What is a good beginner telescope?

I've been researching about telescopes lately and I would love to have one.
I don't have much money, I can spend about 200 Euro, I know it is not much for a telescope, but I am not expecting to see galaxies, I just want to watch the moon a bit and maybe some other planets and take some pictures.
Because of my low budget I have decided to get a refractor telescope, I am thinking of getting the Bresser Skylux 70/700, I have heard some good reviews about Bresser and this telescope, it costs about 160 euro.
Heres a sample video



What do you think, should I get this telescope?
And do you maybe have any usefull tips for me?

Thanks

Originally posted by Jauk3
I've been researching about telescopes lately and I would love to have one.
I don't have much money, I can spend about 200 Euro, I know it is not much for a telescope, but I am not expecting to see galaxies, I just want to watch the moon a bit and maybe some other planets and take some pictures.
Because of my low budget I have decided to get a refractor telescope, I am thinking of getting the Bresser Skylux 70/700, I have heard some good reviews about Bresser and this telescope.
Heres a sample video

What do you think, should I get this telescope?
And do you maybe have any usefull tips for me?

Thanks

edit on 2-3-2012 by Jauk3 because: (no reason given)

i started out with 25x100 binos, Orion.com, goes for 350, really good for moon, Orion nebula, plaides, jupiter , jupiter moons, different constellation. and much more, i also spotted Andromeda. Remember binoculars are much easier to carry and easier to use, telescopes are heavy and its hard to set them up, but a cheap one easy.

another tip, if you dont know how to read the sky, i would suggest learn the cosmos first than go in to buying telescope, its really hard to find something, if you dont know what your looking at, but if you do, buy something costly, with object finder, and image taker.

Good thread because I've been interested in buying one here shortly as well. I'm looking to spend probably in the same price range $250-$500. So I will be intrigued by what people post on here.

reply to post by storm2012


Thats really cool, I didn't know that such strong binoculars existed, I will look more into them. Thanks!

Hi, someone posted about this telescope you can make.
Cheaper and better than shop ones apparantly.
I'm going to try and build one one day.
www.raycash.us...

looks fairly good and reasonably priced. im wanting to get a scope soon myself.
i think i want the celestron travel scope, mostly because i'll have to travel a bit before i can avoid the light pollution.

reply to post by Jauk3


Hello mate, here's a link to Rocket Roberts , this man has all the advice you can get starting out with astronomy. He reviews a few scope's. I learnt a lot of tips here when i got my first scope so I hope this is of some help!

Albert.

reply to post by goinglocodowninacapulco

Originally posted by goinglocodowninacapulco
Hi, someone posted about this telescope you can make.
Cheaper and better than shop ones apparantly.
I'm going to try and build one one day.
www.raycash.us...

That looks sweet, would like to build one myself but right now I don't have the materials and time.


@albertfothergill Thanks for the link, looks interesting.

My suggestion:

If you really want a telescope that will show a lot of objects, and will allow development in the future it would be the SkyWatcher 130M, which is a motorised 5-inch telescope. Currently £160 plus delivery on www.warehouseexpress.co.uk -- excellent value

SOURCE.

And HERE. More pricey. Same thing.

As an amateur astronomer, there is one thing that I will emphasize more than anything. Aperture size. The amount of light your scope can gather. Bigger is better. Get the MOST your budget can afford.

The silly lil 70 refractor is good for spying on neighbors. It comes with a PLASTIC tripod, for crissake! Don't waste your money. Go Newtonian Reflector to start. The links above should give you guys over the pond a good idea of the initial investment. Mind you, if the first time you see the moon in close up HI-RES, and you get hooked, it's not my fault. The first time I saw moon craters in full detail, I stood back, caught my breath, and looked again. I lost my breath again, and have never looked back.

Go with the 130, it is double the aperture.

Also, goto Sky and Telescope.com, or any variation thereof, and find the "Starwheel". Print it out, it's two pages, and cut it out and assemble it. The starchart you have in your hands will be your guide in your abilty to discern your and our place in the heavens. To be an amateur, you need to know the sky above you. Constellations will become familiar after a bit. THAT is something to be proud of.

reply to post by Jauk3


I am just starting down the road to attempting to get some photos of the Moon.
I have a "go to" type scope,which in theory should one day allow me to get some very distant objects,like nebulae and galaxies-but I am a long way from getting my head around that so far.

Its quite a steep learning curve,which can be easily made almost impossible if you are stuck with a awful crashy PC(like I have).
A decent PC would help with all the image processing.
Any how,here are a couple of Moon pics I took:



For this image,right click and select view image or open in new tab to see it:


These are only my first two nights of attempts,so I hope to get better results with practice.
Details of the scope and camera can be seen if you click the link in my signature.

Good luck with getting your scope!