Beginners Scope ?

[just looking]

I Know its choices,and Money.But

After Reading Most of the threads on here

And Noticed People always say is this a good beginners Scope?

Now not having much money myself I Know this is VERY tempting..

to buy a cheaper one just to get my hands on one.

But (And this is just me.)

I Think The Last thing I would go for is A Beginners scope.

or am I Missing something here.

As I Have never looked through a scope in my life

(well not counting the kalidascope I Had when I was 10.lol)

I Dont want to upset anyone,or start a debate.and sorry if I Have upset anyone who has one.

but reading through the threads,Advice etc.

Don't you think If like me newbie,starting out,

its best go for a Middle of the road Scope,to start with

Like I am at the moment,Saving like mad to get a better one.

As I Think if I Was to buy a cheap one look through it and see

Maybe something you can see through cheap Binoculars.

Then look through someone's Decent scope

and see what they are looking at,

I would be gutted.Mine would go in the bin.

I Know you get what you pay for,

To to me its worth saving that bit longer to get better

don't you think?

[ajg]

Generally, I always recommend a 6-8" dob as a first scope. I like the SkyWatcher 6" as it has quite a slow focal ratio so you can use cheaper eyepieces too.

TELESCOPE SUPPLIERS - SKY-WATCHER TELESCOPE

Not expensive at around £200, although I would recommend some better eyepieces than one ones that come with it, but they can be added later as funds allow. I've not tried them personally, but I really like the look of the Astro Tech Paradigm eyepieces, and I believe they would work very well with this scope.

[just looking]

Thanks Andrew

That looks very nice.

its awfull when starting out and you havant a clue.

I Know all you lot's been there and done it,

And one day maybe I Can pass all my knowledge on.. ;o)

or maybe best not.lol

The thing is you don't want to end up with a rubbish one,

And it put you off and then not bother no more.

like the eye pieces until finding S.G.L

I didn't know That you can get better ones

this is good,

I Suppose its like camera's in a way. buying different lenses.

Then again I Have never been interested in photography.

I Must be going through a midlife crisis.

oh and...............

if you need to know anything about knitting.lol

Im a dab hand at that and will pass on my Great knowledge If needed. ;o)

Thanks Andrew

Chez

[kniclander]

I think there is a big difference btween a classic "beginner's scope" like a 6" skywatcher dob or an eq mounted 130 which can keep you (nearly as) happy for years and a rubbish department store / Argos piece of **** which will keep you annoyed for 10 minutes before you chuck it out.

[crazyjedi]

I reckon the six inch newt on either a dob or an EQ mount is always a good starter scope as it is (relatively) inexpensive but has good light grasp and something by SkyWatcher will always be good quality.

I'd always say get the biggest you can possibly afford!! Aperture is king in this game and the bigger you start off with, the longer it'll be before you need to upgrade.

I can totally relate to your way of thinkin. The only reason it is usually recomended that people start off with "starter scopes" is because if a total beginer spends lots and then loses interest and decides that standing outside in the cold for half the night isn't fun then they'll lament having spent £500 on a nice big scope and annoyed at whoever recomended buying it. The starter scopes recommended on SGL will be good quality easy to use instruments and not the cheap and useless garbage often seen for sale in high street shops like argos.

If you're dead into the hobby get as big as you can but if it's more of a curiosity start off smaller and see if your interest grows with experience

[Brendan of Borg]

Hello and welcome!

[just looking]

Thanks Rob

Oh Yes I Am dead into it.

and looking forward to the long cold winter nights.lol

as I Will be sat indoors,

Except of course if We Go away with caravan

or on a SGL meet. ;o)

I Have pursuaded o/h to convert the Little shed at the side of the house

and put a sliding roof on.(will post pics of course)

as all the best views are in the front of us.

There isant quite as much scope on the back with the trees and houses.

Although the moons there.

And if he is really clever he can hook up to the scope

and connect to my desk top p.c. ;o)

so will be sat indoors HOPEFULLY Come Winter.

And I Can now go for one of the Bigger Scopes.

I was after a Mobile One I Can take with me in the caravan.

But I Think I Will be happy with the Binoculars for this

........................

Hi Brendan ;o)

[crazyjedi]

I regularly take my 150 newt to our caravan in wales as it's not too bulky. If you're after a bigger scope tho you may want to consider the Meade Light Bridge truss tube dob range. Thay have pretty impressive apperture (from 8 to 12 inch i believe) but they break down into reasonable sized components for easier luggin about

[Capricorn]

Minor complaint:

A location of: Where the stars don't twinkle isn't a lot of use.

Through recent post it seems that Bedford Astro are planning a public evening for viewing, mid Sept. The south coast group, they may be doing 2 soon. If anyone had an idea of where you were they could point out that getting along to one would enable you to look at and through a variety of scopes and so get you some direct and small but useful hands on experience.

Also there are many astro groups besides those that may be on you doorstep that may also be doing similar soon.

[Astro_Baby]

Hi - I had something if the same dilemma a couple of years ago. Rteurning to astro I didnt have a clue really - what scopes were good, which brands were reliable etc etc.

In the end I plumped for a Skywatcher 130PM as a kind of test purchase. I figured that if Sir Patrick Moore gave them an endorsement (and he is notoriously stingey with his praise where products are concerned) then if it was good for him it would be good enough for me. The 130 got endless good reviews and I figured they couldnt all be wrong.

The scope cost £175 as far as I recall and I would have to say it was one of the best purchases I made. It is a beginners scope but its quality is superb. It was light, easy to use (assuming your happy with equatorial mounts) and just generally a great little scope. I dont think someone coming into astro for the firts time on a budget could be disappointed with it.

In part I had two tough issues - one was a test purchase to see if the kit was any good - the other was really about me not sopending too much in case I found that I just wasnt committed enough to the hobby. I think if I had known for sure that I was going to stick with it I'd have got a bigger scope from the off. My sister has a Skywatcher 150 on the EQ3-2 and loves it as her mobile scope.

Small scoes may be small but they arent necessarily bad quality and indeed some of the samll scope around now are brilliant for the money. Most people I suspect never really ever exploit all the capabilities of small scopes like the 130 because aperture fever gets them and like me they upgrade quite quickly to a much bigger bit of kit.

I think so long as you stick to the main brands like Skywatcher, Meade, Celestron etc you cant go wrong. Avoid no name ebay scopes like the plague. Basically take a look at what a serious astro dealer (like FLO the forum sponsor) stocks and that will steer you as to what brands are worth the money.

You could also pick up a TAL off ebay - the go amazingly cheap at times - I saw a 6" TAL 2 which is a lovely scope go for £120 recently. The only down side to that is knowing about the scope cos there are some lemons out there - but hey - thats what we are all here for so just ask away if you want to know stuff

[ollypenrice]

I think that the 'beginners' scopes ' that you have in mind are never, in fact, recommended by anyone on this forum. All advisers go for the second level, if you like, as the starting point. So you were dead right in your hunch.

Good scopes are now affordable, which is great news.

Olly

[just looking]

Oops Sorry Capricorn: Sheffield,

And I Will be going to The Sheffield Asto Society

Depending on the time O/H manages to get home from work.

Thanks Everyone for your help.

it is really appreciated,and Im taking all this in.

I Want to Try and get the best scope I Can now

as we have had some bad news: and thats o/h job is now on the line

and he is now working week to week.

And knowing when he does get laid off and goes on the dole,

we won't have the money to spend on one,or the money to upgrade.

for however long he is unemployed,;o(

so we are trying to get whats is best for the money we have now.

[ajg]

Sorry to hear that. Everything seems to be so hard these days. Things will get better, I just hope we've already hit the bottom of the trough and started to climb out of it.

SAS next Solday is on the 17th. I went a couple of months ago and spent a couple of hours chatting and looking at the sun (which had unfortunately decided to be boring). They had 3 solar scopes and a projector set up, so there was plenty of opportunity to have a good look. Nice bunch of people. I need to get out there more often.

I managed to pick up one of those 6" dobsonians from eBay for £150 as a birthday present for a friend. Collected it in person from Dronfield. Just be careful with 2nd hand kit - as has been said before, there are some lemons out there.

[ajg]

Just had another thought - given that funds are tight, have a look at the Skywatcher Heritage 130P. I bought one of these for my father's birthday last year, and it's a lovely little scope for the money. Easy to store, good optics, focuser is a little poor, but it's less than £130 new and delivered.

[just looking]

Thanks Andrew maybe see you there one day ,SAS

Don't think his job will pick up he in the building trade;o(

and all hes ever done.