Re: Advice on telescopes

Thanks Andy, much appreciated.
Mike
"Andy Hewitt" <thewildrover@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:1j70ehb.1qskjzxwzj5g2N%thewildrover@xxxxxxxxx
Michael Cunningham <mjNOSPAMcunningham@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi folks,
I know asking for advice about which telescope to buy is like asking how
long is a piece of string, but I would be grateful for any pointers.
I used to be into astronomy 35 years ago, and have an old 3in refractor. I
really want to take it up actively again, but am getting a bit overwhelmed
by the shear number of scopes and mounts available. Is it worth getting one
of the computerised goto systems for example? Some of the celestron models
look good, but in some reviews they get slated for their build quality, with
people having to return them more than once.
I have a budget of about £600.
Many thanks in advance
Mike

I didn't take this advice myself, but it's generally considered a good
idea to visit you local astronomy group, or go to a Star Party, where
they'll usually let you have a look through the scopes that are there. I
tried a few cheaper scopes myself, before coming to my own conclusion.

Firstly, the best scope is the one you'll use, or use the most. So look
at your own situation, ability to lug it into the garden, for example.

Personally I feel the Goto mounts take away some of the fun of the
hobby. If you're into learning about the sky, then it could be better to
really learn it, and find your own way around. There could be a question
over reliability on the cheaper units anyway (£600 would be considered
so). Probably more useful if you want to try imaging.

The best 'bang for bucks' are the Dobsonian mounted reflectors. You'll
get a very reasonable scope on a Dob' mount for £600. I have a 6"
SkyWatcher myself, but you might get a 10" or even a 12" for your
budget, which should give pretty good views of many objects.

I also tried a 5" Mak, but didn't get on with it as well, it certainly
didn't have as good a viewing as the Dob, but I ended up selling it.

Looking back, I regret spending the money on the Mak, and wished I'd got
a larger Dob instead. It's much more interesting, for me, to locate
objects in the sky, and the brighter, sharper, images from the Dob are
worth the extra effort.

In the end though, you'll need to decide where your own priorities are,
and where you want to put your budget - mount or tube, or average the
two. The general 'you get what you pay for' rule applies of course. I
still feel that a decent sized Dobsonian mounted scope will offer the
best general purpose views that should keep you interested, and of
course there's little to go wrong, so it'll last for many years. A poor
scope, or a poor mount, is just likely to end up collecting dust.

It could also be worth considering a couple of decent eyepieces in the
budget too - most of the supplied ones are mediocre. You can get an
occasional bargain. I got an Antares 32mm eyepiece, which was pretty
cheap, and performs very well.

--
Andy Hewitt
<http://web.me.com/andrewhewitt1/>

.

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