Got 'er hooked!

Was outside walking the dog last night and talking to my wife about all of the pollution in our area. I mentioned how we couldn’t see the stars all that well. She saw me looking at one particular spot and asked what I was looking at. It was what looked like a very faint cluster, so I grabbed some binoculars. What a major difference! I had Melanie look through and now she’s hooked.

I’m hoping for a telescope for Christmas or my birthday next year… the question is, what would be good to get? We’re not going to want ot spend a lot of money (under $200), and preferably under $100. Any recommendations?

Toughie, My cousin is well into it. He even builds his own telescopes. (He’s got a 12 meter monster… Leave it!)

For that kinda money I would think they were all much of a muchness. I remember him bringing a tiddler to a family do once when I was but a tiddler (I had to be lifted up to look through the eyepiece) and I was always amazed at how often he had to move the telescope to keep the moon in view. Really had it hit home how fast we’re really spinning.

Sorry I’m not more help m8…

Over here you can pick up a reasonable reflector 'scope (around 225x magnification) for about £150-£200 (about $280- $380), but anything less might not give you the best viewing. Like everything, you gets what you pay for.

Meade have a very good name. Being a total dunce at finding things astronomical, I’ve always fancied one of those auto computer guided jobbies.

Try ebay, should be able to pick up something you can resell at little or no loss if you don’t get on with it.

Thanks for the tips… wasn’t aware how expensive this could get. A m8 here at work brought in a catalog for me to look through. We talked a bit last night about various telescope types and what he likes to use. Going to be saving money for some time as the cheapest I’ve found that I liked was still over $200.

Ben, now that you have gotten rid of that POS car in your avatar, it is time to update your avatar to your new ride or some thing else to your liking.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3636&item=6122827266&rd=1

You got that right… just haven’t had time to find a new piccy or update a current one to fit the parameters. Going on vacation from work soon, hopefully I’ll get a little time to play amongst my “Honey Do” list.

I do suggest if you can find a local astromony group and get a grasp for the type
of scopes and the quality.

Biggest mistake I made was getting a cheap scope, about £99 Uk pounds and its was
really next to useless compared with a decent set of bino’s.

Made an eye peice lens out of a old monocular which improved it a lot but really made me
realise the difference decent len’s/mirrors/eye piece’s make to the seen image.

I’m alway’s on a look out for a Meade LX200 at the right price but they cost and get snapped up quicker than a fast thing :frowning: