help needed,dont laugh

[thebigcomputerguy]

i have always been fascinated by the stars but even more so recently. So i thought for christmas i would take it up slightly. I just wondered if anyone had any advice for telescopes. I have a very tight budget unfortunatly due to having a small family. I got about £50 max to spend,which would be my best route?

[moonraker1234]

Hi

It's not a silly question!

In my limited experience, I would go for a good s/h Meade 2114,

or 4504, or one of the lower ETX on eBay. They sometimes go for as little as £50 or thereabouts, but you start with quality rather than a toy!

[gustavo_sanchez]

My opinion is that you should get a good pair of binoculars. They will give you a LOT of good watching experiences of the stars and nebulas, in addition to the moon and planets. Telescopes in that range will offer only minimal performance and if you continue on the hobby you will replace them very quickly, so it's a waste of money. On the other hand, even guys with 24" aperture telescopes still use binoculars and love them.

[thebigcomputerguy]

thanks for not laughing ha. Yeah thanks i thought binoculars may be the approach,what am i looking for in a pair of binoculars to stand out at that price range?

[gustavo_sanchez]

Binoculars come with two numbers that define their characteristics, like 9x50, 20x80, etc. If I am not mistaken, the first number is the magnification and the second is the aperture. As in telescopes, aperture is the most important parameter that you should consider. Magnification is NOT as important. As a rule of thumb, I would try to consider the ones with the biggest aperture you could get. This will let you see faint objects, such as galaxies.

[Celeste]

Hi and welcome to the forum...FLO have a good deal on some bino's

CLICK ME

Hope they are what your looking for

[ollypenrice]

Celeste has the top link there. Those are brilliant. I have tons of toys down here but those 15x70s get a lot of use. They do need a cheap tripod though, easy to find second hand. For hand holding stick at or below 10x.

Olly

[Quatermass]

Hi Flo if your on a tight budget and 50.00 quid is your budget I would most definitely get a good pair of binoculars. Recently bought a pair of Celestron Up close 10x50 binoculars from Amazon for 20.00 they are brilliant and I can highly recommend them. Get yourself a pair of those and a good planisphere and red torch then go out there and learn the skies. Time spent doing this is well worth doing and when the hobby grabs you you will have done your home works and it will really help you. I started off with a pair of binculuars and just went out learning the constellations first which made a big difference when I took the plunge and got a telescope. You can see a lot with a the celestron binoculars and its a very enjoyable way of learning the skies. When you think about it a good pair of bins are just two mini telescopes joined together really.

Planisphere 5.46

Torch 15.31

Binoculars 22.89

Grand total £43.69p and enough left over for the book on star watching with binoculars job done..

[Chris H]

From time to time Lidl have 10 x 50 binoculars for less than your budget and they are pretty good, you just have to keep your eye out for when they are in the shops.

[brantuk]

I'm all for the book and binocs idea - the Liddl binocs are very good for the price (£13 last time they were in store) - you'll not get anything worth having in a telescope for under £130 new (or around £90-£100 s/h).

The Celestron binocs at FLO are also terrific value at £50 (I have a pair) but they are bigger and heavier than the Liddls so you might want a s/h camera mount and an adptor to hold them.

While you're thinking it over - download a copy of "Stellarium" - it's totally free planetarium software and will get you learning the sky right away. A planisphere is great in the field but if you're viewing from home you'll only need "Stellarium".

Hope that helps

[thebigcomputerguy]

thanks for the help guys,il have a browse for binoculars today. I already have stellarium,it is such a brilliant program. At the moment i am just using that and my eyes. There is a lidl quite close to me so will keep my eyes open.

why would i need things like a red torch? pardon my beginner-ness

[toshapetriji]

why would i need things like a red torch?

It will protect your night vision.

[thebigcomputerguy]

ok ok i am probably going for a pair of binoculars ,the ones on amazon look the best so far.

however and dont kill me for this i was just after a second hand bargain but found this

Telescope OPTICON 70F300 + maps + tripod, WARRANTY on eBay (end time 25-Nov-10 14:49:24 GMT)

does this fall in line with the cheap ones that you stay away from or would this do for a basic job?

[pvaz]

Most telescopes on ebay are of bad quality and often use plastic in their lenses which are likely to get you very disappointed. For the budget you're much better off with a good pair of 15x70 binos. I can strongly advice the Celestron 15x70s on offer at FLO (they usually retail for 85£). I use them and they have very good quality for the money, they complement a scope on large objects, they make for a very useful travel setup and it's easier to learn the night sky with binos.

A decent starter scope goes for 130£+. Maybe 80 or 90£ if you can find it second hand. Don't buy anything from a brand other then Skywatcher, Celestron, Orion, GSO, TAL or Meade. This are the reference brands for quality cheap scopes for a beginner. From the bunch, Skywatcher usually haves the best prices.

PS-> That scope is a short focal length scope and comes with Huygens eyepieces, which no reputable brand offers even on their cheapest scopes as they have bad quality in short focal lenghts. Telescopes need quality optical glass/mirrors on them and usually you do get what you pay for.

[thebigcomputerguy]

thought that may have been the case ,i shall stick with the binoculars ,thanks haha, when they add things like the barlow 3x and other eyepieces it made me think ooh. will have to be weary of that one

[pvaz]

That seams good. If you notice that scope on ebay is only 70mm in aperture, so are the 15x70 binos, so with binos you're actually getting 2 for 1.

The binos will show great views of large DSOs such as the andromeda galaxy, Orion nebula and double cluster if used under a dark sky. The only problem with binos is the limited magnification which won't allow much detail on planets/moon, but you'll learn to find them and they will show as a small disk instead of a point. The largest moon craters will also be visible.

[brantuk]

An average to good eyepiece will cost £40-£100 so a whole telescope for £27 isn't going to get you anything but disappointment I fear. And Opticron is a make to avoid.

The Liddl or the Celestron binocs won't disappoint - I have them both and still use them even alongside the telescope.

10x50's are a great start and 15x70's will show just a little bit more - the fun will be in finding stuff and knowing how to recognise it. Then when you're a little more flush a good starter scope will be that much more of a joy to play with

[ollypenrice]

Opticron is a make to avoid? I'm surprised that you say this. They are well regarded in birding circles and highly recommended by good suppliers like Green Witch. Of course, they make a range but they make good stuff as far as I'm aware. I wouldn't avoid them myself.

Olly

[Chris H]

The scope is an OptiCON not an OptiCRON. I think the name says it all.

[ollypenrice]

The scope is an OptiCON not an OptiCRON. I think the name says it all.

Well spotted! All is revealed...

Olly

[brantuk]

Yup - well spotted thanks Kris77 - what a difference a letter makes lol

[storebror]

I would agree that you'd be much better of with a decent pair of binoculars, rather than trying to buy a telescope within your price range that would only cause disappointment and possibly lead you to give up. A telescope can come later when you have a bigger budget. I was lucky enough to get a pair of the 10X50 binos from Lidl a couple of years back. I was staggered when I looked at the Pleiades star cluster with them - a truly magnificent sight. For their price, these binos are really good and not too heavy (something you need to consider with binoculars becuae the heavier they are the more difficult they are to keep steady and then you start needing a tripod).

[rll1288]

Thanks Brantuk.....

After reading the post i went to the local Lidl and picked me up a pair of 10 x 50 for £14.99......

They seem really good as well so will try tonight....(Clouds willing)

[brantuk]

That's great rll1288 - even better - they have a no quibble refund/exchange policy. So if you ain't delighted with them for any reason, you can take them back - can't go wrong

[moonraker1234]

A lot of very good advice, though much of it necessarily personal opinion, of course.

I have found that anything more powerful than 10 x 50 in binocs, proves difficult to hold steady, and I would still recommend a good quality scope s/h. Last night I compared a low cost Meade DS with the much more expensive ETX. I used the same eyepiece in both on the same objects, and neither I nor colleagues could really justify

the 4x price differential with the ETX. The Meade DS in question, I have seen go for as little as £50 s/h, and one point I would always insist on, is that the seller should also spend time going over every major point of the scope with you, as well as its operation.

Good hunting!