Looking For A $200-$350 Telescope To See Into..... Where No Man Has....

Hi Guys,

Ok, so I really wanted a telescope all my life and I have some extra cash right now
When I say it's now or never I literally mean it!!!!

For my price range what would be a good telescope?
I do not have a balcony if that is important
I want something that is not complicated to use
Do you guys really think I should get binoculars first?

What do you guys think of the Nexstar 130 SLT or the Omni XLT 102
Both of these are a little above my price range, about $150 too much but I can't find anything in between here
www.maisonastronomie.ca...

Also what do you think I can get from these Binos
www.maisonastronomie.ca...

What do you guys think about the prices on that website????
Please tell me what you think of the prices on that website

I am 100% a begginer, but i'm scared that if I just get binoculars I will lose interest fast

Thoughts?

reply to post by ModernAcademia


Check out Optics Planet.
I'm pretty sure a good refractor telescope will be best.

Binoculars are okay, but 100mm or bigger telescopes are great.

Now there are so many choices, its better to test some (if possible) first.


Good luck

reply to post by havok


See my problem is that I tore my credit card up
So I do not have a cc card and I am currently in Canada, at least for another 1.5yrs or so
and I want to buy one soon during the holiday season this year

Maybe I could paypal it though
This
www.opticsplanet.net...

Is not a reflector telescope right?
Therefore I should not get it?

Also will this allow me to take snaps?

Have a look here, prices are not too bad should find something within your range. Go with 100mm or better like previous poster said.

orion

I am pretty sure you can still pay with mail order check or money orders?

I would check your local craigslist, as a lot of folks have very nice telescopes that they are wanting to get rid of. I scored a $1,000 scope set for $100 on Craigslist.

What's the difference between a tall telescope and a really short one?
Since I do not have a balcony shouldn't I avoid the short ones?

Originally posted by DJM8507
I would check your local craigslist, as a lot of folks have very nice telescopes that they are wanting to get rid of. I scored a $1,000 scope set for $100 on Craigslist.

Good idea but i'm too scared of scratched lenses

A goto tele might be a good choice for you as it will teach you the way around the sky by pulling up something of interest on the handheld pad and clicking goto. Some setup is still required but nothing to major and those scopes range in sizes from tabletop to big, definitely something within your range. And would recommend a refractor tele not reflecting because you could use it during the day as well for terrestrial viewing. Also keep in mind with a solar filter you could use it to look at the sun.

what you want is a schmidt cassgrain 6"to 8"inch, theres really nothing better except for larger with more accessories.
www.google.com... alog_result&ct=image&resnum=5&ved=0CEUQ8gIwBA#

Ah man, OpticsPlanet wanted to charge me like $160 shipping
That's outrageous!!!!!

Any other good reputable sites that doesn't cost too much to ship to Canada?
Thx

reply to post by aliengenes


Add a nice camera and you are all set!!!

Originally posted by ModernAcademia

Good idea but i'm too scared of scratched lenses

You're right there.

DO NOT buy from Craigslist in Canada. People in Canada are well know for being tight and ripping people off on craigslist.

They buy a product for say $500 and 2 years later whent hey come to sell it they put it up for $490.

I would go for brand new if poss and the Celestron Omni XLT 127 5.0"/127mm Catadioptric Telescope (I think some else also mentioned it) is one you can't go wrong with. Slightly above your price range but its true, you get what you pay for. Spend a tiny bit more and actually see something.

What ever you end up getting, try to get an eye piece with a high zoom you will want to zoom in even further once you get the hang of it. I start of with a low power, find the object in the sky, center it then swap the eye piece to a higher power.. Some of the factory eye pieces that come with a scope aren't that high.

I suppose you can always purchase a higher power one.. I'm no expert by any means though just my 2 cents...

yep, eye pieces on ebay or craigs...fyi, in the 70's there was a huge movement to build your own sidewalk reflector....with diy 20 inch or smaller mirrors.....or buy the nirror is good and build the rest it's easy on ebay or other suppliers....the eye piece is the critical part ....i made an 8 inch reflector for $120 dollars on ebay and a tube from homedepot....you can get the mirror and check it for focal length by shining a reflection of the moon or carefully in the daylight do the sun reflection on a wall and just measure the distance from the mirror to the best crisp image on the wall...that's the distance to build the tube to the eyepiece dimension...it's adjustable and really easy....120 bucks for an f6 8" parabolic reflector telescope with two eyepieces

Something unusual for you to check out.
Not too many bells and whistles.
Popular for 30 years...(I entered a contest to name the thing, way back then)

www.scientificsonline.com...

Why is it now or never? And were are you going to look that "no man has" before?

Hey guys quick question
ummm... how do I know where to look?

Let's say I subscribe to a magazine for stargazers, how does it work?
Do they give you longitude and lattitude coordinates?
If so how do I know where to point the device based on those coordinates?

Also, a telescope in this price range will that only see within our milky way?

Originally posted by Nventual
Why is it now or never? And were are you going to look that "no man has" before?

It's now or never because I now have money that the wife doesn't know about
If I don't get this then i'll end up spending it here and there, I have little control over myself when it comes to vices.

And where no man has looked before, well... truth is I believe there is a Vimana in outer space.

Before you invest in a telescope, you should look around for a few things:
1) Are you wanting to see color or objects? There is a very large difference between telescopes. Refracting telescopes use a series of prisims and magnifying glasses to view things, thus they are good for spotting objects, but the colors will not be there, as there is a bit of distortion. Most starting telescopes that you see and can get are refracting, but they are very useful.
2) Reflecting telescopes will give you better clarity, and color, but you loose on distance and size of object, as the mirror is what determines what all you can see.
3) Light pollution in the area. Not many people realize how much the lights of a city can limit the view of what all you can see, let alone that all is in the night sky.
Now ultimately the choice is yours. I have used both, and currently own a clestron myself, as I prefer the color and wonder of the universe to distance. Though have managed to spot some amazing things with it. Even with a refracting telescope, I was able to see a few other galaxies.

reply to post by spacedoubt


Wow, Thankyou so much for that link.

I had seen one of these over a decade ago and couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called.
It's been one of those things that occasionally really bugs me like when you can't place which actor it is in a film, except this has lasted for 14 years.

Cheers for that, I'd give you all the stars in the world if I could for that.

As for the actual question at hand, I guess it depends largely on what you want to look at, I would suggest the largest arpeture you can afford, and leave some cash for a few basic accesories.

reply to post by sdcigarpig


What????
You mean I may or may not see color?

No no I definately want color, should I get a telescope that uses lenses or mirrors?

Originally posted by ModernAcademia
reply to post by sdcigarpig

 

What????
You mean I may or may not see color?

No no I definately want color, should I get a telescope that uses lenses or mirrors?

Deep space objects never show color by eye unless you use a VERY large telescope from very dark skies. If you want to see color you're going to have to use a deep space camera, whether an SLR, an astronomy-dedicated CCD, or one of a very select few video security cameras that have the sensitivity and long exposures needed for astronomy. Any of these options requires a telescope with a tracking system. With that said, here is about the cheapest video astronomy setup I can think of to create:
First get this tube:
www.highpointscientific.com...
Put it on this mount:
www.optcorp.com...
Or for a cheaper alternative, this mount (call them first and confirm that the 4.5" starblast tube will fit though):
optcorp.com...
Then buy this camera:
www.google.com...#
Then get this adapter:
cgi.ebay.com...
And get this focal reducer:
www.optcorp.com...
The last parts you'll need are a 12v 500ma power adapter and a BNC-to-RCA adapter you can pick up for a few bucks at radio shack and a typical RCA cable to hook the camera up to your TV, video capture card, VCR, or whatever you would like to use to view deep space, lunar, and planetary objects in color and realtime. Total cost is around $580 minimum, but that is the bare bones minimum price of admission to see deep space in color.