[TouccuraLar]

The wife and I are seriously considering getting a telescope. $300~$350.

Anyone happen to know anything about telescopes?
Like brand, make model? What is good to get. At that price range is getting one that auto-tracks a bad idea kind of thing as I'd imagine a lot of money going into that and not the telescope itself.


Just looking to see where is a good place to put the money brand/model wise and feature wise. What features are more important at $300 than others.

For $300, what is a better telescope to look for, a reflector or refractor? I know their strength and weaknesses, but not at a $300 budget.


Where I live, I really don't have to worry about weight or transporting it to have a clear sky. Far out from the city, so we will just view the stars from our driveway.

[jabader]

Have a search for 'telescope' - been a couple of similat threads. I think SladeX was into them, if you want to try PMing him.
I've a 'cheapy' scope and wish I'd a motor drive on it as continually having to manually move it is a pain, so I'd certainly recommend getting it.

[Nurba]

Just how small is your todger??

[Plaumpholavup]

Just how small is your todger??

What??

[Nurba]

What??

If you squint, you can probably see your business from there.

[ycMC0PLg]

You trying to spot Jesus up there?

[dremucha]

What??

Todger might not translate. It means c*ck. So a suitable come back is "big enough to f*ck your mum" (mom).

[Nurba]

Todger might not translate. It means c*ck. So a suitable come back is "big enough to f*ck your mum" (mom).

Not unless you've got an elephant trunk down your pants it isn't.

[rockboyzaza]

You trying to spot Jesus up there?

rofl, how dare you !

[rofl]

[banditorfv]

I had one like in the link below and it was Brilliant, get an adapter for that new DSLR your thinking of getting and you'll get some good shots of the Moon and the planets etc.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/sky...sic/90900.html

This is a photo I took of the Moon using a SE 800i camera phone (3.2Mp) held up to the rear of the scope, so with an adapter for your camera you should get some really good photos.

[Plaumpholavup]

Todger might not translate. It means c*ck. So a suitable come back is "big enough to f*ck your mum" (mom).

I see, so big enough to **** your mom danger moose. You goddamn todger.

[Nurba]

I see, so big enough to **** your mom danger moose. You goddamn todger.

Oh dear.

[EasyLOAD]

On a serious note... What do you want the telescope for? The best telescope for your money is the one you're going to use. You can get a big-ass reflector, for example, but do you want to haul it out all the time?

[TouccuraLar]

Doesn't matter how big it is really. Not going to really take it anywhere as from the house it is plenty dark. I won't mind setting it up if it can get some sweet images.
even if it is small and gets **** images, I won't use it just because it is small and easy to setup.


there is always something happening up there so to be able to see it would be cool. Also use it for education once my daughter gets a little older would be great too.

[jeargefef]

Damn, can i have some money too!
You seem to be spending a lot of money recently and frankly, i want some of it.
I can send you pix and my a/s/l.

[BegeMoT]

I have one of these http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-3104...8920501&sr=8-1

Excellent for the money.

[EasyLOAD]

Here's another question for you. What exactly do you think you're going to see in a telescope?

I don't think a lot of people realize that most of what you see in the heavens is colorless, for example. Galaxies, globular clusters and nebulae mostly look like smudges and finding them is a challenging task. Finding open clusters is easier, but doesn't require any special telescope - even a pair of binoculars will do. Planets like Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will have color, but they won't have any detail unless they happen to be very close and/or you have a large telescope.

Things also move pretty quickly thanks to the Earth's rotation. Moreover, walking nearby or touching the telescope will cause things to get super shaky.

Basically, with your budget I would recommend a small, modest, reasonable-quality refractor or catadioptric (if you can afford it) on the best, heaviest-duty mount that you can fit in your budget. Alternately, consider a pair of binoculars. You can lie down on a lawn chair and enjoy remarkable starscapes.

Seriously, there's no shame in a 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain or a pair of 80mm binoculars. Sometimes, less really is more.

Also don't forget that telescopes need eyepieces, which can be very costly. Wide FOV for viewing open clusters and scarscapes and narrow FOV for magnification (planetary viewing). Don't go crazy with magnification - most telescopes cannot deliver any resolution at high magnification.

Check out Orion Telescopes. Decent-quality with lots of stuff from beginner to advanced.

[TouccuraLar]

Here's another question for you. What exactly do you think you're going to see in a telescope?

Big Boy of course!

[Nurba]

Big Boy of coarse!

...so it's a cruising aid?

[offemyJuccete]

If you want to see moons & planets as opposed to nebulae and distant galaxy stars then you honestly would probably benefit from a really good pair of binoculars.

If you would rather view deep space objects then the diameter of the mirror is the main thing to spend money on.
Magnification is bullshit if you cannot gather a lot of light.
Like a very crap bitmap image... magnification just makes the pixels bigger but the picture is still crappy.
The wider the diameter of the mirror or scope the more light in can allow into it which gives you more "pixels" as it were to be magnified.

As someone already mentionned though if you aren't a major astronomy buff then don't go ape **** on a huge scope expecting to see all the gloriously coloured nebulae pictures as shown by Hubble for example. All those images are post-edited to display the densities of certain elements or chemicals or even temperatures or radio waves etc but definately not seen by the naked eye.

I would simply suggest you decide on what you want to view in the heavens and then price up a scope based on that. If you plan on spending less than £300 just get a really good pair of binoculars instead.