celestron first scope and other stuff

[Kevdan]

Hi All,

I have been asking about starter scopes the last few days and getting some very good feedback from you all, So firstly thanks for the replies,

One thing I have been doing is reading up manufacturers descriptions of their scopes and what they say you can see with them,

So first of all - Can you beleive what they say about their scopes, for example I read up about the celestron first scope and this is a quote from the instructions -

"You can see Venus go through its lunar-like phases. Mars can reveal a host of surface detail and one, if not both, of its polar caps. You will be able to see the cloud belts of Jupiter and the great Red Spot (if it is visible at the time you are observing). In addition, you will also be able to see the moons of Jupiter as they orbit the giant planet. Saturn, with its beautiful rings, is easily visible at moderate power."

So if this is the case of a small 76mm reflector, surely going up to a 6" or 8" reflector can wait untill a beginner like me has learned the stars fairly well and got use to the misses moaning that I havent use that scope and me trying to explain that on cloudy nights it dont work.

I have been trawling through ebay and the likes but some of the prices , well, you may as well buy new.

I was offered a seben 1000/150 but have since been told it's been bounced around the guys shed for over 18months with kids bikes and other stuff on top of it so tat was a no-no.

So all in all, Im still unsure what I will end up with but am still thinking about the 200p or 250p skywatcher dobsonian, as my long term scope, but would like a cheap small scope to play with for the time being, I have thought about bino's but would have to buy bino's and then a tripod so would end up paying up to £100 for the two so Im going for a scope.

Again, any input is appreciated.

Kev.

[brantuk]

I'd avoid Seben and stick with well known reliable makes like Skywatcher, Meade, Celestron etc. Don't buy from ebay, sunday papers, or high st shops - you need to know what you're doing to use those sources.

And best advice I can impart is to give FLO a call to discuss what you want for your budget.

A 130P (eq) or a 150P (eq or dob) are great sarter scopes - if you can afford the 200p or 250p then even better.

You'll get a s/h 130p for around £100

[yoda]

Hi Kev I personley whoud buy a scope that you intend to keep for a year or two as brantuk has sed call FLO (I was speaking to them myself today very helpfull).

[MorningMajor]

"You can see Venus go through its lunar-like phases. Mars can reveal a host of surface detail and one, if not both, of its polar caps. You will be able to see the cloud belts of Jupiter and the great Red Spot (if it is visible at the time you are observing). In addition, you will also be able to see the moons of Jupiter as they orbit the giant planet. Saturn, with its beautiful rings, is easily visible at moderate power."

Whilst in now way am I knocking Celestron - I have one myself (127SLT) but that is exactly the description they wrote in my manual - so it does seem to be their standard speil - however, as I said, I'm delighted with my Celestron

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'd avoid Seben and stick with well known reliable makes like Skywatcher, Meade, Celestron etc. Don't buy from ebay, sunday papers, or high st shops - you need to know what you're doing to use those sources.

And best advice I can impart is to give FLO a call to discuss what you want for your budget.

A 130P (eq) or a 150P (eq or dob) are great sarter scopes - if you can afford the 200p or 250p then even better.

You'll get a s/h 130p for around £100

Got to agree.

[perrin6]

It's a great idea to start small as if and when you get a bigger scope you might be surprised to find yourself still coming back to use the smaller scope. Small ones are still great for quick looks, and if your bigger scope has a longer focal length, the smaller scope will show wider fields of view with your eyepiece collection. Wider fields are good for viewing objects such as the pleiades star cluster, comets and other large objects eg the andromeda galaxy. Despite having a largish reflector I still very often use my 66mm refractor which gives much more attractive views of many double stars than the reflector. My lowest power eyepiece yields .7 degree and 93X with my 13 inch and 3.3 degrees and 22X with the small scope so I get totally different views with each instrument.

[Kevdan]

Many Thanks for the replies guys.