Beginners scope for under £150

[demoneye]

Hi All,

I'm trying to source a beginners scope for someone without much money. I think we all appreciate the need for high light levels which suggest a little reflector telescope like the skywalker hawk 1145P. Can anyone tell me if this telescope offers good enough views to capture the imagination of a 10 year old son and his Mum? I cant imagine they will look at much more than the moon, jupiter and saturn etc unless the youngster gets properly stuck in to the hobby. Is it still the case that a reflector, even at this low level of cost, is still better value for money compared to a refractor in the same price range?

Thanks,

Andy

[Chris H]

Skywatcher Heritage 130p Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube It is a great scope and a decent size too plus dead it's easier to use than the Skyhawk because you don't have to fiddle about with a tripod and it's under budget.

[Doug]

Hi Andy

I must agree with Chris simple to use and he will be able to set it up on his own

and gives a nice view, let us know what you dicide

Doug

Essex

[demoneye]

Hi guys,

Yep, will go for the 130p, have had a look thru one at Jupiter and it was the thing that did it for me. 'A celestial family'.

PS I've estimated that bearing in mind it takes the light from the sun only about 8 minutes to reach the earth, for us to view jupiter from the sunlight reflected off it, we see that reflected sunlight a full 80 minutes, almost an hour and a half after it left the sun!

[Jon65]

Andy,

Good beginners choice,a black homemade shroud to block unwantd outside light entering the light path of the object you're viewing is a good idea for this type of scope.It seems a very portable scope.

To throw a spanner in the works; the only refractor I would consider for a similar price is the Skywatcher Evostar 90mm F10 (AZ3).

That will be excellent on the moon and planets due to the longer focal length than the 130P.

Here's a snippet of the 90mm review.

“Great deep-space views…. Using the 25mm eyepiece, the star Altair was sharp across 90 percent of the field of view, with only slight distortion close to the edges. Using the 10mm eyepiece we just split Epsilon Lyrae into four stars and Albireo had lovely gold and blue component stars. All our test nebulae and galaxies were easily viewed. The Dumbbell Nebula showed strong mottling and the the Andromeda Galaxy filled the view at low magnification, with its two companion galaxies also visible."

BBC Sky At Night Magazine Review of telescope.

Just noticed on FLO this comes with a 45º Erect Image Diagonal 1.25" a 90 deg. star diagonal will be easier to view objects higher in the sky but will be an extra expense.However the 45deg.will allow use of this scope during the day as well.

[E621Keith]

I too second the 130p dob