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Originally posted by Metal Head
I'm going to get some Celestron SkyMaster 25-125x80mm Zoom Binoculars they are supposed to be good enough to see Saturns rings. Be great for star gazing and recon for WTSHTF scenarios. You can get them for about $100.edit on 13-10-2011 by Metal Head because: forgot something
Originally posted by Hellhound604
reply to post by camaro68ss
some great advice in this thread. I just want to add one more, if you look for a newtonian (most Dobsonians are Newtonians), just be careful of some marketing hype. Don't go for an F4.0 scope, as you will spend a lot of time collimating it. All mirror telescopes, esp. fast Newtonians need this. If you rather go for a slower like F4.5 or slower scope, the collimation is much less critical. (I am speaking now from memory, had my F4.0 telescope long time ago, but to get acceptable results, all the mirrors had to be aligned to something like 0.5mm!!!). great if you have the time AND you bought a collimator with the telescope.
The F-ratio of a telescope is NOT like the F-stop of a camera. The focal ratio of the telescope is the focal length divided by the diameter of the mirror, i.e. a 200mm mirror (8") with an 800mm focal length will give you a F4.0 telescopeedit on 14/10/2011 by Hellhound604 because: added the last part
Originally posted by Hellhound604
reply to post by lbndhr
Yes, that was a trap I fell into when I bought my first real telescope. The F4.0 Newtonian was quite a lot cheaper than the F5.0, and more practical to transport, but collimating the mirrors was a b*tch. I had to recollimate everytime I took my telescope somewhere else, and in the end that telescope ended up in the attic. Also, coma's are quite severe on a fast telescope like that.
Originally posted by lbndhr
reply to post by Hellhound604
ok, then this telescope I'm highly considering has that cp.a fix on it. It is the Celestron ETX-80AT Astro telescope with autostar controller, any opinion on this one as a first telescope?
Originally posted by lbndhr
reply to post by shasa
If only I had that much $$$$. for knwo I will go with the 10in a bit smaller but good enough to get me understanding the skies, and save for the real deal, big girl telescope. for the future enthusiast, AMazon.com will bring the best deal on a New purchase, what I ordered was $489.00 plus taxes and shipping fees, from Meade, from Amazon same exact telescope $269.00 out the door into shipping. those $8000.00 telescopes are going for as low as $2000.00 know this is what im talken about peace