I'd like to buy a telescope - any advice?

Question

I'd like it to be of reasonable quality but also cheap! Any suggestions for a first-timer?

Answer 1

First, if you haven't already, begin educating yourself about what can be seen and how to find it.

Buy from a real astronomical telescope store. DON'T buy from Walmart, Costco, camera or sporting goods stores, and especially, DON'T BUT FROM EBAY.

The best value in a telescope is a small Dobsonian reflector. Beginners usually find a 6" or 8" instrument is a good place to start, and a telescope of this size can keep you busy observing for years. If your budget is small, a 4" or 4.5" scope is a good choice

Budget some money for a planisphere, a red flashlight, and a book on finding and observing things.

Answer 2

A good 'scope for beginners is the Astroscan, made by Edmund Scientific:
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3002001

Another good place to look is the Orion Telescope catelog, which has a lot of good information about how to buy a telescope, what to look for, etc.
http://www.telescope.com

Or pick up a copy of Sky & Telescope or Astronomy Magazine and look at the ads. Anything you find there will be of good quality.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy a 'scope from Walmart or any other department store. They sell crap. Cheap crap, but it's still crap.

If you find you can't afford a good telescope, buy a pair of binoculars. Under no circumstances should you buy a cheap telescope, or it will turn into an expensive coat rack in under 3 months.

And buy a book on what to see through your new 'scope or binoculars, if you haven't already.

Answer 3

My advice is simple - join a club or society. There are a few on line forums with 100's of posts on advice on buying the right scope for the right money. But the problem is, if you don't have anyone to share it with or someone who knows what they're doing it can be very lonely and frustrating.

I was also advised to buy a decent pair of binoculars, and in retrospect, I wish I had. If you live in or near a city the sky is just too polluted to get a good view, and its not always practical to stick a telescope in the car when driving somewhere more remote.

Answer 4

Patrick Moore gave excellent advice years ago - if you can't afford a decent Telescope, stick with binoculars.
It all comes down to your budget. There are a lot a good scopes, even with motor drives and goto controls, to be had for a few hundred quid. But stay away from the so-called bargins. For example, I have a Meade 70AT, which cost me 299 quid. I also have a Tasco that cost 49.99. The specs for the two, in theory, are very similar, but the Meade knocks the stuffing out of the Tasco. It's the quality, you really do get what you pay for.

Mind you, for an absolute bargin, how about a 70mm Newtonian reflector for under 20 quid? You have to build it yourself, out of cardboard, but it does work!

http://www.online-relics.com/acatalog/Hands_on_Science_Series.html

Answer 5

To get the most telescope for your buck you need a dobsonian reflector. Much of the cost of telescopes is in the mount and the dobsonian is the cheapest mount. For example a 10" reflector on a fancy go-to mount can run $2000 but the same brand on a dobsonian mount is $530. Both scopes have the same light gathering power and can see the same objects equally well, one just finds them for you and keeps them in view and the other you have to find for yourself and you have to track the objects manually.

Orion has a series of dobsonians of different sizes that have been very highly rated by Sky & Telescope magazine. I myself have one of their 10" dobsonians and it is an excellent scope. If you aren't very good at finding stuff in the sky they now have dobsonians with tracking ability for $150 more or with "go to" and tracking ability for about $250 more than the standard versions. So for 10" telescope they are quoting around $770 for one with tracking and object finding.

Finding a local astronomy club is a great suggestion especially for helping you learn to find objects and to teach you about your scope. They usually have free star parties monthly open to the public where you can go ask questions look through lots of scopes and find out what you really should get. Just Google astronomy club or society in your area.

Answer 6

There are lots of issues. Is your backyard dark enough, or do you need a portable telescope? How much is the tripod going to cost? You need a heavy tripod to hold the telescope steady at high magnifications. What do you want to study? For the moon and planets a different telescope is need than if you want to study the Messier objects.

Answer 7

A cheap telescope is no better than a high powered pair of binoculars and I don't think they are that cheap.

Answer 8

as folks have said binoculars, as a telescope 6 inch reflector on a good quality tripod. upside you get to see things you've never seen before. downside you can get pestered by kids and off course the passing expert know it all

Answer 9

if you are talking cheap, then bigger is better.
the bigger the mirror (or objective lense, but you dont get big lenses cheap) the more light you will capture and the more objects you will see.
optical quality is secondary at a low price since all you will see is dots

Answer 10

You'd most likely be better off with a decent pair of binoculars