Phenix telescope help please

[lennon890]

Hello,

I am interseted in buying a telescope, my previous one (Optus) was really cheap and never really worked properly. I have seen three Phenix reflector telescope of eBay that look good, i was wondering if anybody could give me any advice or a review them? I would like to use it for looking at the moon, Saturn's rings and Mars. The three telescope that i have seen are:

Phenix 114mm 4.5" Reflector Telescope - Sky's the Limit on eBay (end time 12-Sep-09 11:35:02 BST)

Phenix 114mm 4.5" Reflector Telescope - complete set. on eBay (end time 12-Sep-09 11:35:02 BST)

Phenix 150mm(6 inch) Newtonian Reflector Telescope on eBay (end time 12-Sep-09 11:35:01 BST)

I wouldn't want to spend any more than £150 which is why i have chosse these ones.

Thank You!

Lennon890

[irishbloke]

I'm sure more people behind me will say, " Be careful buying telescopes of ebay!!!" There's a lot of ... not good stuff there at times. I've not heard of that make before. Check out any of the true astronomical retailers. Look at first lights website by clicking on banner at top of page. The scopes on there work and work well. There's stacks of advice on here on the different types of telscope and the advantages and disadvantages.

Check around the different sites and see what you can get. Don't be in a rush to spend you cash until you are sure what you want.

All the best,

Brian

[johninderby]

Basic Chinese scopes and apparently not that bad, but the focusers could be better. Here's a couple of links tha might help.

http://www.seeviewo.org/seeview/observatory/lrg_refr.htm

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/2659964/Main/2654350

John

[Astro_Baby]

Personally I'd pass and go for a decent 2nd hand Sky-Watcher or Celestron. They turn up quite often on here.

You'd get a better scope and one that would hold its resale value better.

I'd avoid ebay like the plague myself.

[haitch]

Phenix reflectors are no better than any other Ebay reflectors and should be avoided - they have spherical mirrors which are poor at fast f ratios.

I hear the refractors aren't so bad. They're not great but from what I've heard they are quite decent for the price. Some colour fringing but ok for visual use.

I presume you are referring to Skies Unlimited / Sky's The Limit? [Edit: yeah, I don't read so good after brandy] The guy who run's it as much as told me not to bother with their 6" reflector.

For the record they did supply the (refractor) scopes for the IYA Telescopes For Schools Project.

Have you looked around on here and UK Astro Buy and Sell for some decent 2nd hand gear within your budget? That could be a better bet IMO.

[John]

I agree with the other posters on these scopes. The Phenix refractors are probably OK but I would not be confident in these relectors. The 6" one claims to have a "concave" and "spherical" mirror - the specification you should be looking for is parabolic - if they don't say it is then it almost certainly is not.

Something like this would be a much better bet I think:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145PM

John

[GazOC]

I've owned Phenix 127mm and 120mm refractors and they were optically decent but (as said) the focuser was a little rough.