Advice on scope for Sons birthday.

Hello,

I'm looking to buy my lad a telescope for his 17th birthday.
Budget at £200 max.

He's a complete newbie, so I need something that's...
Quick and easy to set up.
Doesn't require collimation or complex alignment.
Mainly used for Planetary/Lunar observing.
But with a bit of deep sky nebula possible.
Enough X power to excite and not disappoint.

Before I start looking and get carried away, does any one have any ideas or
recommendations?

Regards.

Paul.

Paul Drinkwater wrote:
I'm looking to buy my lad a telescope for his 17th birthday. Budget at
£200 max.

See:
http://www.astunit.com/tutorials/firstscope.htm
http://www.astunit.com/tutorials/evaluating.htm

Of the ones in the sub £200 category, the least optically suitable for
lunar/planetary is the ST 80, although good ones can be OK if stopped
down a bit (the lens cap has an aperture for this) and used with a
decent eyepiece. I'd not be too keen on the mount for the 130M -- not
good at high mag with a scope of that size.

There's a TAL going on eBay at the moment; currently £41 -- if you can
pick that up for £100 or less it would be a real bargain:
http://tinyurl.com/4xxu6
Ends in an hour or so.

Alternatively, UK AstroAds for 2nd hand:
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~chrish/aa-aug24.htm
The following are good VFM:
#9390
#9346 (I've dealt with John before -- good bloke!) (Yes, it is £15 over
your budget...)


HTH


--
Best,
Stephen
http://www.astunit.com

I wanted the same thing and ended up buying a set of 80x15 astro binoculars,
a tripod mount and a tripod. No alignment, good for planetary/lunar
observing, can see a few deep sky nebula with practice, and decent
magnification.

I also have a Helios Startravel 80 refractor on a alt-az mount which is just
as easy to use, but I can change the magnification on it and mount my
digital camera on it for shooting the moon.

Clear Skies.........Adam


"Paul Drinkwater" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm looking to buy my lad a telescope for his 17th birthday.
Budget at £200 max.

He's a complete newbie, so I need something that's...
Quick and easy to set up.
Doesn't require collimation or complex alignment.
Mainly used for Planetary/Lunar observing.
But with a bit of deep sky nebula possible.
Enough X power to excite and not disappoint.

Before I start looking and get carried away, does any one have any ideas
or
recommendations?

Regards.

Paul.

"adam bootle" wrote in message
...
I wanted the same thing and ended up buying a set of 80x15 astro
binoculars,
a tripod mount and a tripod. No alignment, good for planetary/lunar
observing, can see a few deep sky nebula with practice, and decent
magnification.

I also have a Helios Startravel 80 refractor on a alt-az mount which is
just
as easy to use, but I can change the magnification on it and mount my
digital camera on it for shooting the moon.

Talking of the so called 'astro' binoculars, are they also suitable for
everyday use (eg birdwatching)? What makes an 'astro' binocular suitable for
astronomy?
Can I also ask what make you got?
TIA

Hi Graeme,

I think it is really just the larger objective size that makes them
class them as "astro" binoculars, they would be good for birdwatching as
well, but due to size and weight are not the easiest things in the world to
handhold.

The bins are Helios as well, I saw a good review of them on
Cloudynights.com and bought them on the strength of that, and Im very
pleased with them.

Adam


"Graeme" wrote in message
...


Talking of the so called 'astro' binoculars, are they also suitable for
everyday use (eg birdwatching)? What makes an 'astro' binocular suitable
for
astronomy?
Can I also ask what make you got?
TIA

Paul Drinkwater wrote:
Hello,
=20
I'm looking to buy my lad a telescope for his 17th birthday.
Budget at =A3200 max.

Hello,

I'm new to telescope astronomy myself, and have recently=20
purchased my first scope from eBay. After you've identified the=20
kind of thing you're after, I'd certainly recommend going down=20
the second-hand route. There are some great bargains out there.

Although many people argue that a good pair of binoculars serve=20
better than a comparatively cheap telescope, I believe that there=20
are certainly advantages to the scope, not least of which is the=20
experience gained whilst learning how to set up it and use it.=20
You're understandably concerned about the collimation and=20
alignment issues, however learning these skills is part of the=20
fun -- and would serve to set up your son for a lifetime of=20
telescope astronomy pleasure.

That's just my opinion, for what it's worth. To be frank, I'd pay=20
more attention to the words of the experienced astronomers in=20
here, but just thought I'd add my two pence worth as someone who=20
is currently enjoying the process of learning the basics on a=20
relatively inexpensive instrument (8" 'Orion Optics' f6 Newtonian=20
reflector bought for =A3250 from eBay).

Just a final word of warning; expect cloudy skies for at least a=20
week after your son receives his scope; it always seems to be the=20
way!

Best of luck,
Dan

Dan wrote:

Just a final word of warning; expect cloudy skies for at least a
week after your son receives his scope; it always seems to be the
way!

Best of luck,
Dan

A week in astronomy is a short time. Count on a month...

--
Martin Frey
http://www.hadastro.org.uk
N 51 02 E 0 47

Thanks Guys,

lot's to think about and look at here.

I'll let you know what we get.

Cheers.

Paul.

Paul Drinkwater wrote:
lot's to think about and look at here.

New on AstroAds, within your budget and good VFM, are #9478 and #9462

Best,
Stephen

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