Help with a telescope as a gift.

[Sphenoid]

Hi all,

I am hoping to buy a telescope for my husband as a Christmas present. We live on the top of a hill and have just had a loft conversion done, the views are amazing. I think a telescope would be absolutely great and I know he would love it as he adores getting lost in the night sky from our garden. 

I don’t have a massive budget, up to £200 perhaps but also willing to look at second hand as well. Neither of us have ever used a telescope before either so something relatively easy to master would be good!

Thank you so much in advance for any help, I don’t know where to start! 

[scitmon]

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html is worth a look at along with this thread:

 

[joe aguiar]

Well do u think he will like look at sun moon and planets then maybe a refractor is good. 

Or maybe that and deep sky objects like galaxies nebula and clusters? Then maybe a reflector maybe better. 

Each have their pros and cons tho too.

I'm sure if u Google what r the difference of refractor and reflector it will show u a vid.  Maybe this will narrow down to which one he would prefer and then we can just find the size.

Joejaguar 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by joe aguiar

[steppenwolf]

He'll love you forever!

A telescope known as a Dobsonian (after the designer of the mount) will give your husband the best telescope and aperture for your money.

If your budget is absolutely fixed at around the £200.00 mark then the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P would be a good choice

If you could raise the budget to £289.00 then the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P would be the perfect instrument to get some real observing done.

Good luck with your decision!

[Peter_D]

Hello,

I see you mention a loft conversion.

it's not really recommended to observe the night sky from inside a heated property through an open window because you get warm air thermals disturbing your views. Viewing through a closed window is worse because of light scatter, reflections etc off the window pane. 

Peter

 

[Jiggy 67]

1 hour ago, steppenwolf said:

 

If your budget is absolutely fixed at around the £200.00 mark then the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 150P 

+1 for the above, the Skyliner 150P is an excellent start and the nature of the way it works will encourage a learning of the skies and how to navigate them. Should come with a couple of stock eyepieces as well.  Easy to setup and not particularly technical 

Personaly, If you do have a bit of extra budget, I wouldn’t spend it on a 200P I would spend it on

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

This book is a must as it will give you ideas and teach you all the basics. 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by Jiggy 67

[Ben the Ignorant]

15 minutes ago, Peter_D said:

Viewing through a closed window is worse because of light scatter, reflections etc off the window pane.

Yes, this used to be the case but not anymore with recently manufactured windows:

To answer your question, Sphenoid, several good scopes can be had for 200£ (230€). The latest nice offers are I've seen are:

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/language/en/info/p802_Skywatcher-Evostar-90-auf-EQ-2-Refraktor-Teleskop-mit-kompletter-Ausstattung.html

https://www.bresser.de/Astronomie/Teleskope/BRESSER-Messier-5-Dobson.html

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p2705_Skywatcher-Heritage-130P-FlexTube-Dobson---6years--.html

https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p7222_GSO-Dobsonian-Telescope-150C---6-inch-aperture-with-fine-Crayford-focuser.html

Good used scopes can be found for that budget but the search would be too long for me to do, however you have one month to look for them so no hurry, learn their basic features and compare. A well-maintained used scope will be larger and better than a new one for the same price, but I suppose you and your husband would prefer some new stuff as a gift.

[joe aguiar]

now that iam on a computer I can type better then b4 on my cell phone.

refractors uses lenes its more expensive to make but longer version have clean clear views so the planets will be excellent in this type as well as double stars and some bright dso.

a reflector uses 2 mirrors which is cheaper to make BUT those 2 mirrors need to be aligned 100% if he/you bump it or over time it unligned then u have to fix it. you can get a laser to help with this its not easy but not super hard once you learn. You can get this kind much larger for cheaper price compared to a refractor type and the images maybe slightly less clear and clean compared to the long version refractor. The reflector if bigger will see the deep sky stuff better tho since it can collect more light. the reflector over time may need a the mirrors to be cleaned once every couple years as long the dust caps are on when ever it not used. some people may clean it once a year so it depends.

hope this helps narrow down at least the type scope then we can talk about the mount type LOL

joejaguar

[Limerick John]

On 28/11/2019 at 12:52, Jiggy 67 said:

+1 for the above, the Skyliner 150P is an excellent start and the nature of the way it works will encourage a learning of the skies and how to navigate them. Should come with a couple of stock eyepieces as well.  Easy to setup and not particularly technical 

Personaly, If you do have a bit of extra budget, I wouldn’t spend it on a 200P I would spend it on

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

This book is a must as it will give you ideas and teach you all the basics. 

 

Yep, an 8" Dob like the 200P would be ideal if you can push the budget a bit more and will give many years of great views.

[dweller25]

Hello Sphenoid and welcome to SGL.

As others have said the Skyliner 150P Dobsonian is great value for money, easy to setup and use and very capable.

First Light Optics is a good place to buy them if you want a new one.

If you want a free starmap to show you where things are you could try downloading Stellarium - it’s very good.

Clear skies

Edited November 30, 2019 by dweller25

[banjaxed]

I have the Skywatcher 200P 8” Dob and would agree with all the other recommendations. They are very popular and come up very often within your budget or less.