On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 17:36:21 GMT, "Mike Hibbert"
wrote:

Hello all,

I am a newbie to astronomy and am looking at my first telescope after a
while with binoculars.

I had more of less decided upon a SkyWatcher Explorer 200mm Reflector from
Sherwoods (at £400), but I went into my local London Camera Exchange today
and he had an Arena 150mm reflector in there at £299 in the sale. It is an
ex-demo, and slightly scuffed, but only very slightly, and he (with a little
prompting) agreed that he would hold it for a day, and let me have it for
£199.

So, do I go for the Arena, and count it as a first scope (albeit a pretty
good one), so that I can get used to it, and then see what happens in a
while, or is it still better to get the extra 2 inches? (no smutty comments
please!!)

Any and all advice will b gratefully accepted!

Cheers

Mike


That 2" extra aperture is worth paying for - if you can afford it. An
8" telescope is a good size to start out with because most of your
observing targets will show some interesting structure. I don't
believe there is any sense in 'starting small' - get the biggest scope
you can lay your hands on. Viewing faint grey smudges through a small
aperture instrument is not the best way of sustaining an interest in
visual astronomy!

ChrisH

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