Best telescope on a budget of £50 for Christmas - help.

[Sunnyb]

Our son will be 5 & a half at Christmas & all he wants from Santa is a telescope & space shuttle toy. I have bought a beginners guide to astronomy book so that we can help discuss what we can see with him. We have a budget of £50 & were wondering would it be better to buy a second hand telescope or can you get a decent telescope for £50 new?

We want the best possible, as if we buy a poor quality one he won't be able to see much & might lose interest. This is my first post, but I'm sure there'll be plenty more before & after Christmas.

Thanks - Sunnyb

[CGolder]

For a budget this size, there is probably only one scope i could recommend.

That is a celestron First scope 76mm, Argos were selling them up till recently for around £26 through the ebay store.

Other than that i think you might get lucky with someone second hand but are most likely to end up with a lemon. avoid ebay unless you know what you are looking for is my advice

[callisto]

How about this: Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 76 Mini Dobsonian

Ideal starter scope for a 5 year old

[John]

Hi and welcome to SGL !.

To be totally honest, with a budget of anything under £100 it's usual to recommend binoculars as the telescopes available at that price are generally just what you would like to avoid.

There is just one I can think of that might be the exception to this, although I've not used one myself - here is a link to the scope at the First Light Optics website (good supplier by the way):

Reflectors - Skywatcher Heritage 76 Mini Dobsonian

[John]

I see you have 3 similar recommendations here !

Hope that helps.

[CGolder]

Hello,

I have just found the link to the scope that argos were selling, its not a bad scope... its the same as the skywatcher version but without a finder.

Here

I owned one and when i changed the eye piece for a better quality one that the ones u get with it... i could just... i repeat just.... make out saturns rings.

Personally, if this was me, i would put off buying the scope until i could afford something better.. like a Heritage 130p or a 90mm Evostar on a AZ mount. i think these are the cheapest scopes i would even consider buying and are actually good scopes.

[WayBig]

my mate picked up a skywatcher capricorn off ebay earlier this week, for his 5yo for christmas for about £25. There were a few around that price and seemed reasonable for the money....although I've just checked and think they've all ended now.

Is the scope for him, or for you with him allowed to use it (which could warrant a higher budget!)

[Capricorn]

As he is 5, how about considering a spotting scope used for birdwatching?

Reason I say this is because the image is the correct way up, more relevantly left is left, right is right, up is up and down is down so he will not have to problem that when you move the scope to the left the image moves right.

They will fit on a camera tripod, perhaps you have one around. You can use it for birdwatching also.

Thing is I have no idea which one to suggest but the idea was to offer up another option.

Haven't looked but what location are you?

Check fedastro.org.uk and maybe there is a local club and maybe someone in it may have a scope they could sell? Worth asking.

[Astro_Baby]

For a 5 year old I would suggest you get a refractor on an simple alt/az mount. A refractor needs very little in the way of maintenance and will focus more easily and a simple Alt/Az mount will be easy enough for a 5 year old to get to grips with.

You could get something like the Skywatcher Mercury 607 Telescope | Telescopes | Rother Valley Optics

Its the Skywatcher Mercury 60mm and I would think that would be good enough for most things (heck 20 years ago most people would have considered that serious as a serious telescope).

It would do a pretty fair job on the moon and most bright objects and be simple enough to a 5 year old to get to grips with.

Like others on here I'd avoid ebay unless you buy a known brand like Skywatcher, Celestron etc - the off brand scopes will be mostly horrid.

Similarly avoid secondhand 'bargains' unless you have some confidence they are really as new.

I;d also avoid Argos/Store type scopes as they are often very inferior.

[Doc]

I tried to get my son involved at the age of 5 and the attention span and ability to get involved is not really there in my opinion.

But then if you do buy the little heritage mini dob, this might hold his attention as it's very small and he will be able to use it with no effort from yourself.

Reflectors - Skywatcher Heritage 76 Mini Dobsonian

I would recommend this scope.

[brantuk]

Hi SunnyB and welcome to SGL

I can't vouch for either of the telescopes I'm going to recommend as I've never owned either of them. But they are within your budget and come from a reputable dealer who will look after you. The top one on this link:

Table-Top Telescopes from Sky Watcher

looks more suitable for a 5yr old and is well under your budget. The second one down is probably more suitable if you are going to use it as well.

THe scopes are: The Infinity 76P and The Heritage 76. Both 3" apertures and the nearest you'll get to a proper telescope in your budget range.

Hope that helps

[pete_l]

A long time ago I remember reading an article in a solicitor's magazine (a magazine for solicitors, not one owned by a solicitor) about what a newly qualified legal professional should think about buying as they start their legal career. On the topic of cars, the author suggested that a BMW would be a good "starter" car for a fresh out law school.

The problem a lot of us have with making recommendations is that we forget that the people taking this advice are not anywhere near the level of proficiency, nor wanting to make the same level of commitment that we do. The advice asked for by the OP is for a five year old child. Not for someone looking to start a hobby of a lifetime. I doubt if a child will know, care or recognise a good telescope from a bad one, whether it's a Questar or comes free with a packet of corn flakes.

My suggestion is that if the child wants a telescope, then a telescope it must be. Children are remarkably bad (nearly as bad as adults) at recognising rational arguments which go against their wants and desires. So, it's got to be "telescope shaped" and it's got to have a mount that a 5-y/o can manipulate. It's got to be easy for them to see through and not too heavy. Most of all it must be robust and not have too many small fiddly bits that will get lost. After all those criteria, we can start worrying about optical quality and the like.

So yes, get him a telescope. Get a cheap one and if he becomes hooked he can have something a bit better (qand with the light of experience) for his birthday

Once the telescope has been handed over, I can foresee one of two possible outcomes. Either it will be cloudy that night and discarded, only to be played with during the day - at which point the major problem of everything being "upside down" will become a showstopper and the telescope will end up in a cupbaord. Or it will become an instant success, despite the poor optics and shaky mount. There won't be views of the Moon, as it doesn't rise until late (23:00-ish) at christmas, but there are a few planets that might be viewable. A couple of weeks later when the Moon is visible (clouds permitting) there will be more stuff to see and the enthusiasm will be reignited and the telescope will be used a lot, until its drawbacks become apparent - or some vital part gets lost (which is just as likely, maybe more so, with an expensive one).

If it does end up in a cupboard, at least you can sell it on ebay and get the lad something he would prefer.

[Astro_Baby]

I;d agree pete and say that something cheap that can be used may not be technically great but will create some wonder - something advanced that may be super may be technically too hard and as a result will be given up.

The Mercury scope thoughj is within budget - easy to use, probably as cheap as most 'toy' scopes from the likes of Argos and within the OPs original budget. Only the OP can assess whether his 5 yeat old will be interested.

As a parent myself with a younger child who is a bit faddy I am all too aware that their interest can wander but £50 doesnt buy you much in todays marketplace - its the price of 1.5 computer games - I had to blow almost £30 on a Barbie doll a few months ago for a friends daughter and thats just a piece of injection moulded plastic and some cheap fabric. Thats why I suggested the Mercury scope - its good enough to keep some interest and the onlyu scopes cheaper are going to be substantially worse and probably not that much cheaper either.

[Sunnyb]

Thank you for all your advice. My son is very interested & is always wanting to go outside on a clear night. He knows if it's cloudy he can't see anything. The Skywatcher for the budget seems a reasonable place to start. We'd love to spend more, but it is for him more than us & if he doesn't get a telescope when that's one of the only 2 things he's asked for from Santa, then he'll be gutted. I don't want to shatter a little boys dream - so will shop around on eBay & other websites to find a decent priced Skycatcher telescope. If he really enjoys the telescope & it turns into a more serious hobby then we will reconsider & buy him a better quality one for his birthday next year or the year after. Thanks for everyone's advice so far & for making me feel so welcome to the forum.

Sunnyb

[Ant]

I have a 7 year old and for quite some time he comes out with me and has the odd look.

He loves looking at the moon, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn etc. But he is lucky as I have the scope already...

My nephew on the other hand was bought one of the department store scopes and even though he's very interested in astronomy and space - it nearly put him off completely. It really was dire.

Skywatcher is a good make - for me it's like the "FORD" of the telescope world. They are not the best but they are a very long way from the worst. For the record almost every bit of kit I have is Skywatcher!

The bottom line from me is to recommend the same as some of the others...

Reflectors - Skywatcher Heritage 76 Mini Dobsonian

Or if you could stretch a little further then

Startravel - Skywatcher Mercury 705

if you can rack up 10 posts on SGL, FLO might be able to offer a little discount.

Cheers and Welcome.

Ant

[johninderby]

For something cmppletely different have you considered a Monocular. The one below is actually half of a pair of binoculars. It's very lightweight and thus easy for a small child to hold, and the optics are very good, giving nice sharp views.

Bresser Safari Sprite 10x50 Scope

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bresser-Safari-Sprite-10x50-Scope/dp/B000UJ8JQ8

They also do a 10x20 version. I bought one a while ago and have been very impressed with it and it's also small and light enough to fit into a coat pocket.

John

[JamieH]

The Infinity is a proper 76mm aperture Dobsonian Newtonian reflector. It even has a full blown Prabolic mirror which is something you usually find on a much more expensive telescope with the same features.

It's not a toy & probably one of the most ideal for children, best telescope to start with. It's one that is compact & can sit on a window sill. It's good for small hands & not intimidating or off putting for the child. Super easy to use & very simple to use, not off putting for the child. Did I just say that! Their was a special offer going with a choice of free gifts, one by patrick Moor, Guide to the night's sky & even a good quality field compass.

[Aussie Observer]

The Skywatcher 76 mm table top dob/ Celestron First Scope is a great little scope. All it really needs is some decent eyepieces because the ones which come with the scope are rubbish. Not only is it suitable for young children- with adult supervision of course, but it is great for adults as well. I own one and used it when I travelled to the UK in May, so it really is a good grab and go scope. It is not a planetary scope ie for looking at the planets but the moon is great in it and the views of clusters and nebulae are fantastic. I was going to sell mine when I got home but I am so impressed with it, I will keep it and use it especially on holidays in my caravan.

[ollypenrice]

I disagree that the mini Dobs would be suitable. I think they are far too fragile for a small child and would soon end up broken. Like Astro Baby I would consider only a refractor.

Olly

[tinvek]

i bought a scope for my son a couple of years ago and after some consideration went for something that not only performed as an astro and terrestial scope but also looked like what a young child thinks a scope should look like, additionally a scope of this layout is far more instinctive to aim for a young child.

anyway i went for the skywatcher mercury 705 mentioned above, predicatbly his enthusiasm for astonomy was waned a bit but the scope still gets lots of use looking at passing ships etc, something i'm not so sure would have happened with a reflector.

i did a review of the scope and it's mount at the time, it's a bit broken up as to be honest i'd set out just to get a cheap portable mount but it'll give you an idea of what the scops like.

http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-reviews/74865-first-light-skywatcher-az3-mount-skywatcher-mercury-705-a.html

p.s. following on from my closing comments, the mercury still lives in the boot of my car at work, still gets used when i have a chance and still delivers acceptable views

[russ]

I tried starting both my sons at the age of 5/6 and despite expressing an interest, neither one had the attention span to take a proper look. I only bought the Bresser 70 from Lidl, which was more than adequate for the job and gave good views of the moon and planets. But within 60 seconds of being outside they were role playing Star Wars. I'm sure there are some super kids out there who are almost adult like in their abilities but the majority at that age won't be able to keep still or concentrate. For the most part they just want to be outside with their dad but more importantly than that, they want to avoid going to bed.

The astro event that both my two have loved since they were small is a meteor shower, even when the hourly rate doesn't live up to the hype and their dad is getting well hacked off.

The Mercury 705 or Heritage 76 will be perfect. If anything the Mercury 705 will be the better option because:

a/ it looks like a proper scope

b/ won't need collimating

c/ dad can claim it as a half decent white light solar scope with suitable filter

[Macavity]

I suppose I started at the age of seven? I'm not sure I would have grasped the notion of reflectors, inverted images etc. Most of my "practical fiddlings" were terrestrial - Astronomy was mostly book-based! The canonical 30x30 refractor presented a lot of challenges, back then. But perhaps (grim) determination is key...

[CGolder]

I have a 7 year old girl and she loves looking through my telescopes, shes often our with me looking at stars. I think the main attraction for her is that she stays up late with her dad.

The kids have a plastic 50mm refractor that doesn't work. My 2 year old likes to drag it around and be like daddy. I did attempt to look through it...its just a big blur... but that's fine as i can let her use it alone as i actually doesn't show anything and wont get any focus.

My 7 year old loves looking at jupiter and counting its moons etc, we have had some bad experiences. one time of note is where she was crying because we were looking for m31 and all she could see was a blur...she insisted there was something wrong with her eyes.!

We love looking through scopes as a joint activity, its great for us both.

Its hard to advice someone on a scope here, your right with the solicitors advice on a BMW being a good starter car... but you also wouldn't want to advice someone to buy a Rover when you know its a **** car

[WayBig]

... For the most part they just want to be outside with their dad but more importantly than that, they want to avoid going to bed.

:D Very true for my youngest, by 6yo is very interested in everything - planets, doubles, galaxies, nebulae but will only spend a short time at the eyepiece - a quick look and then...football in the dark

[Shibby]

What about the Galileoscope? It's designed by Astronomy professionals and has the sole intention of getting kids into astronomy; bearing the name of arguably the most famous early astronomer, it should be a great introduction to astronomy. Looks like you can buy them here

It's not as big as some of the other scopes mentioned here, but with any of these, it's only really the moon and Jupiter that will really wow your son. (Until you can get a much bigger scope!)

Also, you get to assemble it, though this may put you off rather than interest?