What is a reasonable telescope to buy in UK?

Hi all

I realise this subject has been done to death, but I was hoping somebody
would be patient enough to help make a suggestion of actual models of
telescopes that might be suitable for me to buy in the UK (and where to by
from exactly). I have read the 'Guide to Buying a Telescope' and understand
the principles - all I need now are some actual model nos.

I'll admit I'm not an avid astronomer and therefore am looking for something
that primarily will give me some nice views of the moon, and occasionally
some of the planets when they are brighter. The clear cold nights over
winter I hope will yield some good chances to see the more commonly know
constellations. However, despite having a permanent location in a loft room,
with large Velux windows, we live in a suburban area with large amounts of
light pollution, so I'm not expecting great things.

Would anyone be kind enough to offer a few pointers to what might be
suitable? And NO I don't want to buy any old model from a Department Store


Many thanks,



Steve

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 22:42:40 +0100, "Steve"
wrote:


Would anyone be kind enough to offer a few pointers to what might be
suitable? And NO I don't want to buy any old model from a Department Store
To be honest a scope is like a woman, its a very personal thing, what
might be good for me, could be crap for you.

Any scope is better than no scope at all, take all the advice you are
given with a pinch of salt, most "amateur" cough Astronomers are so
hung up on how much they spent, they will say almost anything to
people to try and justify (to themselves) how much they spent

Go to a store and try a few out for feel and comfort, and go with what
you like, and don't get suckered into thinking the more you spend the
more you will see
--
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The two most abundant elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.
Why is the ratio of Hydrogen to Stupidity less in usenet than anywhere else in the universe?

wrote in message
...

Any scope is better than no scope at all, take all the advice you are
given with a pinch of salt, most "amateur" cough Astronomers are so
hung up on how much they spent, they will say almost anything to
people to try and justify (to themselves) how much they spent

Go to a store and try a few out for feel and comfort, and go with what
you like, and don't get suckered into thinking the more you spend the
more you will see

With respect Steve, I don't think this is good advice.
Unless you can get a guarantee that you can return the scope, there's no way
that you can test how good the scope is in a shop.

There are lots of corners that can be cut in putting together a low-end
scope, and most of these will discourage beginners.
Sloppy focus tubes,
Cheap plastic eyepieces
Tripods that don't lock steady or dampen vibrations.
Poor optics (both Primary and Secondary)

All of these are likely to put people off using their scope. And if you
don't use the scope, then you won't get to see anything.

I would heartily discourage anyone from getting a cheap 3" reflector from
Index or Argos, because it WILL disappoint, and even if you get the money
back, you're not likely to want to try again.

That's my advice anyhow.

"Steve" wrote in message
...
Hi all

I realise this subject has been done to death, but I was hoping somebody
would be patient enough to help make a suggestion of actual models of
telescopes that might be suitable for me to buy in the UK (and where to by
from exactly).

I'll admit I'm not an avid astronomer and therefore am looking for
something
that primarily will give me some nice views of the moon, and occasionally
some of the planets when they are brighter.
However, despite having a permanent location in a loft room,
with large Velux windows, we live in a suburban area with large amounts of
light pollution, so I'm not expecting great things.

Pointing scopes through a Velux window is definately NOT recommended. Other
than light pollution, a major curse of astronomers is unsteady air. A Velux
window will be a small aperture where warm air (from indoors) meets with
cold air (from outside) and will produce lots and lots of 'shimmer'.
General advice will be to get into the garden and preferably view away from
the house.

Would anyone be kind enough to offer a few pointers to what might be
suitable? And NO I don't want to buy any old model from a Department Store

I have a Meade 4504 telescope - this is a 4.5 inch f8 telescope that was
widely available from Costco in UK, and also from BCF, the UK official
importers. It has reasonable optices and comes with an equatorial mount and
a pair of electric drives that allows tracking. In fact, it comes with
GOTO, but I know that many people still prefer to find targets by dead
reckoning or star hopping. Once you have found your target, having the
ability to track in RA is very useful as it keeps the subject in the field
of view.

It is a relatively light telescope, so it is quick to move outdoors if the
mood takes you. As such it seems to meet your basic requirements. It can
also be taken apart to drive to darker skies with very little bother.

It seems to be relatively common on ebay or on loot.com for less than £200.

The main downside is the quality of the eyepieces as supplied through
Costco. This version came with 0.965" diameter EPs, and these are very poor.
It is possible to buy an adapter (£15) to fit standard 1.25" EPs, and a set
of these can be bought for use with this scope, but also with a mind to
keeping them for your next scope. I believe the official UK imports came
with better EPs, but I don't have personal experience.

Hope this helps

Owen

Owen

Thank you very much for your advice and I take the point about the Velux
windows. I'll take a look at the scope you have mentioned and compare this
with some others I'm looking at. Portability does indeed seem to be a factor
now then, so I'll bear this in mind too.

Many thanks again and happy stargazing,

Steve