want. Or, you could get some decent binoculars for that money, 2nd hand. I have just added binoculars to my limited range, and love them. 

Just my opinion, but these all look cheap and a bit nasty. 

[Tof1234]

1 minute ago, Peco4321 said:

I would save for a bit more until you can get something 2nd hand for £100 or your equivalent. These options will not give you what you want. Or, you could get some decent binoculars for that money, 2nd hand. I have just added binoculars to my limited range, and love them. 

Just my opinion, but these all look cheap and a bit nasty. 

Thank you for your reply. I did not buy it yet until i get more info.

 

How far into the sky do you reckon these telescopes will allow for observation. Do you reckon that atleast the moon and a few close planets or stars will be visible? Can you rate the best one of the the options out of 10?

And as for the binoculars, are they suitable for astronomy?

I am a huge newbie btw.

Thank you for your time.

[Peco4321]

Ask loads of questions and take your time, the universe is not going anywhere. 

My binoculars are very suitable for astronomy and just as background, I have had a telescope for about 18 months, and these binoculars for a week or so and they are great: 

http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/astronomy-binoculars/skymaster-binocular/skymaster-15x70-binocular

there are others out there, and $50 would get you going nicely  

 

[ecuador]

All three of those are worse than not having a telescope, since it is very likely that they will turn you away from astronomy due to the sheer frustration of trying to use them.

Many binoculars are good for astronomy and, on the plus side, if you buy a telescope in the future they will still be useful to you. In your price range (i.e. under £40) a quick look at amazon.co.uk gives me the the Celestron G2 8x40 or 10x50 , the  Bresser Hunter 8x40 , the Helios Solana 8x40 which should all be appropriate.

The lowest cost telescope I would ever recommend is the Skywatcher Heritage 76, or Orion Funscope 76, although the Skywatcher Heritage 100 is worth the extra cost.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

All three telescopes listed are a waste of money, likely to put people off astronomy. The first and third are clearly refractors, rather than reflectors as suggested. The last one explicitly claims that it has no chromatic aberration, because it is  reflector, which is patently false. It also claims you can achieve 675x magnification. Perhaps, yes, but only if you do not mind a completely blurred view. I do not go beyond 400x with my 8" aperture telescope, and that only on the moon and Mars, and only when conditions are perfect. The second and third both have a set of eyepieces that can best be dropped in the bin rather than use them, and the tripods of all look terribly wobbly. it is much better to save more money, as said before, and get a decent second-hand scope, or buy one from a reputable dealer. The Skywatcher Heritage scopes are cheap, but excellent value for money.

[rockystar]

Agreed, if possible, try and get your budget to £100, you'll find something much better. As said, a poor scope can be frustrating and off putting.

have a look at the sponsor's page, First Light Optics, under their Beginner Telescopes section. You are better off buying from someone like that, as they'll offer support and advice - you won't get that from ebay

[rockystar]

also, don't be sucked in by the crossed out amount on the second one, it really isn't £150 worth of scope.

[Tof1234]

Thank you for your great support and fast replies. This is one of the best forums i visited. I decided that i will put off buying a telescope until i reached at least £150ish due to you guys' feedback. I will look into the Skywatcher Heritage series. You guys saved me from wasting money on these 'scopes. Thank you for your replies guys!

[bottletopburly]

 There is this in your area not sure on make you could always enquire on make and model £50  https://www.gumtree.com/p/binoculars-scopes/900mm-reflector-telescope-with-everything-£50/1240727845 then google reviews or ask on here 

[geoflewis]

10 minutes ago, ecuador said:

All three of those are worse than not having a telescope, since it is very likely that they will turn you away from astronomy due to the sheer frustration of trying to use them.

I totally agree with this great advice. My grandaughter started to get interested in astronomy with me a few years back and my daughter decided to buy a telscope for her Xmas present, without checking with me first. It cost the best part of £100 from a UK high street camera shop and was worse than useless. The main issue with these scope is the mount or tripod being too flimsy to hold the optical tube steady enough to be able to see anything through it.

In my opinion you'd be better off holding off the telescope a while and purchasing a pair of binos. They don't have to be high spec, (you can get some 10x50 or 15x70 for about £50). You'll be amazed at just how much you can see with them, plus they are a great grab and go option that can be used during the day too. They are a great way to start to learn you way around the night sky and apart from excellent views of the Moon, you'll be able to see Jupiters 4 largest moons change position night to night as they dance around the planet, the phases of Venus, some bright galaxies, globular and open clusters, nebulae like the Orion nebula and wonderful sweeping views of the Milky Way. What's not to like...?

Good luck,

Geof

 

[Owmuchonomy]

All good advice above. Please also bear in mind that the main planets we enjoy observing are poorly placed at these latitudes for several years now and no amount of expense on a telescope can change that.  The Moon of course makes a reliable bright target.

[celestron8g8]

I agree with Peco4321 , good set of binocs beets any of those scopes you mention . 

[Red Dwarfer]

I agree with all the advise above - I did see a Celestron Astromaster 70AZ on ebay today for £45 + £10 postage and highly recommend this series for any beginner ( I have the 90AZ ) this is the link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252979368791?ul_noapp=true 

Good luck 

[ecuador]

20 minutes ago, Red Dwarfer said:

I agree with all the advise above - I did see a Celestron Astromaster 70AZ on ebay today for £45 + £10 postage and highly recommend this series for any beginner ( I have the 90AZ ) this is the link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252979368791?ul_noapp=true 

Good luck 

I personally find that camera-style tripod much harder to use than a mini-dob (like the Heritage 76 or 100 I mentioned), and the StarPointer "finder" is pretty useless (seriously, everybody has been complaining for years, why do they keep going with that thing), but the optics are decent and, more importantly, the MA eyepieces are usable unlike the Powerseeker line which ships with garbage Huyghens & Ramsden, so it has mostly happy owners... It is actually better than a mini-dob for people who want to do terrestrial observing as well - the tripod works better for that and of course it can take an erect prism (it might even ship with one in some configurations).

[Red Dwarfer]

4 hours ago, ecuador said:

I personally find that camera-style tripod much harder to use than a mini-dob (like the Heritage 76 or 100 I mentioned), and the StarPointer "finder" is pretty useless (seriously, everybody has been complaining for years, why do they keep going with that thing), but the optics are decent and, more importantly, the MA eyepieces are usable unlike the Powerseeker line which ships with garbage Huyghens & Ramsden, so it has mostly happy owners... It is actually better than a mini-dob for people who want to do terrestrial observing as well - the tripod works better for that and of course it can take an erect prism (it might even ship with one in some configurations).

Yes , that finder on the Astromaster series is difficult to use ( thanks for pointing that out ... thought it was just me ! ) but easily overcome by using a 32mm lens to start with then moving up in magnification - I have a Celestron Firstscope 76 and find the Dobsonian style base very easy to use and the Kellner eyepieces from the Astromaster makes a good improvement on it too ... I`ve collected five scopes since I started out in Astronomy two months ago and apart from the two mentioned got a Celestron Travelscope 70 , Skywatcher Explorer 130P and most recently a Meade Infinity 90 - the reason for the last scope was because it is much more compact ( 600mm ) than the Astromaster ( 1000mm f11 ) and is relatively fast at f6.7 and another big surprise was when I used it for the first time last week with the 6.3mm kit lens the cloud bands of Jupiter were immediately visible and the moons were brighter too compared with my 6mm Celestron Omni lens .

[SonnyE]

How about finding some locals that have an Astronomy club you might attend and have a bit of a look?

May be some kind soul who has some gear they would sell you to get started with?

Try Googling Astronomy Clubs, and narrow it down to your area. A great way to have a look around, and meet some like-minded folks.

[Dave In Vermont]

I was mostly taken aback by the disinformation in everything in those ads in eBay. Such as calling a refractor a "newtonian Reflector" and all the others. And showing HUGE planets in the ad, too!

Buy from a reputable dealer - not some crook who lies in his adverts.

Beware!

Dave

[Ricochet]

11 hours ago, Tof1234 said:

I would like a telescope to look at the Moon in decent detail and maybe some other planets too and some stars too.

I am not sure what you are expecting but there is no telescope that any of us can buy that will show stars as anything other than points of light. A telescope will show you more stars than the naked eye and magnify the gaps between stars so that what you think is one star might be revealed as multiple close stars, but the individual stars will remain as points. The following thread will give you a good idea of what you can see through a telescope. 

 

 

[Fey]

Hi Tof.  You are where I was about 18 months ago.  I started with a set of 10*50 binoculars and used them for a while just learning where things are in the night sky.  My first scope was the Skywatcher Heritage 100p, which gave me excellent views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn as well as more deep sky objects.  It was thanks to advice from users of this site that put me on the right path and not wasting money.

[newbie alert]

I find the 3rd one very misleading..no way in the world will you see the planets like that..

My first scope that my wife bought me as a present cost £100 and other than the moon it wouldnt resolve jupiter other than a blob..

Is suggest you join a local society while you save up...you could look through other members scopes and get a feel for what you would like 

[Ben the Ignorant]

On ‎08‎/‎06‎/‎2017 at 21:53, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

The second and third both have a set of eyepieces that can best be dropped in the bin rather than use them

True about the lenses, but keep the metal barrels. I had a few of those; I extracted the eyepieces from junk, hopelessly cheap roof binoculars, and fitted one of them to a salvaged metal barrel to obtain a 12.5mm Kellner (3 elements) of acceptable quality, and 55-ish degrees field. I gave it to my brother so he can observe at higher power than what his 24mm Hyperion provides, while he pondrers what real eyepieces to buy.

The binocs overall were junk because of their prisms, but when separated in individual components, the objectives were quite good, and the eyepieces just usable. Same for "worthless" eyepieces sold with toy telescopes: overall they are garbage, but the barrels are valuable. Dump things only after you take them apart.

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just now, Ben the Ignorant said:

True about the lenses, but keep the metal barrels. I had a few of those; I extracted the eyepieces from junk, hopelessly cheap roof binoculars, and fitted one of them to a salvaged metal barrel to obtain a 12.5mm Kellner (3 elements) of acceptable quality, and 55-ish degrees field. I gave it to my brother so he can observe at higher power than what his 24mm Hyperion provides, while he pondrers what real eyepieces to buy.

The binocs overall were junk because of their prisms, but when separated in individual components, the objectives were quite good, and the eyepieces just usable. Same for "worthless" eyepieces sold with toy telescopes: overall they are garbage, but the barrels are valuable. Dump things only after you take them apart.

 

I have done that as well, added cross-hairs, and used them in big finder scope. I have also used a 50mm objective from a 10x50 bin that was broken, together with the right-hand EP (with diopter adjustment) to make a straight-through 10x50 finder scope for my first home-made scope (6" F/8 Newtonian).

[Charic]

What surprised me were the Planetary images on the third link! I'd be more than happy with images like that (large/detailed) on my scope, and my scope is a good scope! one that is often , and highly recommended.

Tof1234......I'm glad you did not arrive stating " I just bought this telescope, is it any good? "

Once /if you get involved, you will look back and wonder why, but to be honest, if you don't know, you won't know without asking, or baffled by the shop keeper/retailer, and unless that shopkeeper specialises in telescopes, stay well away.

The Stars, planets and everything else will still be here when your ready to purchase, so you won't miss anything, just take your time to realise, understand and gain a little more knowledge.