Has anyone got a telescope?
My little boy has a big interest in space right now so wer're thinking it's a good idea to get one.
Seem to be a lot of cheap stuff out there which I imagine isn't very good, can you get a half decent one for less than £100?
Telescopes?
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NotoriousREV
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Re: Telescopes?
My Dad bought us one a while back and it was a complete waste of money, sadly. Too small to get a good field of vision (40mm) and the tripod and mount are so bad it won’t hold a position. I believe that for a budget telescope, something like the Celestron Travel Scope 70 is a good starter scope for under £100.
Middle-aged Dirtbag
Re: Telescopes?
What Rev said, unfortunately.
I think B&Q sell the Celestron he mentioned. Just visit their site and wait for 2hrs and you'll be able to confirm this.
I think B&Q sell the Celestron he mentioned. Just visit their site and wait for 2hrs and you'll be able to confirm this.
Re: Telescopes?
There are a huge range of review on the Sky at Night's website. Definitely worth browsing there: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/revi ... es/page/2/
By way of a bit of further context (its an extremely complex area once you get into it) the basic design of the telescope (Newtonian Refractor, Reflector, Dobsonian) determine whether they are better for wide field of view DSO (Deep Space Objects) such as Nebulae or Moon/Planet viewing, so worth reading into it a little. There is choice even at the budget end with regard to which type you opt for (i.e. Meade lightbridge tabletop scopes are mini-dobsonians for example so there are other options than the standard 'Newt'). This is before you get into mount type for astrophotography, etc. - all slightly overwhelming but google is your friend.
Another key thing to note, in the same way as an SLR camera and the lens work together, a scope works in tandem with its eyepieces. The diameter of the telescope aperture determines light collection ability and doesn't directly relate to magnification - that is a function of the focal length of the tube and, more importantly the eyepiece. If you want a wide field of view you need to go for a longer eyepiece (i.e. 20mm upwards) and smaller, i.e. 9mm for more magnification (or use a 2x Barlow to multiply). If you jump straight to a high mag narrow field of view eyepiece you'll not find anything and it it will be a very frustrating experience.
I bought a second hand meade ETX 70 as a cheap experiment before Christmas (I think I paid something like £70 for it) and have had some fun looking at open clusters and the moon, though it is tricky in central London. Here are a few shots just with an iPhone through the eyepiece. Something like this may be worth a punt: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEADE-REFRAC ... SwbDpenbqn
Moon
Pleiades
Very fuzzy orion Nebula
By way of a bit of further context (its an extremely complex area once you get into it) the basic design of the telescope (Newtonian Refractor, Reflector, Dobsonian) determine whether they are better for wide field of view DSO (Deep Space Objects) such as Nebulae or Moon/Planet viewing, so worth reading into it a little. There is choice even at the budget end with regard to which type you opt for (i.e. Meade lightbridge tabletop scopes are mini-dobsonians for example so there are other options than the standard 'Newt'). This is before you get into mount type for astrophotography, etc. - all slightly overwhelming but google is your friend.
Another key thing to note, in the same way as an SLR camera and the lens work together, a scope works in tandem with its eyepieces. The diameter of the telescope aperture determines light collection ability and doesn't directly relate to magnification - that is a function of the focal length of the tube and, more importantly the eyepiece. If you want a wide field of view you need to go for a longer eyepiece (i.e. 20mm upwards) and smaller, i.e. 9mm for more magnification (or use a 2x Barlow to multiply). If you jump straight to a high mag narrow field of view eyepiece you'll not find anything and it it will be a very frustrating experience.
I bought a second hand meade ETX 70 as a cheap experiment before Christmas (I think I paid something like £70 for it) and have had some fun looking at open clusters and the moon, though it is tricky in central London. Here are a few shots just with an iPhone through the eyepiece. Something like this may be worth a punt: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEADE-REFRAC ... SwbDpenbqn
Moon
Pleiades
Very fuzzy orion Nebula
Last edited by GG. on Tue Apr 21, 2020 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Telescopes?
My brother in law is into it. IIRC he has a decent telescope. I can find out details if you wish.
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16vCento
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Re: Telescopes?
Some good stuff here cheers.
The quality or the view from that 70 quid second hand one seems very good!
I shall start scouring amazon now!
The quality or the view from that 70 quid second hand one seems very good!
I shall start scouring amazon now!
Re: Telescopes?
Taken by my BIL using his mobile through his telescope.
- 92496565_10157493091462758_356088505786433536_o.jpg (225.65 KiB) Viewed 1132 times
Left over crest; tightens.
Re: Telescopes?
I stand corrected - it was £59! It also has a computerised drive so once set to North and aligned on two stars it will take you (roughly) to any one of thousands of objects in the handset. Bit fiddly to set up for a newb though but worth having.16vCento wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:53 pm The quality or the view from that 70 quid second hand one seems very good!
On the other hand it only came with one of the two eyepieces it came with new so I think I spent an extra £20 or so on an 40mm plossyl eyepiece (also eBay).
The design also has a flip up mirror so instead of using the eyepiece you can piggyback a DSLR with a 't-mount' as below. Haven't done that yet but I imagine the results could be pretty impressive
Last edited by GG. on Tue Apr 21, 2020 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Telescopes?
Optics looks good on his as you don't see any of the purple fringing chromatic aberration as showing on my photos of the moon.
Re: Telescopes?
I had a Celestron 102 GT for many years, it was a Costco special and £150 back in the day which was a lot of telescope for the money. I bought some better eyepieces for it but 6 years ago it got absolutely raped by the home removals people.
Bought the same from Costco again 2 years ago for £300 this time - such is inflation - but the collimation on it was wrong and it just wouldn’t focus - you can’t even adjust it on that model so it must have been bumped around during shipping.
Took me close to a year though return it for the same model and this one is collimated correctly but I’m just too lazy to use it now.
Bought the same from Costco again 2 years ago for £300 this time - such is inflation - but the collimation on it was wrong and it just wouldn’t focus - you can’t even adjust it on that model so it must have been bumped around during shipping.
Took me close to a year though return it for the same model and this one is collimated correctly but I’m just too lazy to use it now.
How about not having a sig at all?
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16vCento
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Re: Telescopes?
Well if you dont want it...Mito Man wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 5:51 pm I had a Celestron 102 GT for many years, it was a Costco special and £150 back in the day which was a lot of telescope for the money. I bought some better eyepieces for it but 6 years ago it got absolutely raped by the home removals people.
Bought the same from Costco again 2 years ago for £300 this time - such is inflation - but the collimation on it was wrong and it just wouldn’t focus - you can’t even adjust it on that model so it must have been bumped around during shipping.
Took me close to a year though return it for the same model and this one is collimated correctly but I’m just too lazy to use it now.
