beginners telescope - which to chose

[nicko]

Hello I am new to forums and have never bought a telescope and need help please. My wife has asked for a telescope for Christmas, she has always been interested in the stars and now wants to take a closer look. Due to a limited budget I want to get the best telescope I can for the money I have. I have narrowed it down to the following two, which are both ideal in terms of there size, they are:

Skywatcher Heritage 76 Mini Dobsonian Telescope

Celestron Firstscope 76 Telescope

Could anyone tell me which of these would be the one to go for and why please?

Many thanks

[CGolder]

If you are sure on only those two telescopes then i would get the cheapest. both will be equally as good and equally as limited as far as ability. these scopes are pretty much able to show some great moon details but i am afraid that's pretty much where their effectiveness ends.

A good set of bino's would probably be a better investment

[oldfruit]

Hi and welcome to SGL. The scopes you mention are both good scopes but will be limited by their size and would very quickly leave you wanting for something bigger. Whilst it might not be ideal for you, you could get a bigger scope if you bought one second hand.

[dmahon]

They're pretty much the same telescope, so you could buy the cheaper one. I think that the Skywatcher comes with a finderscope and the Celestron doesn't (it's part of the Celestron accessory kit, which is about £9 more when bought with the scope) - whether you need it or not however depends on the eyepieces you get, probably not is my opinion as the lowest power eyepiece is only 12x magnifcation.

[sengoksa]

Hello Nicko.. this is going over your budget but the

skywatcher Heritage 130p flexitube is realy a brilliant starter

telescope... as for the two mini dobsonions as has been

suggested flip a coin as ther identical in performance in everyway..

The binocular suggestion is also good you could buy a pair

of celestron skymaster 15x70 for around 49.99 I think

firstlight optics and rothervally optics still have some in stock

Though im sure they wont last to long espeacily this time of year

also the revelation 15x70 are very good and around the same price

of 49.00...hope the wife enjoys her present whatever

you decide....

[nicko]

Thanks to everyone for your help. Not too sure what to go for, maybe the binoculars, or I may try to stretch the budget. Although I may get in trouble with the wife as we agreed an amount we would spend on each other. But its Christmas so what the hell

Thanks again

[E621Keith]

I second the binocular suggestion. With a budget less than £100, a pair of 7x50, 10x50 or 15x70 would do a much better than a sub £100 scope.

In addition, if you upgrade in the future to a more substantial instrument, you will continue to use your binoculars, but you won't use your 76mm dob.

If it is a choice between the Celestron or the Skywatcher, I'd go for the Skywatcher. It comes with a finder scope and might come with better eyepieces. The 4mm Ramsden on the Celestron is said to be horrible by its cloudy night reviewer.

A shootout with pop-guns - Celestron’s tiny Dob vs. an old 50mm Tasco - Review

If you don't mind buying second hand, you can get much better instrument on you budget. Many beginner scope (114 or 130mm reflector) cost between £50-£80 on the used market.

[Moonshane]

Thanks to everyone for your help. Not too sure what to go for, maybe the binoculars, or I may try to stretch the budget. Although I may get in trouble with the wife as we agreed an amount we would spend on each other. But its Christmas so what the hell

Thanks again

you could always say that it's obviously hers but you spent a little more on it so that you don't grow out of it and can spend lots of quality time together at the eyepiece!

[ollypenrice]

I agree that a real budget telescope will be a let down. If you go for binoculars you cannot hand hold anything with more than 10x magnification though, so you would need an inexpensive second hand tripod at least.

But hey, if you overspend on her then the moral pressure is for her to spend more on you!

You win and you win!!

Olly

[nightfisher]

Get the binoculars, and if you get the 15x70 from flo, they will give years of service and are great for locating celestial objects

[Kef9]

I love that review Kieth. Made me laugh.

The solution get a tasco!!

[E621Keith]

I love that review Kieth. Made me laugh.

The solution get a tasco!!

Yea, it's good to know that 76mm dob gave decent result when it is used with a 5mm Nagler .

Now someone need to test it with a £500 Ethos

Really, the dob seems to be let down by the poor eyepiece, if op were to get one, he should invest in some Plossls (Skywatcher ones are around £20 each)

[Kef9]

Yea, it's good to know that 76mm dob gave decent result when it is used with a 5mm Nagler .

Now someone need to test it with a £500 Ethos

Really, the dob seems to be let down by the poor eyepiece, if op were to get one, he should invest in some Plossls (Skywatcher ones are around £20 each)

LOL yeah. I might lend him my 13mm!

Also sorry I spelt your name wrong.