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Choosing a telescope


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ok, i'm hoping to buy a really good telescope this xmas that'll last at least 10 years. i know beginners are advised to get up to 70mm telescopes but i can't afford to get a new one every year or two until i get used to them. i've had a lot of help from family members so i'll probably be able to buy a telescope worth about £500 or maybe up to £600.

i've got some idea as to what specifications to look out for but i'm still a bit unsure about stuff like focal length and whether i'm better of buying a reflector or refractor. so if you've got any advice or suggestions, it'd be much appreciated. :icon_eek:

thanks,

Cygnus.

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hi

a reflector would give you the most for your money, and better DSO capabilitys then refractors.

they are bulkier, but it depends on how long you have to haul it when using it.

refractors is easyer to use, with less cooldown time.

but a skywatcher 8" reflector on a heq5 would be a good start, and are found secondhand quite often.

alfi

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Are you able to get to a shop that sells astro kit or your local astro society? Browsing over the web doesn't you any idea about how bulky setups can be. Afli's suggestion of an 8" reflector is great, it makes a good all round scope IMO but you might buy one and find it too much for you. I'd try and see some in the flesh and see what you think from there.

Tony..

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Have you owned or used a telescope before? if not, £600 is an enormous amount of money to spend on something that might disappoint you.

If this is to be your first scope, go to a club (or astronomical society) first and try out some telescopes to make sure that this hobby is for you. You will not see amazing hubble-like views of galaxies or colurful nebulas no matter how much you spend (but planets and the moon will be impressive). Please make sure you're not going to waste your money.

If you have owned or used telescopes before - I apologise for telling you how to suck eggs, and Im sure you will get a lot of advice about how to spend your money on this thread (from people who know a lot more than me):icon_eek::)

good luck

Warren

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I agree to look through a few telescopes before purchase.

For most folks with about a £600 budget a dobson mounted reflector (8 - 10") will give the most bang for the buck. You could even afford to add a pushto computer perhaps. I would not get a 70mm, too small for the smaller dimmer objects. I would be careful to make sure I could handle the weight of a 10" through.

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IMO = In my opinion (general internet expression)

DSO = Deep Sky Objects (astronomy related)

Deep Sky Objects are things out of our solar system and include open and globular star clusters, galaxies and nebulas.

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i know beginners are advised to get up to 70mm telescopes

That's random nonsense, not common advice, wrong, and best ignored. :icon_eek:

Browsing over the web doesn't you any idea about how bulky setups can be. Afli's suggestion of an 8" reflector is great, it makes a good all round scope IMO but you might buy one and find it too much for you.

Yes - I love my 7" scope on an HEQ5 but it's much too much hassle for every occasion and so I'm glad that I have other, simpler options too.

go to a club (or astronomical society) first and try out some telescopes to make sure that this hobby is for you.

Normal people just don't behave like that. You'd have to be a very weird - or at least very unusual - person to turn up at a gathering of strangers and ask to peer into their scopes when you don't know what you're doing.

Nonetheless, I'd agree that with a budget of £600, some previous experience of wrangling scopes is desirable! :hello2:

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Without much info on what you expect from it it's hard to give suggestions, so I'll advise a good all rounder and simple enough for any beginner to get around the sky.

This allows you to see a bit of everything and haves GOTO to help you learning:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SupaTrak AUTO

It's a pretty good scope and you can try astronomy with it without spending too much money.

You'll have enough of your budget left to add a bigger scope in a year or so if your still into it and want to find more challenging objects. This 2 are around 4.5 feet high and weight over 20kg:

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

Or the same but on equatorial mount:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5

Scopes have plenty of designs each with their pros and cons. Some are portable but small, etc... Feel free to choose any other scope or share what are you looking for with us for a better, personal, advise.

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For a budget of £600 new, I'd go dobsonian (either the 8" 200P or 10" 250PX shown Dobsonians and then invest the rest in some eyepieces - perhaps the Revelation eyepiece kit shown here: Eyepiece Sets - Revelation Photo-Visual Eyepiece kit, a telrad finder Telrad Red Dot Finder and a collimating eyepiece Collimation - Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece Turn Left at Orion: Turn Left at Orion: A Hundred Night Sky Objects to See in a Small Telescope - and How to Find Them: Amazon.co.uk: Guy Consolmagno, Dan M. Davis: Books and finally a pocket sky atlas: Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas: Amazon.co.uk: Roger W. Sinnott: Books

I make that:

250PX: £389

Eyepiece set: £129

Telrad: £40

Collimation eyepiece: £23

Turn Left at Orion: £17

Sky & Telescopes Pocket Sky Atlas: £9

Or £607 :icon_eek:

It will show you 95% of the things that can be seen out there, is really easy to set up and take down every night, and is reasonably easy to transport (if you have a hatchback) and are reasonably fit and healthy. Go for the 200 if you want something a bit smaller and more portable. The only thing is that it's a visual only 'scope, so not quite such a good idea if you want to get into astrophotography (but that tends to be a whole different level of expenditure....)

QED :hello2:

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ok, i'm hoping to buy a really good telescope this xmas that'll last at least 10 years. i know beginners are advised to get up to 70mm telescopes but i can't afford to get a new one every year or two until i get used to them. i've had a lot of help from family members so i'll probably be able to buy a telescope worth about £500 or maybe up to £600.

i've got some idea as to what specifications to look out for but i'm still a bit unsure about stuff like focal length and whether i'm better of buying a reflector or refractor. so if you've got any advice or suggestions, it'd be much appreciated. :)

thanks,

Cygnus.

Just my two pennies worth, have u thought about second hand, Cause I bought my 2 yr old Nextsar 8 SE XLT for £550, in original box and used twice. It is perfect nick and I thought it was a bargin.

Some guy got it for his 40th birthday and hardly used it:D

si

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