Funkii Munkii

Lots of these on e-bay at the moment 900mm for £79.99, I just wanted a telescope to have the odd look at the night sky, moon, planets and so on, no massive hobby or anything, is it worth it or should I be going for something else??

Any advice welcome

Dave

TonyG

900mm - I suspect that's a mis-print as that would make the mirror/lens some 35 inches in diameter. It could be referring to the focall length. As for the make, I've never heard of them. Have you got a link to it? I'd be wary of cheap telescopes as they promise the universe but are usually disappointing.
Depends on what you want from the hobby (be warned, it's a bit like owning a Scooby, once you get hooked, you always want more power and can easily spend a fortune).

Funkii Munkii

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&category=3636

(soz forgot how to do a clicky)

So if these are some piece of old tat does anyone have ant recomendations as what to look out for, like i mentioned its never going to be a massive hobby.

Cheers

Andrew Timmins

www.seben.de

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I got into this last year when I got this telescope for my birthday. It cost about £150 and is aimed at newbies. I only had a passing interest in the stars at the time and wanted a telescope just to look at the moon, planets and a few stars etc out of curiosity.

However the first time I looked at the moon it blew my mind and I've been hopelessly addicted ever since and realise now that my 4.5 inch reflector telescope is just too damn small (even though physically on it's tripod it's bigger than me) but I can see Saturn and its rings ok and, using a solar filter I can see sunspots well and the moon is very clear. It's also big enough to see the Andromeda Galaxy and the Orion Nebula ok.

The problem is if you get hooked (and trust me, it's very easy to) that you want to see objects in more detail. There's some really good info on choosing and buying telescopes on the Sky & Telescope magazine site. Do a few searches and see what the popular makes are, there's some sites here: Telescope House, Sherwoods, SCSAstro

As Tony says it can turn into an expensive hobby once you start buying filters, lenses, books, star charts etc but when I first started all I used was a simple Phillips planisphere and the book Turn Left at Orion which is aimed at users of small telescopes. Unless you know what you're looking at and what to look for it can be quite boring looking at endless blobs of bright light

The first time I saw another galaxy I went into meltdown That really did blow my mind

Sal

TonyG

I've had a look, and the 900mm is the focal length. The diameter of the mirror (and for a telescope, this is the important measurement) is 76mm - about 3 inches. That's not very bigh for a mirror. If I'm being brutally honest, the claims in the ad do seem to be a bit, er, 'optimistic'. The highest magnifications are probably not going to be usable from an astronomical standpoint. Personally, I'd be putting my pennies twoards something a little better (but then again I've had the astronomy bug for far longer than the Scooby bug and currently own a 6 in reflector).
On the other hand, a 'proper' astronomical telescope is going to cost at least a few hundred pounds. At the end of the day, you pays your money and you takes the risk. If you want more detail on what to look for on a telescope (or astronomy in general), feel free to drop me an email and I'll do my best to answer.

Tony.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I meant to add that it's best to ignore all that stuff about how many times magnification a telescope has that the makers of the cheaper, crappier telescopes go on about. It's the size of the aperture and the diameter of its light-gathering lens or mirror, as well as the quality of the optics that are important. That link I posted for Sky & Telescope's site is really worth a read as it explains it all far better than I can

There is only so much useful magnification that a telescope has anyway and, an awful lot of that depends on light pollution, atmospherics etc etc.

I'm sounding boring now aren't I?

TonyG

You are doing well, my young disciple...

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Yes oh great one

Tony taught me everything I know and I blame him solely for my addiction

Pete Croney can also take some of the blame too

Funkii Munkii

Thanks for all the advice

It certainly does look like you're hooked Sal, I think a 4.5" is what I should be looking for, I will keep trawling e-bay and avoid the seben's.

Saturns rings eh, wow!! thats what I want

Cheers

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I'd sell you mine if I could afford to replace it

Right, I'm off to polish my anorak