First Telescope?

Hi AcesFull,

Have you tried using the search box RHS of screen ( I'm, not being sarcastic). CR4 had a great many people who know about this stuff, and I've read some really interesting stuff about astronomy/telescopes here . I can't recall exactly where. A lot of it gets hidden in threads where you would least expect it. Hopefully one of the people who know astronomy will see your post and advise direct. I'll look back in a couple of days and see. I'm sort of interested to know as well. Knowing where/how to source a good telescope ( in a reasonable price range) sounds good to me.

Kris

I will do a full search of the forum when I have time @ home and have plenty of time to read through all the posts. I'm @ work right now and thought I'de throw the question out there, hoping for a quick response froim those "in the know".

The First Telescope is NOT for sale. Galileo invented the first practical refracting telescope in 1609 after hearing about inferior models made in Holland in 1608.

It is under lock and key in some museum somewhere.

On a serious note talk with some amateur astronomers, get a copy of "Sky and Telescope. Go to the library and look at magazines on astronomy.

Check out the web sites having to do with astronomy,

e.g. 'Bad' Astronomy

Exactly the type of reply I was seeking. Thank you.

Goto Meade USA

Join the Meade club and become a member, read everything, buy a couple of Astronomy magazines, read from cover to cover. Ask ask ask.....

Meade only manufacture in the USA I am told.

Decide with your wife what you want to look at, just Solar System and Moon or deep space as well, this will affect your purchase....buy with larger diameter oculars 1.25", not the smaller 0.95"(?), the small ones are simply not worth having. Price plays a heavy role in the quality of oculars....

Spend at least 2 months learning before you buy anything.

Your first purchase may not do what you want it to.....be prepared to sell and buy something better....ebay is good for both a first purchase and reselling.

I would recommend a scope with computerized controller, it helps a lot to find things and to keep them steady in front of the scope (as the earth is turning). Stopping the earth's rotation is not yet an option.....most Meade scopes have this controller as a possible option....Autostar its called. There is a similar looking scope "Mover", I forget what it is called, this is not good enough....no intelligence either....

You can also connect a PC or Laptop (if you have such a thing) to the Autostar for even better functionality....not a requirement though....a possible option. But then the setup is less portable...

If you live in a big city, you may have to leave the city limits for really good star gazing as light pollution is bad for observations....

For Solar system only, a reflector scope with 114mm mirror is a good start (4.5 inches) bigger is better (not longer, wider!) and 8 inch wide Mirror Scope is a good all rounder that is still reasonably portable. Today they make quite short scopes that have a wide mirror.....

Best of luck.

Do yourself a favor and get one with a motor drive. These can be hooked to a laptop and after setting up your parameters you can dial in exactly what you are looking for. My first telescope was manual and at high magnification the object you were looking at floated out of view before the next person could look at it.

At least 2 moinths maybe even a full viewing season experience before buying. Go for proper branded stuff, it will pay back in the long run. Don't go starter packs and certainly not the budget rubbish from e-bay, totally useless and after loosing your money you will also loose your interest in what is a fantastic hobby.

Don't go under the 1" eyepiece as mentioned before, you will not be able to buy good quality pieces later if you do. Don't go for magnification at first, go field of view and resolution. Later you may expand into deep space but you learn your tricks closer to home. Nothing is more frustrating than looking for something through a 10mm eyepiece for hours but you cannot find it or verify it is what you think it is.

Meade is perfect and you will need to learn what you want. Some pay for tracking which restricts your diameter. Some go for light buckets which means you need to locate and track manually. If you are very wealthy go for both.

If you are clever with tinkering and electronins you can build your own tracking for a large dobsonian. Very satisfying and cost effective.

Like some said before, get the sky and telescope. This is by far the best mag out there.

Above picture was taken through my equatorial 4" refractor with eyepiece projection in a 3.5Mpixel digi camera. Cost of equipment not more than £350. Cost of experience spread out over many years. Fun doing it is unmeasurable.

Nice shot!

Hi anon,

Thank you, Not many here seem to realise the level of effort needed with the limited equipment at the time. Never mind, we know

Most , IMHO, are dazed by those hubble pictures and have started to use them as a template of achievement. Many will be dissapointed once they realise the hobby is in the knowledge and the skill and the sharing of it with friends. For stunning pictures you need the skill and the knowledge first and then you can think of the money to spend on equipment in order to get the mind blowing stuff they constantly feed you.

Also got a series of the moon with the same telescope and camera. A bit blurred as the camera was already on the way out by then but still nice enough. Can identify features down to about 2 miles accross! Not bad going for a celestron HD102.

My girlfriend and I went out Saturday night and dragged the Meade out to check out Mars and then Orion's nebula. The nebula was very cool. While it lacks the colors that you see in photographs, you still find it amazing to see it with your own eyes.

Astrophotography is a step beyond normal viewing and the results speak volumes of the effort and skill involved. I have yet to do it (my camera died), so it will have to wait.

Go to astronomy .com. they have a wealth of info, and I recall not longago they had an article on buying your first telescope. As an avid amateur astronomer I would recommend a reflector type telescope, You get more bang for Your buck, beside these are the most popular.

oilcan13

Horses for courses we say in England. I don't know where you are but it means in brief that each have their strong point and depending on what you want to view in the long run you should choose accordingly.

Reflectors are very good for deep space observations.

Refractors are very good at closer by detail observations therefor more often used for inter galactic planet observations and moon.

Combination telescopes are spread out over the 2 extremes but cost quite a bit more still. Schmidt Cassegrain or Schmidt Maksutov telescopes are now regarded as the best around. Very compact and very expensive (compared diameter for diameter)

The choice for reflector or refractor is much more complicated than just "bang for your bucks". That is just too simplistic.

while other have stated Meade, I have an older Orion Skyview 6" EG with drives, and still use it. Most of the web sites do have a good info input on types of scopes, which to buy for ya needs and forums to chat.
Orion site
http://www.telescope.com/control/main
My Reflector
http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4868516

Wife and kids? For stargazing or field gazing?

If star gazing...definitely go with reflector...much less strain and bother to aim, focus, and use...even seated. Refractors can be a pain. Very good scopes have gotten quite inexpensive--Meads that once cost thousands now cost hundreds. Go with a motorized, self seeking scope--or the kids and wife will quickly grow frustrated.

For entry level viewing as would be your case, don't bother too much with the fine details of optics and such--that will not make much difference in the kind of objects that will be viewed. Just go with a quality name brand like Mead.

If field (scenery, wildlife, and neighbors) will be part of the viewing, you will want to consider a refractor.

With any telescope, tripod quality is critical. Don't scrimp on that--get the best you can afford after getting the scope or with the scope.

Depending on the children's ages and genders, you might consider the idea of joining with them to make a telescope. Great for learning about scopes and you can make pretty good scope as well.

I can only add a few things to the list. I will say that everybody else has been spot on though.

First, unless you're really going to get into leaning stellar co-ordinates and orientating your telescope get a "go to" scope. For a "casual" observer this is the best way to go.

Apeture is everything until you have to move it. I have an 8" Schmitt and it's 60# all up. Then you have to get power to it, the 9v battery just won't drive the motor on cold nights.

Regarding apeture, the other thing to think about is ambient light pollution. If you have a lot of sky glow where you are going to be viewing then a smaller telescope is ususally better. This will limit you to planetary and a few deep space objects, but it's easier to carry too.

One thing I have to stress is that your eye is only going to see black and white images for most objects. There simply isn't enough light collected by a small telescope to give your eyes color vision. So don't expect your views of Saturn to be colorful. The only way to get color images of most objects is digital photography. There are whole books on that, but Sky & Telescope is a good place to start. Well, you could use emulsion photography, but that's an encyclopedia's worth of information.

But the point is that if you expect to see stuff through an eyepiece the way it looks on the NASA website you are going to be disappointed.

It's a great hobby if you go into it with the correct understanding. And warm socks!

Very good additions and thanks for those.

Goto I would agree but I would not agree to start with it. Most of the fun can be had instantly as long as you know your way around the stellar dome by heart. Frustrating times lay ahead for those that enter this hobby without any knowledge of the coordinates and the system at all. Learn your stuff has always been my number one rule.

Aperture is indeed everything but then...... You are right, once you need to move it it needs power. Have a remote power supply if you go that way and don't bother with batteries. Cold nights and they always die in the middle of the most unbelievable viewing.

Light polution is less of a problem as , if you have gone that way, you can easily filter that out on final file save. All the major astronomical software now have those built in and light polution is only a problem for live viewing.

Smaller scope is less light. less light means you can only see brighter objects. The limit of what you can see is dramatically decreased by even a small aperture change. Think carefully. 6" very nice on object "x" , 5" almost can't see object "x", 4" where the hell is object "x".

With regards to the colour I am in total agreement with you. Colour is not necessary for live viewing and in photography it only displays the basic colours which will come out dull. All those nice mind blowing articles you see in the magazines are digitally doctored.

Warm socks, hot drinks, red torch, sky maps, pencil and paper and clear skies.

Have fun all.

Well, that's a heck of alot of good info. My kids are 7,5,3,1 and this is just going to be something for them to "put" around with essentially. Same goes for my wife. She is extremely busy and will never have the time to devote to it. Sound like 6" to 8" motorized would be best suited for the family. Weight will not be an object as it will only be at home. I have found some online for $300 to $600 bucks that match some of you guys recommendations, so I think that's the way I'll go for now. We'll see how interested they really are once they get it. If it's something they want to delve into, then I will point my wife to this discussion and she can take it from there. Myself, I have no interest personally, but I think my 7 year old might really like it. Thanks again.

I had completely forgotten about star parties - not a lot on the leeward side of the lakes. But Hero is absolutely correct, if you can make it to a star party you can try out a lot of telescopes and chat with a lot of people.

On the other hand there might not be enough time before Christmas to get to a star party.

But don't buy some inexpensive (cheap?) product off the web. Go to a shop and check out what you are getting. Is the focusing knob running smoothly? What is the procedure for adjusting (collimating) the optics? Is the finder scope (a lower powered "aiming" scope any good? How does the equitorial drive motor set up and get power? Unless you can answer all these questions (and a few more) you might be buying junk. Get a Sky and Telescope magazine and get calibrated for price before you waste your money on something sight unseen.

Actually. I wanted to just keep it under $1000. Yesterday, I found a Mead DS-2090MAK I believe it is for just under $800. This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but I'm going to take your advise about the star party and get my wife and kids to one. It will just be a late Christmas gift, that's all. Thank you for all the info.

MSRP for the tripod version is $599.

Street price is under $400.

Maybe I got the wrong model number. Either way, I'm going to wait and have them go to one of those star parties if we can find one. When we do make a purchase, I think the electronic "go-to" ones are the way to go for us.

Acesfull:

Let me pass on advice I got from an experienced member of the astronomy club I joined (Highly Recommended!). Start with a good pair of binoculars and a tripod for it. You will be amazed at how much you can see with them. Add a small star chart and learn how to find stars and other objects in the sky. Then, if the interest is still there, go for a scope, with the clubs' members advice. Most of them will have a older scope they no longer use for sale or loan. If your family's interest fades, at least you will have a good pair of binoculars to use for terrestrial viewing. Joining the astronomy club is the key. Some of the members in these clubs are amazing with the wealth of knowledge they have.

Hank

Thanks. The club seems to be what everyone is suggesting. The reason I posted the question here was for this feedback and I intend on applying the info you guys have supplied me. I would hate to invest in something that they only use for a couple of months then just sits in a corner somewhere. I'll let you guys know how it works out.

Heya, Aces!

I'm a little late to this party (been on vacation), but I hope you'll look at an Astroscan before making a final decision. About $300, absolutely the easiest scope I've ever used. Sets up in a flash. Very durable - my trusty little scope has actually bounced off the pavement once or twice and still works like a charm! (I let little kids use it hands-on at star parties. They love it.)

When you're ready for a bigger, fancier scope, you can always sell a used Astroscan to another newbie. (If you can bear to part with it.)

http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp?pn=3002001&bhcd2=1197652425