whats a good scope

[neilf]

ok so whats a good scope for viewing planets guys jo has finally made her mind up on what she wants to consentrate on hehe

[Capricorn]

One that is easy to set up and use. No use having something too big and complicated to use.

Planetery viewing is often the realm of a refractor, ED80's seem to have a good following.

The mount is up to you.

All depends on the level of experience and the level of the bank balance.

[neilf]

was thinking of spending around £150 to start with as i really dont have much knowledge of scope (infact almost non existant) thinking possibly a Skywatcher Explorer 130 mainly because people rave about it so much hehe

[Astro_Baby]

£150 will make it tight for any refractor. I'd suggest the 130 long version (130M) or else spend a bit more an go for the refractor on special at FLO Clearance / Pre-Owned - Celestron Omni XLT 120 by all acounts it a good bit of kit.

[pvaz]

The definition of a "good" telescope is hard. In my opinion it would be: "One you use as often as possible and fits your needs the best."

For someone beginning "your needs" are hard to define without previous experience, so I would advise a good, not too big/heavy, all rounder scope, that will allow you to see a bit of everything and let you learn. Under that category a 130mm aperture reflector is a good start. You then need to choose if you want the Equatorial (EQ) mount or the Dobson (Dob) mount version.

The EQ will allow you to track objects but haves an inicial learning curve and needs setup time before every use and may force you into some awkward positions to peek through the EP.

The Dob haves no setup time, it's pretty straight forward, you can observe on a comfortable sit down position but it doesn't track.

In the end the "best" scope is always down to personal tastes.

[neilf]

k think i have a better idea of what i want now cheers guys