Investing in a telescope....

slade_x

Currently i have a relatively inexpensive 60mm refractor telescope and was looking into one from 114-150mm diameter

I thought i might see what argos had, and i found this but was told to stay away from them when buying a telescope

So i went elsewhere and found an Optisan Star 750130 III.. but i would have to wait for the specifications, so i went looking myself and found this information on one similar..

So based on the spec of one like it would anyone say it has potential,

Bearing in mind i dont have a lot of options for the best of the best here in munster.. and im getting sick of just being able to see the moon and scenery with this refractor.
with my current telescope i can use the 3x barlow lens and a 12mm lens together just to see a few stars, i might as well just look up with the naked eye with the result i get - its mounted on a really lightweight crappy tripod with no Equatorial mount and horrible alltitude control, so its impossible to find anything with the 4mm lens and the barlow together (to be honest trying to use a 4mm lens in conjunction with a 3x barlow on a 60mm telescope is a bit laughable)..

There's really no point in looking at stars, nebulae, etc.. with a 60mm refractor anyway, so any insight?

Thanks!

Kersh

I got this for 700 eu from a place in UK. Admittedly , i didnt have to pay uk vat, but still, for the money, a 12" scope, with good equipment levels.

slade_x

Kersh wrote:

I got this for 700 eu from a place in UK. Admittedly , i didnt have to pay uk vat, but still, for the money, a 12" scope, with good equipment levels.

Whats the spec on that?

and what should i realistically aim for? 150mm - 750/900mm focal length? or would a 114-130mm mirror scope with a higher focal length gather more light?

Kersh

Its a 12" Gso Dobsonian, with a 2" crayford focuser, 1500 focal legth, f/5.
Your light gathering power is purely related to mirror size (aperture). A 12" mirror gathers c65% more light than an 8" mirror (its probably more than that). As for focal length, im not too up on that, but its quite critical for astrophotography and planet watching.

EamonnKeane

Argos have good value ones for beginners.

dbran

The scope being sold in argus appears to be a celestron which is not a bad make of scope and therefore ,aybe good value. But you should try and get the biggest apperture thet you can afford as otherwies you will be coming back to upgrade and buy a bigger scope in another year or two.

Therefore, if you want to get a pretty good scope but with some limitations as to size (what you can ultimately see) but a limited budget then the argus one would be a good choice.

Better to save up and get the Revelation 2 dob 12 inch for €700 though as this will let you see everything. But as it is a dob it will be limited for astro photography. (You can always add an equitorial mount to it later on though)

have never heard of the oter brand of telescope so i would steer clear of it.

Hope this helps and have fun!!!!!

Dummy

If I may ask a similar question please, I have been offered a Tasco telescope for 50 euro barnd new in the box (un-wanted gift). The scope can be viewed here - http://www.tasco.com/telescopes/luminova_40060660.shtml

Is this a good price for the absolute beginner?

Many thanks.

Kersh

It will most likely just frustrate you, shaky stand, plastic lenses in the eps, and all that, I had one too.... in a word- useless. save for longer , get something better, like a spotting scope, until you can afford a good dobsonian.

dbran

As keresh said tasco went bust for a reason as their scopes were junk. For €50 you would be better off to get a pair of good binoculers and learn the sky properly. In fact there is plenty of things which are best seen with binos.

Then if you are still interested consider your first scope. Dont go any lower then a 4". Try to get at least an 8". Dobsonians are fantastic in that you get so much aperture for relatively little money and they dont take forever to set up. But because the dob mount dosent track the stars they are not suitable for astrophotography. But that is not so important. If you want to get a telescope you need to be able to spend about €500 or you will be disappointed or frustrated. It is an expensive hoby.

But if you join a club (see http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards) you could maybe go on one of their observing nights, get top look through a telescope befre you part with your hard earned dosh!

Kersh

Well said dbran, Binos is the way to go for beginners, the Meade 10x50s that lidl sold a while back were great, keep an eye out, 20 eu afaik. And way better than any tasco scope.... ever.....