Telescope Recomendations

[Dr Pepper]

Hi. I've had an old Celestron refracting-type telescope for years now, and it's served its purpose well. However, it's very old and nearly impossible to effectively use now (it falls out of focus at high angles, only two of the three legs extend properly, it's very wobbly, and the movement-restricting screws usually don't work).

So, do any of you reccomend a telescope for a "casual" user? I can only spend $160-$200 on it, too (USD). Thanks.

 

[Quick_Nick]

I'm not sure how it compares to others of the price, but I have a Galileo FS-102MOH reflector(it says FS-102NT in the manual and the box though ) which has worked well for me so far. I haven't used it until recently because I didn't find out all it needed was a collination until recently. It's a relatively small telescope, but so far I've gotten a nice view of Saturn and Jupiter plus some possible moons.(and in cloudy, light-polluted conditions ) On Sunday I'm taking it out into the country in hopes of getting some better views of the planets as well as some deep-sky objects, assuming the weather doesn't have other ideas.(I'll let you know how that turns out )

Some cons(that may only apply to me):
My barlow lens is pretty much worthless since it can't focus.
For some reason my slow-motion azimuth knob doesn't work right(the altitude one is fine)
The slightest bump of this little telescope can cause a lot of shaking of the image.(I may try doing a few reajustments to stop the shaking quicker, but really you can't get rid of this problem with a small cheap telescope)
I got very bad documentation.(Pictures were not clear)
I had to collinate it a little, but that wasn't really a big deal.

pros:
Cheap.
Good views of planets.(Mars however, remains a dot until occulation)
None of my telescope's parts have broken minus something in the azimuth knob.
*I'll let you know how the deep-sky object hunt goes*
Saturn(in its current position and with my cloudy, light-polluted sky) remains clear upto a little over 84X(produced by using the lowest setting(56X) of the zoom eyepiece and the 1.5X erecting eyepiece) and the moon remains clear up to my(barlow lens doesn't work) full magnification of 198X.(Highest setting(132X) of the zoom eyepiece and the 1.5X erecting eyepiece)
And again, cheap! $$$

Good luck with whatever telescope you find!

BTW, what are you planning on viewing with your telescope anyways?

 

[Dr Pepper]

Hm. Sounds alright. Honestly, I've become used to the "one bump = earthquake" thing, so that dosen't bother me much.

I like how it's able to be used effectively in light-polluted areas (which is where I live).

As for what I'll be looking at, well, the best way to describe it is everything I can. The moon, planets, galaxies, clusters (amazing), stars, ect. My old Celestron (I cannot remember the model, but I know it's not in production anymore) could basically do all of this, so I don't think it's too much to ask when you consider the price. I may be wrong, though.

And if I may ask, just how much was your Galileo? I just want to see if I'm getting a good deal with the prices at apogeeinc.com.

 

[Tex]

What do you want to view with the majority of your time, Planets or Deep Space?

A refractor is best for planetary views while a dobsonian is better for deep space (nebula, galaxies). I've never owned a refracting telescope, but for the price range you mentioned you can get something like a Celestron which is a common brand and a decent scope for the price. I have an Orion 10" Dobsonian and I love it. It's so easy to move it around the sky quickly and it's comfy sitting at the eye piece on my stool. Mirror surface area is everything. The bigger the mirror, the more you'll see.

Also rememeber, your telescope is only as good as your eye piece. If you're using the eye pieces that come with your telescope then your not getting the most out of the telescope which you forked out all that money for. I'd recommend finding a telescope that suites your needs then save up for a couple eye pieces. I have some high zoom and some wide field so I have a range of zoom levels which I can observe the night sky with.

Below is a great help section about telescopes which will definately help you make your decision. Take your time, read up on them all. Check out other peoples reviews and what not. This is not a purchase you want to rush.

http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/telescopes101article.cfm

 

[Dr Pepper]

Thanks Tex (and Nick) for the advice. As I said before, I mostly look at everything I can, but I do find myself looking at Deep Space objects quite often. I'll go ahead and look at the link, I was at telescopes.com earlier but I didn't see this.

The Reflectors look appealing to me because they seem to be much more comfortable when looking at things that are nearly straight above you rather than farther twoards the horizon, which is what I do because of the limited viewing space I have in my back yard (ultra-high trees on one side, a house on another, and street lights on another).

Again, I'll go ahead and look at the stuff on telescopes.com.

 

[tgep]

You'll spend a bit more, but Orion Telescope & Binoculars have some realy good Dobson reflectors as well as wide field refractors. They frequintly run sales, so it shouldn't be too hard to cut the price a bit.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I'll have a look, Thanks.

 

[Tex]

http://www.telescopes.com/telescope...chmidtcassegrainwithstarbrightxltcoatings.cfm

The scope I really want! Trying to save for it in the future, but it may be a little while before I can get it. It would be great for astrophotography.

 

[Woo482]

HOLY **** THATS EXPENSIVE

 

[Andy44]

I wish I could find an adaptor for my old Minolta SLR camera so I could mount it on a telescope, then I'd have an excuse to get into the game.

 

[tblaxland]

I wish I could find an adaptor for my old Minolta SLR camera so I could mount it on a telescope, then I'd have an excuse to get into the game.

I noticed these on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/M10-Universal-C...ryZ28181QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It gave me the idea that I could make something for myself along these lines to suit my digital compact camera.

 

[tgep]

Heh heh, that aint nuthin.

The last time I checked, a Meade 16" SCT on a Pier mount ran $15,000.00

And there was this other company that had made-to-order 18-24" split-ring equatorial reflectors. Price ranges started where the Meade left off and the wait for delivery for most anything over an 18" scope was a year !


( mine is a Meade 8" LX-50 SCT on an Equatoral fork mount )

 

[Messierhunter]

I wish I could find an adaptor for my old Minolta SLR camera so I could mount it on a telescope, then I'd have an excuse to get into the game.

I just happen to have a T-ring for a minolta SLR I don't really use anymore. I used it with an eyepiece projection setup, but you can attach it to any standard t-thread equipment. I don't use eyepiece projection for much anymore either since I've gone with a prime focus adapter for my Canon, so let me know if you're interested in that part as well.

 

[astrosammy]

I'm planning to buy this one
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=63&class1=1&class2=104http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=134&class1=1&class2=104
for €299 ($477). Is it a good one?

 

[Tex]

I'm not really sure about that telescope tbh, I've never heard of it. I found a few other options for you too in the same price range. The first one below is a Celestron reflector similar to the one you linked above. The primary mirror is a little smaller at 130mm compared to yours above at 150mm, but the Celestron comes with a computerized GOTO mount. Another words you press a button and the scope moves to a target and will keep it centered in the eye piece for you. Very handy, especially for some new to sky watching.

Celestron 130 - $439:
http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/go-to-telescopes/celestronnexstar130slttelescope.cfm


The other 2 links below are for Dobsonian style telescopes. They're a bit big and bulky, but if you have the space for one they are really cool and give you alot of mirror surface to gather all that dim light from deep space.

10" Dobsonian - $499:
http://www.telescopes.com/telescope.../zhumell10inchdobsonianreflectortelescope.cfm

8" Donsonian - $349:
http://www.telescopes.com/telescope...s/zhumell8inchdobsonianreflectortelescope.cfm

 

[astrosammy]

Thanks tex, I'll compare them.

EDIT: Damn they are much more expensive here in Germany.

 

[Salamander]

I'm planning to buy this one
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=63&class1=1&class2=104
for €299 ($477). Is it a good one?

that depends on what you want to do.

compact newtons with a focal ratio of f/5 are good for wide field/deep sky observations at or just above the smallest useful magnification. here the small ratio is an advantage. it also makes for a very compact design in relation to the aperture.
the disadvantage is that despite the mathematical equal resolving power to a long focal ratio (calculated for the center of the image), the clarity of the image suffers badly away from the center, even with medium magnification.

for high magnification/planetary observations you should go for a newton with a focal ratio of f/10 or longer. for a newton, that also means the tube gets to be about twice as long.

 

[agentgonzo]

There are normally quite a few second hand scopes going around, especially the Skywatcher explorer series as they are very good intro scopes (I got a 130pm and then sold it on about 6 months ago when I upgraded to an 8" SCT ). You can normally get them about 2/3 or 1/2 price compared with a new one

 

[astrosammy]

Thanks for the tips.
I'll take this one:
http://www.astroshop.de/teleskope/s...pe--reflektoren-/skywatcher-150-1200mm-eq-3-2

 

[tgep]

I'm planning to buy this one
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?id=63&class1=1&class2=104
for €299 ($477). Is it a good one?

It's a good scope for widefield work but you'll have problems with difraction spikes from the spider support on the secondary if you try viewing at high power. You may want to consider checking out building a curved vane to replace the one that comes standard to help eliminate that issue.

If nothing else, you could purchase a tripod and electric clock drive and try your hand at building your own F\10 Newtonian. I can dig through my old catalogs and give you some links to reputable dealers I've dealt with personaly.