Hi There,

Couldn't find a general discussion thread, so thought I'd post in there...

If you own a telescope or are familiar with telescopes, which is a good one to purchase...

I don't want to be spending $thousands, however I do want one that would let me zoom in on Jupiter or something =P

Furthermore, is owning a telescope fun ??

Hey, I'm new too, but don't buy a #ty one for 100$.
If you want a telescope that is actually going to WORK and not be complete garbage, get a REAL one.

Real once are expensive though.

Sources:
Experience. I wasted 200$ on a piece-o-#. Can't even get more then 1000x. -.-

I had an orion 8" reflector for years, got some stunning shots of jupiter, saturn and some nebula's. It takes a lot of time and money to get setup good with a scope and the proper lenses. Do some good research on reflectors and refractors and their pro's and cons before you make a purchase.

Originally posted by 98yekiM
Hi There,

Couldn't find a general discussion thread, so thought I'd post in there...

If you own a telescope or are familiar with telescopes, which is a good one to purchase...

I don't want to be spending $thousands, however I do want one that would let me zoom in on Jupiter or something =P

Furthermore, is owning a telescope fun ??

Viewing the stars never gets boring, actually its quite addictive there is nothing like looking out in the vastness of space and seeing for yourself just how small we humans really are. If you have no experience with a telescope look for one of the cheaper models made my Meade or Celestron that has the "Go To" feature to help you find stuff you want to see, the cheap ones do suck, I wont lie but you don't wanna dump $800.00 into something you might not have an interest in 6 months from now. For viewing Jupiter your gonna need something much better than the cheap ones sold at Walmart. Telescopes are basically light buckets, the bigger the bucket the more light it captures = more distant things that you can see.

If you wanna spend a little more than $150.00 on a walmart telescope then look at getting a Dobsonian Telescope they offer you the most bang for your buck and you can get a 8" telescope for under $500 that will get you to Jupiter with the right eyepiece. There is no perfect telescope for every application some are better for viewing planets and others are better at seeing deep space objects. It can be an expensive hobby but very rewarding. Actually before you even buy a telescope purchase a few books about telescopes and that will help you out much more on your future purchase than I can through here and wont cost that much money. Good luck to ya.

Before you buy your first telescope, first spend some time looking at the sky with decent binoculars. Get some star maps, and find your way around space with them and your binoculars. Only when you can identify the bright stars and the planets that way, get a telescope. That way you will learn a lot, and see if you are really interested in the hobby, before you splurge out big money on a telescope, because the investment into a telescope and accessories are quite substantial.

Originally posted by Hellhound604
Before you buy your first telescope, first spend some time looking at the sky with decent binoculars. Get some star maps, and find your way around space with them and your binoculars. Only when you can identify the bright stars and the planets that way, get a telescope. That way you will learn a lot, and see if you are really interested in the hobby, before you splurge out big money on a telescope, because the investment into a telescope and accessories are quite substantial.

Done the whole looking with good binoculars...
Pretty cool, but I want a better ZOOM IN =)

I'm in Australia though, so don't have access to the shops such as Walmart and others suggested...

I have located a shop that is selling one for $800
Will get the brand/model

Originally posted by Hellhound604
Before you buy your first telescope, first spend some time looking at the sky with decent binoculars. Get some star maps, and find your way around space with them and your binoculars. Only when you can identify the bright stars and the planets that way, get a telescope. That way you will learn a lot, and see if you are really interested in the hobby, before you splurge out big money on a telescope, because the investment into a telescope and accessories are quite substantial.

I agree with this guy, however I have been an enthusiast for quite sometime, and my girlfriend and I purchased an celestron astromaster 1400 for $220 usd. It was a good buy and it was on sale. Look for coupons and sales. Don't buy a used on I would not suggest that. With mine I am able to view Jupiter very fine. I can see the bands of Jupiter also Saturn is quite beautiful in my scope. Tonight I was viewing the dark nebula near Orion's belt. I am very pleased with my purchase but I do plan on buying a better scope sometime in the future. This is a great scope for beginners. It is a reflector not a refracture scope. I do not like refractors. It is a Newtonian scope.