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Telescopes


Rory's Dad

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Anyone know anything about telescopes??

 

My wife has mentioned an interest in having a peep at the moon and the stars and at stuff closer to home and so I am thinking about buying one for her.  Nothing too serious so may be something like this perhaps??  I've no idea about what the numbers mean.

 

Any thoughts chaps??  

 

TIA.

 

 

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That's a toy so I would not waste your money.

 

Buy yourself some astronomical binoculars from Strathspey and a decent tripod like a manfrotto one.

 

More than good enough for looking at the moon.

 

 

 

http://www.strathspey.co.uk/

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700mm focal length is the distance between the lenses, 90mm is the diameter of the big lens at the front, other than that I know nout about telescopes.

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Strathspey   Quality Binoculars

at a Sensible Price

 

  Home Advice Reviews Shop How to Hold Contact UK Clubs

 

 

Binoculars for Astronomy Buyers Guide

Astronomy is one of the most demanding fields for the binocular manufacturer. It is here that well designed optics really stand out from the crowd. In order to see faint objects or discern details on the planets it is vital that your binoculars have the correct lens coatings. Cheaply made binoculars won't transmit enough light for good observation.

It's in the field of astronomy that our large binoculars really come into their own. Our 100mm objective lenses gather four times the light of 50mm lenses found in the most commonly used binoculars. This greatly increases the number of deep sky objects one can observe and improves clarity on closer subjects.

Most of the binoculars we recommend for astronomy have our level IV coatings, this makes them slightly more expensive but gives far greater contrast, brightness and reduces colour shimmering to an absolute minimum. You'll be impressed!

Large objective lenses have one major disadvantage for the astronomer, weight. This is aggravated by the fact that such binoculars are much longer than normal and weight at a distance produces a higher turning moment which the observer's hands must counteract.

We have taken two approaches to this problem. The first are our new lightweight models, we've made these weigh as little as possible whilst still retaining tough construction. Secondly, almost all our medium and large binoculars can be tripod mounted - this is the optimum solution. Our giant binoculars have built in tripod mounts and a solid central bar to ensure perfect collimation. On our other models we offer an inexpensive tripod adaptor bracket - a feature not found in many poorer designed models.

Until you've viewed the heavens with both eyes and good quality optics you've barely started to explore! Many astronomers, including myself, find binoculars give less eye strain than a telescope and are far more comfortable to use.

There's the added bonus that the image is the correct way up! This makes it much easier to navigate through constellations and is less confusing than telescope observation for those new to astronomy.

Our 10x50 Marines won Sky at Night's 2008 10x50 group test! The 10x50 waterproof came third, against binoculars many times the price.

The following models would be our choice.

moon.jpg

Taken using our own 25/40x100s and an old digital camera held up to the eyepiece!

g15x70.jpg

25x100new.jpg

giant5.jpg

Giant 15x70s, nice & light.

Giant 25x100s, superb optics.

Giant observation binoculars, the ultimate!

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Before you spend any money, get along to a local club and then let her see what is possible. We spent a fortune on a telescope for our daughter, with all the bells and whistles and then spent several freezing nights trying to find things to look at. The moon is easy the big thing in the sky at night, but Saturn etc are hard to find unless you have some skill.

 

After a few nights we saw things and it is interesting, but better with people who can explain how and where and why. If she still enjoys it then they will advise what to buy for your needs.

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I too know nothing / but to help you identify the night sky you you can get some really good apps for your phone where you point the phone up into the sky and it will show you what's what

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I too know nothing / but to help you identify the night sky you you can get some really good apps for your phone where you point the phone up into the sky and it will show you what's what

Very true, I've got Starwalk on mine, and it's excellent.

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Thanks chaps - Strathspey stuff look good Buttercup and Dave, is there anything you've found yet that a phone can't do??  :laugh:

 

The investigation continues...

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Anyone know anything about telescopes??

 

My wife has mentioned an interest in having a peep at the moon and the stars and at stuff closer to home and so I am thinking about buying one for her.  Nothing too serious so may be something like this perhaps??  I've no idea about what the numbers mean.

 

Any thoughts chaps??  

 

TIA.

 

I think she wants to be on the next John Lewis advert  :laugh:

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Very true, I've got Starwalk on mine, and it's excellent.

Scary.

 

Telescopes are awkward as the magnification depends on the eyepiece, but I couldn't tell you what is best as it depends what you're looking for. Ordinary binoculars (10x50) give a reasonable view of the moon, but you soon realise you need a tripod.  Anything smaller than the moon need much more magnification, and even if you can see the rings on Saturn, you'll find better pictures on the internet.

 

My back garden suffers from too many streetlights too.

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Thanks again - it looks like some decent binoculars and a tripod is the better way to go.

 

My back garden suffers from too many streetlights too.

 

Not a problem with the place we have our eye on in north Norfolk!

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I have astronomical binoculars from Strathspey and when my tripod is fully extended I can stand underneath and look straight up verticall into my binoculars without touching them.

You need a decent solid tripod so that what you look at is stable and does not move around like a blur. Looking at the moon is amazing but I look at Jupiter a lot and watch the gallelaion moons as they change every day.

Don't buy cheapest is best as it will spoil the experience and makes you not want to look.

Plus you have the binoculars for everyday use.

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but Saturn etc are hard to find unless you have some skill.

 

Or Stellarium...

 

http://www.stellarium.org/en_GB/

 

It has telescope control so if you have a motorised 'scope it couldn't be easier and motorised scopes are not that expensive.

It's worth taking some time to read through the available options as the basic download doesn't include everything but there are still 600,000 objects in there. It does satellite tracking too. Click on a celestial body or a satellite and the astronomical details are placed on scree. I LOVE Stellarium...

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Sky Safari + is my favorite. Also have Starwalk but didn't really get on with Stellarium for some reason.

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