Telescope advice
Discussion
We are trying to choose an astronomical telescope for our grandson , for Christmas
The more I read , the more confused I become .
The three types , compound , refractor and reflector each have pros and cons.
Firstly , budget , around £100 +/- £50 , so limited performance will have to be accepted
Use, Planets inc moon and stars ,with Venus and Mercury nearby at present , it would be nice to see some detail there .
Also to be able to link both iphone and perhaps SLR camera to eyepiece,
For ease of use it appears the choice is refractor or reflector
A refractor apparently has poor performance on faint objects , whereas reflector ( which I am drawn to ) has good all round performance ,but can suffer dusty mirrors and optics moving out of alignment .
Guidance would be appreciated
The more I read , the more confused I become .
The three types , compound , refractor and reflector each have pros and cons.
Firstly , budget , around £100 +/- £50 , so limited performance will have to be accepted
Use, Planets inc moon and stars ,with Venus and Mercury nearby at present , it would be nice to see some detail there .
Also to be able to link both iphone and perhaps SLR camera to eyepiece,
For ease of use it appears the choice is refractor or reflector
A refractor apparently has poor performance on faint objects , whereas reflector ( which I am drawn to ) has good all round performance ,but can suffer dusty mirrors and optics moving out of alignment .
Guidance would be appreciated
cwis said:
Read this link to set some expectations:
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can...
I'd go for a reflector personally - the resolution of everything you see is based on the diameter of the lens (or mirror). Mirrors are cheaper than lenses for a given size. Don't worry about collimation (lining the mirrors up) - it's easy to do.
Go for a table top dobsonian - comfy to use, easy to transport and set up. Comes with a built in tripod.
A Sky-Watcher Heritage 130 (5 inch mirror) would be in your budget - get the 150 (6 inch mirror!) if you want to stretch it a bit.
I'd order now - stock has been very short over the past few months on all astro stuff.
That link is great , thanks very much . https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can...
I'd go for a reflector personally - the resolution of everything you see is based on the diameter of the lens (or mirror). Mirrors are cheaper than lenses for a given size. Don't worry about collimation (lining the mirrors up) - it's easy to do.
Go for a table top dobsonian - comfy to use, easy to transport and set up. Comes with a built in tripod.
A Sky-Watcher Heritage 130 (5 inch mirror) would be in your budget - get the 150 (6 inch mirror!) if you want to stretch it a bit.
I'd order now - stock has been very short over the past few months on all astro stuff.
I now know where to set my expectations , and to see actual images from 4in telescopes , something that is absent from , say, Amazon listings , is very useful .
I have not yet looked at the telescopes you pointed me to ( bit early ) , need a bit more time to sit down and look at the options , but stretching the budget to look at a 6in telescope looks to be on the cards .
Thanks again .
Being the OP , I have followed this with interest , The problem was getting a reasonable telescope for the budget we had set .
I had looked at many sellers but the problem was generally stock ,lack of .Or high price
Also I took on board the comments regarding grandson losing interest ,
So started sniffing around eBay and found a Sky-Watcher Explorer 130 with all kit ,which I won for less than a third of normal SP .
Grandson can now get a taste of stargazing , if he shows interest , we can upgrade to a better instrument ,and get money back by selling the eBay purchase on.
I had looked at many sellers but the problem was generally stock ,lack of .Or high price
Also I took on board the comments regarding grandson losing interest ,
So started sniffing around eBay and found a Sky-Watcher Explorer 130 with all kit ,which I won for less than a third of normal SP .
Grandson can now get a taste of stargazing , if he shows interest , we can upgrade to a better instrument ,and get money back by selling the eBay purchase on.
I find this post rather odd . My original post and enquiry was discussed , advice was given (as requested ) and a solution was arrived at which covered the points I had asked about to my satisfaction .
This lead me to source a S/H telescope ,which , should my grandson loose interest , I would easily recover my outlay .
I will try to answer the points made in this post , I have copy/pasted the post so I can answer individual points
Gandhar says
“This is the problem with all these sort of posts, people just start chipping in with what they want to buy”
I am not seeing any post relating to individual requirements , only relating to interest raised and future plans
“The first post after the OP should have been”
“1. What age is your grandson”
Easy answered if I had been asked 13 yrs
“2, Has he actually requested a telescope”
Indirectly , as he has a monocular spotting scope in a tripod which he turns skyward on occasions
“3. How much do you want to spend?”
Covered in OP
“If he has shown no interest in stargazing before and this is a buy to get him interested in it, then I would not even bother.”
Why not offer a path to another interest , especially as there has been a hint the youngster may be interested . By that reasoning you would never offer an alternative hobby / interest to any youngster , eg model making , sports ( equipment ) and this goes for both sexes .I had also covered the situation where he either has no interest or looses interest
“Finally, my stock solution would still be to get him a good pair of binoculars and a small cheap tripod”
Covered in item 2
This lead me to source a S/H telescope ,which , should my grandson loose interest , I would easily recover my outlay .
I will try to answer the points made in this post , I have copy/pasted the post so I can answer individual points
Gandhar says
“This is the problem with all these sort of posts, people just start chipping in with what they want to buy”
I am not seeing any post relating to individual requirements , only relating to interest raised and future plans
“The first post after the OP should have been”
“1. What age is your grandson”
Easy answered if I had been asked 13 yrs
“2, Has he actually requested a telescope”
Indirectly , as he has a monocular spotting scope in a tripod which he turns skyward on occasions
“3. How much do you want to spend?”
Covered in OP
“If he has shown no interest in stargazing before and this is a buy to get him interested in it, then I would not even bother.”
Why not offer a path to another interest , especially as there has been a hint the youngster may be interested . By that reasoning you would never offer an alternative hobby / interest to any youngster , eg model making , sports ( equipment ) and this goes for both sexes .I had also covered the situation where he either has no interest or looses interest
“Finally, my stock solution would still be to get him a good pair of binoculars and a small cheap tripod”
Covered in item 2
Edited by MXRod on Thursday 5th November 09:43
A final postscript.
My grandson absolutely loved the telescope and although , due to size reasons ( telescope , not grandson ) the scope has to live at our house , weather / cloud permitting ,he has put it to plenty of use .
I added a zoom eyepiece, not as good as I expected , and also a CCD camera to make recording images easier , having found the device for securing his iphone to the telescope not that robust .
Early image below , we still need time to understand the software , but first results encouraging .
My grandson absolutely loved the telescope and although , due to size reasons ( telescope , not grandson ) the scope has to live at our house , weather / cloud permitting ,he has put it to plenty of use .
I added a zoom eyepiece, not as good as I expected , and also a CCD camera to make recording images easier , having found the device for securing his iphone to the telescope not that robust .
Early image below , we still need time to understand the software , but first results encouraging .
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