Difficulty finding a good scope

[Interstellar_Explorer]

Hello everyone!

I haven't been on here in a minute, i've moved from Greece to Toronto and now Ottawa, and I couldn't bring my telescope from Greece here, so now I have to buy another one.

I found a good National Geographic telescope, the 114/500mm one 

https://explorescientificusa.com/products/nt114cf-telescope

I'm wondering if anyone has used this scope before can tell me how the optics are, or even if you haven't used this specific one but have dealt with this brand I would very much appreciate your opinion.

and if its not that good, I am again on a tight budget (and no, I would not like binoculars :p) and am looking for a scope under CAD$200

all opinions are welcome and appreciated, thank you!

[Nakedgun]

A used scope will extend your buying power, naturally. Just be cautious.

Good luck.

[Interstellar_Explorer]

5 hours ago, Nakedgun said:

A used scope will extend your buying power, naturally. Just be cautious.

Good luck.

Thank you for your response david!

 

can you give me a few links where i can find cheap used scopes please?

usually the sites i have seen that have such telescopes have a very limited variety and on the higher end only.

[Nakedgun]

For starters from Canada I would try the Cloudy Nights classified section: https://www.cloudynights.com/classifieds/

Of course, Stargazers Lounge has their own.

[jetstream]

https://focusscientific.com/

[Second Time Around]

There's a speciality Canadian site: https://www.astrobuysell.com/  Many of us here use the UK version.

 

[Spile]

I chose a Dobsonian because  I wanted the largest proportion of my budget to be spent on the mirror, focuser and mount which needed to be secure and stable.

That is going to be a struggle with your budget but there are some great table top versions and the used market may give you more options.

I would be wary of what are referred to as hobby killers but you will definitely get good advice from the users on this forum.

[Neil H]

Hi Give Joe a shout he is a member on here and in your part of the world 

https://stargazerslounge.com/profile/63199-joe-aguiar/

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Neil H

[Nik271]

On 11/04/2021 at 23:22, Interstellar_Explorer said:

 

https://explorescientificusa.com/products/nt114cf-telescope

I'm wondering if anyone has used this scope before can tell me how the optics are, or even if you haven't used this specific one but have dealt with this brand I would very much appreciate your opinion.

I haven't seen this one but just looking at the description there is something fishy - it says the focal ratio is 5.2 and that the the focal distance is 500mm. Now 500/114=4.385 which is very far from 5.2

The focal ratio, aperture and focal distance are key specs of any telescope, if they got these numbers wrong in the description the rest is not trustworthy.

[Sunshine]

The website above Astro  https://www.astrobuysell.com/  is where i would start, don't worry, I'll help you out with that, I am on several classifieds daily looking for that rare scope. 

Don't rush to buy anything new just yet, be patient, a used scope will get you more for your money. You will hear from me again soon with links to scopes which will suit you better

than a Nat Geo scope. Tonight I will have a close look around the classifieds.