Telescope help please

[DmansPadge]

November 3 is my brother in laws birthday. He has been wanting a telescope and my sister wants to buy him one. The problem is that neither me, nor her, or anyone else I know really knows anything about them. She doesn't really want to spend more than $4-500 on one and she asked me to help her find one that is nice for the price. I kinda forgot I was supposed to be checking into that for her and she has already called to see what I've found out. So what do I do.... I turn to TBN!! If anyone with some knowledge on telescopes could give me some brand/models in that price range if would be greatly appreciated. I'm more concerned with quailty of the unit than a cheap one that has better specs.

Thanks.

 

[bill177]

Go look here: Orion Telescopes and Binoculars they have a box on the bottom right to help you select the proper scope for the planned use.

and

for the high dollar stuff: http://www.astronomics.com/

 

[MossRoad]

I'd habe to agree witl Bill177. Orion telescopes has some great deals. When I was a little kid, my dad built his own 6"X60" reflector telescope. He ground his own mirror and used parts off of Japanese machine gun sights for the steering mechanism. I still have it. But he always got his lenses from Orion.

 

[GaryM]

Orion is a good place to buy. I have never bought a 'scope from them, but do have a set of their 16x80 binoculars that I obtained several years ago.

Good value for the money.

 

[dougj7]

Hi, If you only have $500 to spend, I would recommend a pair of 25 x 100 astronomy binoculars instead of a telescope. Zhummel makes a good pair for $325. You will also need a tripod to support the binoculars. Even though it seems like a lot of money, $500 doesn't go far in the purchase of a telescope. Here is a link to the binoculars with customer reviews:

Zhumell Tachyon 25x100 Astronomical Binocular w/Locking Aluminum Case - Binoculars - Telescopes.com

 

[Jagmandave]

I bought my wife a Mead from the Discovery Channel store at the mall for about $400. Came with software and an automatic drive system, that let's you load in your location, and then it finds planets, etc for you, and tracks them too. Works great - I never new that you could see the mountains on the moon sticking up from the sides! Amazing stuff.

I don't know what size it is, but the body is about 6" or 8" in diameter, and it has a couple 3 different lenses for the viewing end. All in all, a good buy I thought.

 

[DmansPadge]

Thanks for the replies. Lets just say it will be an Orion.... would anyone care to mention a specific model for somebody who is just starting out with telescopes but is very intellegent and a quick learner? ($500 or less) I looked the other day some and I don't know what is what. My sister called again Friday... told her I'll have an answer by Monday!! How did I get stuck doing this anyway?? Ohhh well... she'd be happy to help me if I asked.

Thanks again.

 

[RedRocker]

This site has more info than you could digest in a lifetime.
Telescope Reviews | Cloudy Nights

 

[CRJCaptain]

Refractor scopes have lenses, and reflectors have a parabolic mirror to collect and magnify the light from distant objects. I've owned both and prefer the reflectors as the images are much brighter and easier to see.
Buying the biggest mirror your budget will allow is a good strategy. The Schmidt-Cassegrains are compact reflectors but can be more expensive due to their increased complexity.
The Discovery Channel store Meade scopes are popular due to their software that automatically locates the most popular celestial objects...great if you're just starting out and don't know what you're looking at.
There have been some great suggestions so far...Good luck!

 

[pilonidal]

Dobsonians are the best for the buck and the beginner. I have a 6 inch one, I don't use it nearly enough, and I finally spent a little time with it this summer and saw jupiter with it, pretty cool. I've owned it for 6 years and I wish I would use more than once or twice a year. I did my research before I puchased it and no doubt this is the best for the buck. She could purchase a nice 8 inch one and let him decide with a little research what extra lenses he may want with the money left from coming in under $400. Just looking at the moon with it is cool, it's funny as you see the outline of a satelite cross the view as you look at the moon or a jet and you see the heat trail/waves from them, so cool. Thing is the best viewing with them is away from city lights, to avoid light pollution,and usually after midnight or early a.m. to see anything other than Jupiter, the moon or Mars, depending on the time of the year. The big pain with star gazing is swatting bugs as you try to look through eyepiece. hehe Here area couple of good sites Telescopes.com - Celestron Starhopper Dobsonian this one for scopes and this for info and sky charts SkyTonight.com - Interactive Observing Tools - SkyTonight.com's Almanac

 

[DmansPadge]

Thanks a bunch for those last few replies. They were very helpful. Thankfully (for me atleast) she decided to hold off on a telescope. After I talked to her she figured it'd be best to get some more info out of him as far as what he wants, what he wants to use it for, etc.... and there isn't time for that before his B-day. Once I started to look at them... I quickly realized there was a lot to learn and I had no clue what I was really looking at.

Thanks again.

 

[rozett]

Does anyone have any comments about Meade telescopes? I was looking at the Orion StarBlast 4.5 EQ and see that Meade has a similar model. Just wondering how good the Meades are?

Thanks...

 

[RedRocker]

I'll tell you what we did, I bought some 20X80 binoculars, you can reach out and touch the stars as well as use them for terrestrial viewing if the stars don't hold your interest. That way the "telescope" doesn't sit in a corner with clothes thrown over them like the treadmill.

 

[mwechtal]

Does anyone have any comments about Meade telescopes? I was looking at the Orion StarBlast 4.5 EQ and see that Meade has a similar model. Just wondering how good the Meades are?

Thanks...

Over the years, I've often heard that Orion makes slightly better optics than Meade. However amateur astronomers can turn a discussion like this into a holy war. On the lower end scopes like we're talking about, I would be surprized if you could see any difference. Besides, the optics for the lower price scopes are probably made in China at the same plant. I haven't had a chance to use any small current Orion scopes, but the Meade 4.5" that one of our club members has is quite acceptable. The one he has is similar to the DS2114ATS-LNT but it is a few years old, and doesn't have the Level North Technology, which speeds up the allignment procedure (alligning the scope's electronics with the actual sky).

Mike

 

[Alan L.]

I bought a dobsonian 8" reflector from Orion a couple of years ago. I think the quality is very good, but finding enough nights when conditions are good is hard. Even on a clear night, sometimes the atmosphere causes the planets to be wavy and blurred and no amount of optics can change that. Also, I have found finding faint objects like galaxies and nebulae very difficult to see. It takes a lot of patience and practice, and for this reason my telescope gets used maybe 3 or 4 times a year, in cool weather.

One night I did something very interesting. I used low power and got my dob focused on an airliner almost straight up and followed it over the horizon. Amazingly I could see the definition of the wingspan until it disappeared over the horizon (the flashing lights, it was at night). The scope was nearly horizontal for a full 20 minutes watching that plane, I figure had to be 150 to 200 miles away by then.

 

[BobRip]

Does anyone have any comments about Meade telescopes? I was looking at the Orion StarBlast 4.5 EQ and see that Meade has a similar model. Just wondering how good the Meades are?

Thanks...

I have an 8 inch smidth-cassegrain that I am very pleased with. If I were going to do this again, I would go with a dobsonian. They are the best light gathering bang for your buck. I don't have a catalog handy, but Orion has some scopes for under $500 that will gather light. Expect to get at least two or three extra lenses. The dobsonian does not allow picture taking, but I say buy your pictures or down load your pictures.