What Reflecting Telescope to buy on a budget?

[batemantom]

Hello, I'm looking to buy a Reflecting Telescope,

Currently using a Refracting telescope (70/700)

My budget for a new telescope would be £150 any recommendations would be very useful. 😀 Thankyou!

[happy-kat]

Hi

The heritage 130p fits, but I'm not sure how much more over your existing refractor you'll gain. Could be an idea to look out for a 150p dobsonian second hand.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @batemantom and welcome to SGL. 

Have a read of this...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

in particular this one...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html
or its sibling...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-dobsonian-telescope.html

If you can stretch your budget for 'new' then you may need to double what you quoted. The first one I mentioned is just within your budget.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Philip R

[batemantom]

5 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Hi

The heritage 130p fits, but I'm not sure how much more over your existing refractor you'll gain. Could be an idea to look out for a 150p dobsonian second hand.

Hi, Thank You for the reply. 

So with a budget of £150 would there be any point buying a new telescope? Would there be any real benefit?

[Kyle Allen]

Of course! A 5 inch Newtonian will have nearly 3.5 times the light gathering area of your 70mm refractor and almost double the resolution - quite a difference!

You won't get anything better than the Heritage 130 for the money because it is on a Dobsonian-type mount, which is cheap to produce but also very stable, meaning most of the money goes on the optics. 

[batemantom]

whats your thoughts on this telescope? https://www.jessops.com/p/celestron/ps1000-newtonian-reflector-telescope-97399

[Kyle Allen]

I wouldn't recommend it. It's what's known as a Bird-Jones design so it uses a spherical mirror with a correcting lens in the focuser. I'd recommend getting a Newtonian with a parabolic mirror like the Heritage 130P mentioned earlier.

I don't like how they include a 3.6mm eyepiece just to claim the telescope can reach 277x magnification. I wouldn't exceed 200x magnification with a 130mm reflector. Most nights you are limited by the stability of the atmosphere and magnifying the image more just magnifies the turbulence of the atmosphere and also dims the image, reducing contrast.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Kyle Allen

[batemantom]

3 minutes ago, Kyle Allen said:

I wouldn't recommend it. It's what's known as a Bird-Jones design so it uses a spherical mirror with a correcting lens in the focuser. I'd recommend getting a Newtonian with a parabolic mirror like the Heritage 130P mentioned earlier.

I don't like how they include a 3.6mm eyepiece just to claim the telescope can reach 277x magnification. I wouldn't exceed 200x magnification with a 130mm reflector. Most nights you are limited by the stability of the atmosphere and magnifying the image more just magnifies the wobbliness of the image and dims it too much.

I apologize if I'm asking to many questions. Do you know if the Heritage 130P can be mounted on to a tripod?

This would be the first telescope I've purchased, so I just want to make sure I'm buying the best one for the money. 

My Dad bought my current telescope in 1999. 

[Kyle Allen]

Yes, it has a dovetail bar attached to it so it can be mounted on another mount with a suitable dovetail clamp.

[RT65CB-SWL]

5 minutes ago, batemantom said:

I apologize if I'm asking to many questions. Do you know if the Heritage 130P can be mounted on to a tripod?

This would be the first telescope I've purchased, so I just want to make sure I'm buying the best one for the money. 

My Dad bought my current telescope in 1999. 

Do you mean a photo/video tripod? - if "Yes!" then it can be adapted to fit.

Below is an image of my TeleVue Ranger attached Vixen/TeleVue dovetail bar to a photo tripod and ballhead mount.

[happy-kat]

Here's the heritage on a tripod the image is linked to this thread

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/268257-heritage-130p-flextube-travel-friendly-tripod-required/

[batemantom]

1 hour ago, Philip R said:

Do you mean a photo/video tripod? - if "Yes!" then it can be adapted to fit.

Below is an image of my TeleVue Ranger attached Vixen/TeleVue dovetail bar to a photo tripod and ballhead mount.

1 hour ago, Kyle Allen said:

 

What's your opinion on this one? I've never bought a telescope before. So I don't really know what I should be looking for... 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353115262102

Edited July 10, 2020 by batemantom

[Davey-T]

6 minutes ago, batemantom said:

What's your opinion on this one? I've never bought a telescope before. So I don't really know what I should be looking for... 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353115262102

Don't buy a telescope off Jessops or EB is all I can say, buy one from an actual telescope dealer with premises in the UK, always supposing you are in the UK.

Dave

[happy-kat]

It's smaller aperture and it is quite fast at f4.4 so not friendly on inexpressive eyepieces. I don't see parabolic mirror mentioned. In comparison I think the heritage 130p is more but it is bigger.

[happy-kat]

I've seen the heritage 130p be sold on here second hand for around £85 well worth it at that price

[batemantom]

2 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

I've seen the heritage 130p be sold on here second hand for around £85 well worth it at that price

I'll keep an eye on eBay, hopefully I'll find one for a similar price .. I'll definitely be buying a heritage 130p. Thanks everyone for your help!