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Sorry, yet another "is this any good?" thread


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Hello,

A kind soul pointed me in your direction for some help and advice. Aldi are selling this telescope from tomorrow (I hope the link works):

ALDI - Sunday Special Buys 24th October 2010

Is it any good?

My son would love to be able to see the moon and a few planets in greater detail, and as he's only 7, I don't want to (actually I can't) spend a huge sum on a telescope, but if possible, I would like to get him one that's slightly better than the teeny childrens ones I've seen for sale. This one is at the limit of my price range, so I thought I'd pop in here and ask the experts! (I'm fully prepared for you to tell me that it's poor and that I should save up some more and wait until next year!)

Thank you in advance for your help!

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I'm afraid the quality of the telescopes from Aldi is not great - you really do get what you pay for. If the price really is your limit then I'm reluctant to advise against it as it should still give some reasonable views of the moon but i woulnd't expect too much of it - certainly don't be fooled by pretty and wondeful pictures on the box of galaxies and nebula - they are misleading to say the least.

If you could push the budge up slightly, I think you'd be better with a basic but reputable refractor such as the Skywatcher Startravel range - Skywatcher are a recognised and reputable telescope manufacturer - this forum's sponsors (First Light Optics) are selling the 70mm Mercury version for £97. Further more, a refractor would be easier and less troublesome for a beginner.

Obviously these are my opinions and others may follow with other suggestions or comments

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Is it any good? Truefully, not really. Most likely the telescope will turn him off completely. Why? Its mount with tripod is an equatorial mount and is not intuitive to use; making it difficult to point the telescope toward stars. For a child, as beginning adult as well, an azimuth mount is far better for starters. The size of the telescope is small. You son can see the moon. Planets will be small tiny dots but you can see the rings of Saturn and maybe one belt on Jupiter. Other objects in the sky will be difficult to find. The eyepieces that come with the telescope are of a design not used much any more and are difficult for viewing. The advertising hype says the scope can magnify up to 525 times. This is not true, the best that it can probably do is around 100 times.

Telescopes are precision instruments. The cheap department store type telescopes simply don't cut the mustard. Look for a telescope that has an azimuth mount with a diameter of its lens or mirror of around 90 mm or larger and with Plossl eyepieces.

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Just a follow up to the earlier posts, the skywatcher mercury 70mm refractor will be better than the aldi scope for light gathering and with better optics clearer views will be achievable, also as advised it will be a lot easier to use. Check Rother Valley telescopes as they have the mercury foy £79 but you will need to check P&P.

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You could check lidl around december as they usually sell the bresser skylux 70mm refractor for around £50/60 no mirrors to adjust and a reasonably simple mount.

This imho would be a much better buy and would be good for the moon and planets

John

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Thanks for all your advice. As expected, I'll give the Aldi one a miss, especially if it's quite complicated to set up/use for a complete novice. I'll have a look at the ones recommended (and will probably hang on until December and see if Lidl sell the one that nobbytate/john recommended.)

Thanks again.

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I'd definitely recommend you buy something from a dedicated astronomy retailer, such as this site's sponsor FLO. They will listen to what you say and recommend appropriate kit to try. The after sales help and advice will be worth it too!

You don't have to spend too much money to get a really good beginner set up that will last and preform well for years to come - and not put you off the whole thing with dodgy views and wobbly mounts etc!

Not a bad idea from Revs about getting a good pair of binoculars and a tripod, a lot of us started out like that, in fact most of us still use a pair as well as our scopes!

Doc

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I'd also give serious consideration to getting a pair of binoculars and a tripod. FLO are offering the Celestron 15x70's for £50 at the mo, which believe me is a steal!...

Celestron

Now that is a bargain worth investing in. I dont know how good the tripod is but i know FLO and they dont sell ****.

Forget the SW Heritage 76 (Sorry to anyone who has one). For a few pound more you can get the SW Heritage 130P (or even BETTER).

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On binoculars I have found that sometimes children find them awkward to use and struggle to get the separation correct. The french magazine tested the little 76mm Dobsonian and rather liked it. But in the rough and tumble of childhood a refractor might be a much better bet.

Olly

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I was given one of these and to say they are no good would be wrong.

It is a usable scope but is awkward , the tripod is unsteady , the eyepieces are

not brilliant and the Barlow and Erecting tubes are a joke.

However the tube is fine as is the focuser but needs to be on a Alt-az mount which is what I built for it.

As others have said , for a beginner a Refractor is a better from a reputable dealer.

Paul

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i setup one of these for a clueless friend and was actually surprised for the money, wasn't gonna be the best for that price but gave some good views of both juipiter and satrn and also fastinating looks at the moon. But as some advice spend a bit more and get a moch better telescope like the explorer 130p

Skywatcher explorer 200p

eq5 mount with statndard dovetail

25, 10, 6 mm super wide eyepieces

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I'd agree - get a refractor like this Mercury Inexpensive Telescopes for Beginners

Any one of the mercury ones would be good. Its very tempting with children to try and get something thats 'the business' and forget that most children have little patience and want a fast return on their time (heck so do I and I am 53 :) ).

A small scope that a child can handle on their own will bring some wonder where a more complex scope may put them off for good. As much as anyting children can be faddy (I have two myself) so your wise not to spend a fortune.

With that said a shockingly bad telescope will just lead to frustration and disappointment. I'd get a refractor because it would be hardier with a child, an alt/az mount because its simple to understand (up/down/left/right - its very intuitive) and I'd buy a decent brand like Skywatcher or Celestron for this type of product - although the Bresser 70mm scopes in Lidl at Christmas are reputed to be pretty fair for the money.

Hope thats some help to you.

ps When I was small(ish) dad bought me a high quality though small refractor. Its couldnt show a lot because it was so tiny but what it could show was amazing in quality and its why I do this as a hobby now.

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