Any telescope guru's here ?

reply to post by ImAwareSC


Worth keeping. A good starter scope. You'll be able to see Jupiter and Saturn's rings. Try it out on the Moon sometime, and you'll be amazed at the resolution you see. Seeing the moon firsthand doesn't compare to what is printed in the textbooks.

I was lucky enough and inherited an awesome 8" Meade.

www.meade.com...

I do not know your budget but it is one of those things where there seems to be a threshold for a quality experience. This telescope will last me for my life (I hope ) . It does an awesome job of making things real for my kids.

...now if I can just move away from the DC area and its light pollution

This is SUCH a loaded question - it depends on your requirements and of course your budget!

When i was a teenager i had a very cheap "tasco" refractor scope, one of those "mall" scopes you always see.
I gained an interest in Astronomy again and right now i am torn between any of the 8" Meades or the Celestron Nextstar 8SE - with the Celestron through the bank very good reviews and opinions.

However, those are not $100 scopes, they will set you back $900 something and the Meade even more. It really depends what you want the scope for....if you only want to look at a planet/moon once a month for fun you don't need a $900 scope.

But the problem is that the cheap scopes (let alone the Chinese crap from ebay etc.) is really nothing more than..well...crap...and you will sooner or later get frustrated with them if you get only a halfway serious interest in Astronomy.

Alternatively, you can scour the web and astronomy sites/forums and if you are lucky get a deal or a used Meade or Celestron for cheap, maybe one which someone had on display in a store and is now discounted.

reply to post by ABNARTY

WOW nice scope, I was looking into getting a casse but I got the meade 16" light bridge. Any way OP found a scope yet

I went to telescopes.com to check what they had on sail and the Celestron 114eq is a decent scope for the price. The 114eq is good for a beginner except for the finder scope I have a 130eq (same but a shorter focal length) the finder is crap.

hey all, i got me a telescope... a VIVITAR 76700‏
Now i got a slight problem; if i point it to the moon i see... nothing
What am i doing wrong, i bought it second hand so maybee it's broke...
Do you need a full moon to see anything ?
Thanks in advandce...

Here is a simulator that will give you different views with different lenses. telescope simulator

I used a free website to join called International astronomy forums. There is a heap of knowledge on various scopes that people use. Just google it. I'm sure there are many forums out there. Review what your needs are for viewing and the price you want to spend. Take into consideration the size of the scope for transporting.

I like using Saturn or Jupiter for the simulator. I think it gives a better idea on different scopes and lenses.

reply to post by drneville

The finder scope may not be aligned.also the lenses may need to be collimated. There is a good video on collimnating at the website I use from my above post. Good Luck.