Need of Freeper help to buy telescope

March 18, 2012 | vanity

[w4women]

I am looking to buy my husband a telescope for his birthday and would appreciate any guidance from Freeper Friends. I want to spend less than $500 - he is a novice so looking for ease of set-up and use. Thanks in advance!

[geege]

www.oriontelescope.com.......Great selections....

[muir_redwoods]

IMHO, this is the best deal you are going to get. 5 inches of aperture and the digital features make this a great deal.

[dr_lew]

Here is a ( very lowkey ) youtube pitch from Orion for their Starmax 127, which I bought 5 or 10 years ago. I bought the "clock" or motorized drive mentioned in the video, and I've been happy with that. It runs on 4 D cells and they last forever. Note the "long focal length" he mentions translates to high magnification, which is why I bought it.

I had the Edmund Astroscan for a number of years, and this can't be beat for ease of use, with almost zero setup time. It is limited in power, though, and I wanted to step up.

I would be wary of the computerized setups. I think you have to go top end to get the real advantage of these. I think it's ironic that so many "beginner scopes" actually require a deft touch to make them work because of the low cost and skimpy construction. I say wary, as I have been wary, and never owned one! So that's just my opinion. To me, part of the fun is learning to spot, and this involves basic knowledge of the sky, so what are you out there for?

That's another caveat. Observing the sky is actually a rather refined enjoyment, and many people are spoiled by the dazzling depeictions they see on TV. This started with Sagan's COSMOS series, but it's just gotten worse since then.

Good luck!

[JudgemAll]

At that price, forget the refractors if you cannot settle for binoculars, because the Wal Mart style thin refracting tubes are not worth it for serious stuff, imo, and the binoculars do a better quicker job to learn the sky.

Get a Newtonian reflector. I prefer Equatorial mounts but Dobsonian mounts are cheaper.

In order of brand quality, imo,

Celestron
Meade
Konus-Orion

In order of Bang for Buck optics quality:

Newtonian (pure reflector)
Shmidt Cassegrain, Shmidt “Kasuetov” (hybrid reflectors-refractors)
Refractor

In order of raw quality refractors might be arguably the best for color etc... but they are so much more expensive, it is not worth it, imo.

A big fat light-hugging Newtonian scope makes amateurs so thrilled to see their first deep sky objects like Nebulas, galaxies etc... and all for $500 you get some high quality images.

Motors can be an extra cost. I would not trade glass or quality for a motor, though. I’d rather learn to do it manualy. The thrill is even more then, and motors are not necessarily hassle free to set up and work unless you go serious with photography exposure etc... but that requires much more than $500.

[JudgemAll]

Also get scopes that accept large eyepieces for good eye relief.

[Krankor]

Look for one that let’s you see things that are really far away. Try to find one you can use for reading, as well. You might also want to consider a monocle.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

“For astronomy, you'll get the best bang for your buck with a 6 or 8 inch reflector (Dobsonian) telescope.”

Good advice. You need to really do your homework. A bad telescope, like a cheap musical instrument, will be very frustrating. Meade has great scopes, and some are fairly inexpensive, but you can run up the price fairly quickly.

Oh, there are also some online ways to purchase time on telescopes, including some observatory telescopes. You can rent time on the telescope, tell them where you want to look, and they will link the telescope images to you. Here's some links for some:

http://www.lightbuckets.com/

http://www.cherrymountainobservatory.com/Docs/ObservatoriesOnTheWeb.pdf

http://www.universetoday.com/52114/online-telescope/

Good Luck!

[Eldon Tyrell]

I would be careful that this is something HE wants and not something that you think is cool.

I have every hobby ever - and my wife got me some junky telescope a few years back. It never gets used.

And I can get interested in anything.

One thing - along a similar axis - that I like doing for fun is celestial navigation with a sextant. Plus - you still need to learn stars etc.

For the Telescope - from the ground up -

1. Base/support/tripod - whatever they call it.
2. Mount - that follows target
3. Computer controller - a must in the modern world. 100X easier.
4. Telescope
5. Eyepiece.

The chain is only as strong as weakest link.

There are a lot of nice sets of gear - but I have fun with binoculars.

Oh - also - Starry Night software for computer. Can stargaze “from the desktop”. A lot of fun for about $20. Put it on a laptop, go out in the woods/country, and pretend you have a telescope.

With that and a sextant - you are approaching guy-geek nirvana.

[reed13k]

Bfl

[Inyo-Mono]

Bttt.

[Skooz]

BFL

[Calvin Locke]

The best one to get is the one that will get the most use.

I’d also suggest a chair or stool that will offer the best viewing comfort for whatever type of scope and mount you end up getting.

[smokingfrog]

Interesting. Didn’t know there was such a thing as an online telescope.

[Ron C.]

I've found the best place to buy stuff like this, at a much lower cost than from manufacturers, or stores, is Amazon.

Go to THIS LINK and save yourself a lot of money on a really good 'first scope.'

Normally going for about $500, this Celestron has on-board computer control, free shipping, all for $289.95. That is pretty hard to beat. 8^)

[Secret Agent Man]

Beat thing to do is go to amazon and browse the buyer/user ratings of telescopes in your price range, both positive and negative comments.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

As others have said it depends on what you want to watch, the range of choices is vast.