SootySport Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Can anyone recommend a beginners telescope for watching the moon, local planets etc. Budget £500 -£1000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryD1971 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Christ! For that budget you could get a potentially professional telescope! I paid £60 for mine and its great for moon gazing! 🤣 I consider this to be a beginners telescope! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryD1971 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Although it would benefit from a better tripod, but this would cost about £100 for a half decent one. Didn't want to go too mad until I'd tried it out first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Save some budget for a couple of decent eyepiece lenses. Some decent advice here I think: https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/xmas-telescope-buying-guide.html It's a very chicken & egg thing though, as different instruments have different strengths and suit different activities better. Don't spend too much at first....but don't spend too little either or you'll be disappointed and possibly disillusioned with the whole deal. Another thing you have to come to terms with is the you will never see with your naked eye anything even close to the images you'll see on the internet. But, there is no way even the most stunning image can compare with actually seeing the planets for yourself. Too many years ago to confess, my first 'scope was a Tasco 66TE, back when they were made in Japan, and my eyes worked. Sadly, that name isn't worth what it was these days, so avoid the cheap ones. I did look seriously at Skywatcher Dobsonian GoTo scopes at one point, but ended up buying a used Meade ETX125 from a friend. It's pretty decent for what I want, which is very occasional ad-hoc usage. It has GoTo tech, but I rarely use it. A big mirror reflector on a simple mount, with a couple of decent eyepieces would be a good start IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 Good start fellas, looks like I don’t have to fork out as much as I thought. It’s the Mrs who wants one and She likes the idea of the wireless versions. We’ll go through Harrison’s catalogue, lots of info there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heawooi Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Hi, I was bought a Skywatcher 130M a few years ago with a few different filters and lens adapters. Very much an amateur and it can do far more than I know what to do with it (same as the westy on track!) Next would be a camera mount but with the scope and a mobile phone you can get nice and close to the moon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GaryD1971 Posted February 2, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted February 2, 2021 This is my attempt with my cheap scope and my mobile phone camera. 👍 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 Actually, @SootySport if you wanted to ‘dip your toes’ into this for next to nothing, I bought a ‘travel scope’ some years ago to take on holiday. It’s only a 90mm Newtonian reflector but it’s surprisingly decent given how cheap it was. If you’ve any interest, I’ll dig it out and get some details. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nice_guy Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 7 minutes ago, corsechris said: If you’ve any interest, I’ll dig it out and get some details. Would be interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 It's not quite what I thought..it's better. It's a 90mm Maksutov. A Skywatcher MAK90EQ/TA Very much like this apart from it has a table-top mount, not a full size tripod. http://www.skywatcher.com/product/bk-mak90-eq1/ Manual here: https://www.manualslib.com/products/Sky-Watcher-Sk-Mak90-Eq-Ta-4150355.html It is in as-new condition, everything present and correct (2 eyepieces, 10 & 25mm, prism, Barlow lens, red-dot finder scope, equatorial table-top mount) and also comes with a DIY adapter I made so I could use it with a full-size ENG camera tripod I used to borrow from work from time to time. Offers?? (There's one on eBay at the moment, with the tripod at £125 - hint, I don't want that much). As I say, I bought it for holidays, but there was way too much light pollution at one of our favourite destinations, and the baggage allowance to our other favourite won't allow for it, so it got used once in Florida and that was it. If I could have taken it to the Maldives, the viewing would have been superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryD1971 Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 The scope that Chris is offering would be an excellent place to start any stargazing hobby with! It's a shame I've got a rolling road session booked next month otherwise I'd be very interested (giving @SootySport first dibs obvs...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 10 hours ago, corsechris said: It's not quite what I thought..it's better. It's a 90mm Maksutov. A Skywatcher MAK90EQ/TA Very much like this apart from it has a table-top mount, not a full size tripod. http://www.skywatcher.com/product/bk-mak90-eq1/ Manual here: https://www.manualslib.com/products/Sky-Watcher-Sk-Mak90-Eq-Ta-4150355.html It is in as-new condition, everything present and correct (2 eyepieces, 10 & 25mm, prism, Barlow lens, red-dot finder scope, equatorial table-top mount) and also comes with a DIY adapter I made so I could use it with a full-size ENG camera tripod I used to borrow from work from time to time. Offers?? (There's one on eBay at the moment, with the tripod at £125 - hint, I don't want that much). As I say, I bought it for holidays, but there was way too much light pollution at one of our favourite destinations, and the baggage allowance to our other favourite won't allow for it, so it got used once in Florida and that was it. If I could have taken it to the Maldives, the viewing would have been superb. That should do to start with, can you pm a price and do you reckon it’s ok to post. Thanks Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 8 hours ago, SootySport said: That should do to start with, can you pm a price and do you reckon it’s ok to post. Thanks Chris. I’m sure I can pack it well enough to ship safely. It came in the post originally but I can’t recall how well packed it was. I’ll get a shipping estimate then PM you a price. I’ll do a few pictures of the actual device too, don’t expect anyone to take my word for anything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryD1971 Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 32 minutes ago, corsechris said: I’ll do a few pictures of the actual device As always, we do love pictures... 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsechris Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 As a tease, this is my Meade ETX125AT A 125mm Maksutov/Cassegrain with Autostar GoTo. Like everything it seems, this one was made in the US, but since about 2011, they are all made in China, and apparently, the current 'Meade' is the same optical tube as the factory makes for Explore Scientific and Bresser. That said, it's supposed to be OK. Anyhoo, I digress, as usual. I really must try printing a phone mount to try some of these moon pictures with my ETX. Pics of the Skywatcher in a bit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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