First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
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First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Celestron AstroMaster 130
Orion VersaGo E-Series 90mm Altazimuth Refractor
https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Orion-V ... 130975.uts
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope
Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
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- OzEclipse Online
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
You definitely don't want a newtonian because you or her dad will forever be trying to hold her stable at the eyepiece.
I think that particular scope is a poor implementation of the Bird-Jones design, hard to accurately collimate.
Also recommend just buy economic Plosl eyepieces eg
An ordinary old Plosl is easy if not exciting to look through.
This article by Alan Dyer contains quite good commonsense advice.
https://astrogeartoday.com/top-ten-tips ... telescope/
In particular, the first tip states:-
TIP 1: Don’t Buy a Telescope!
Advice in my previous Ten Steps to Success article on AGT also applies here as a number one top tip when buying a telescope. In short, don’t! Not until you are ready.
You buy a telescope and excitedly set it up. Now what are you going to look at? The Moon is easy to find and spectacular! But after that? Do you know where the planets are?
Even if you buy a high-tech telescope that promises to find celestial wonders for you, getting it going often requires that you correctly identify bright stars. Telescopes that can auto-align without you “having to know a star in the sky” can still leave you lost in space, wondering what to look at. Do you know what a
Getting the most out of any telescope requires you have a basic familiarity with the sky. You’re ready for a telescope when: 1) You can identify the brightest stars by name, 2) Find the major planets, and 3) Point to the main constellations, and 4) to the locations of popular targets such as the Andromeda Galaxy and Orion Nebula.
That pre-requisite “Astro 101” knowledge comes from first spending a few months exploring the sky with a simple star chart, guidebook, and binoculars. Don’t spend money; spend time. That’s true whether you are buying for yourself or for a child. Help them (and you!) learn the sky first in family stargazing sessions under the stars. Discover the sky together.
This is a statement in the article that mirrors my thoughts every time I see a post on a facebook astro group that goes something like, "I am a complete newbie, I bought a computerised telescope but I don't know how to set it up. Please help." After numerous exchanges, we discover that the new owner can't recognise any stars, does not know how to polar align(if
The point I am trying to make is that they will need to learn how to use and adjust the scope and how to find their way around the sky before they can use any scope successfully. They are lucky to have you to teach them. Simulation Curriculum currently has a 50% off special on Starry Night Complete Space 8, a beginner oriented planetarium program. Normally USD60, it is currently on special for half price. USD29.95. This is a computer based program not a tablet or mobile phone
https://store.simulationcurriculum.com/ ... omy-pack-8
Joe
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Agree a refractor on an alt/Az mount would be much better
I used to have the 130 astromaster its not a
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
- notFritzArgelander
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
- OzEclipse Online
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
This advice ok for adults and older children. They probably need something that dad can pre-point for the 6yo child. Young kids can't hold binoculars very steady and can't find things. Refractor on altaz probably better.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:02 am Agreed. Small altaz refractor first. More complicated later, Perhaps binoculars?
Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, ATM 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, ST80.
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push dobsonian with Nexus DSC, three homemade EQ's.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5, Unitron 40mm Kellner, Meade Or 25,12
Cameras : Pentax K1, K5, K01, K10D / VIDEO CAMS : TacosBD, Lihmsec.
Cam/guider/controllers: Lacerta MGEN 3, SW Synguider, Simulation Curriculum SkyFi 3+Sky safari
Memberships Astronomical Association of Queensland; RASNZ Occultations Section; Single Exposure Milky Way Facebook Group (Moderator) (12k members), The Sky Searchers (moderator)
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Also, like I've mentioned before, I don't think
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
When young children come to our home we use the C5
The SLT is a relatively cheap go to mount but works well with small mac or a
Refractors None
SCT C5 on a SLT mount
Mak 150 Bosma on a EQ5
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
I prefer small, short tube achromatic refractors to any kind of reflector, but I do have a 90mm Maksutov for high power moon watching. It does take a little while for the Mak to cool down, depending on indoor vs. outdoor temperature. My refractors are ready to go as soon as I carry them out the door, but they're not that good for planet viewing.
As probably mentioned, you get what you pay for. Cheap optics are usually not good optics, but there are many reasonably priced scopes that give very acceptable performance.
Man... That's some icky-tasting stuff!
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Second, I kind of agree with everyone here. A manual refractor is the way to go for beginners.
I started out with a very simple manual reflector, and it evolved from there.
This is what I started out with.
Now, I have to admit, it was great for looking at planets. You could see the rings of Saturn easily, you could make out Mars, you could even make out the moons of Jupiter. Other than that, it wasn’t that good for many faint deep space objects, like nebula and galaxies. It had some problems with bright objects, like the Andromeda galaxy and the Orion nebula, but it was still a good telescope for beginners. The manual controls for the telescope were easy, and aligning the telescopes finder scope was easy also. It was also easy to get things into focus.
It was also fun looking for things in the sky the old-fashioned way without a computer.
I’m not trying to advertise anything, just so you know.
If you want my honest opinion, I would get a refractor with at least 80 mm of
I hope this helps, and good luck.
Jared
25mm plossl Eyepiece
Goto mount
Iphone 11 Nightcap app Camera
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Right about that..... slipped my mind we were talking about a 6 yo.OzEclipse wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:58 amThis advice ok for adults and older children. They probably need something that dad can pre-point for the 6yo child. Young kids can't hold binoculars very steady and can't find things. Refractor on altaz probably better.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:02 am Agreed. Small altaz refractor first. More complicated later, Perhaps binoculars?
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Hope this helps
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∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
What I was going to say. I will add a camera tripod and adaptor so that dad can find something then show it to his son.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:02 am Agreed. Small altaz refractor first. More complicated later, Perhaps binoculars?
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Or phone adapter.Baurice wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:58 pmWhat I was going to say. I will add a camera tripod and adaptor so that dad can find something then show it to his son.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:02 am Agreed. Small altaz refractor first. More complicated later, Perhaps binoculars?
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Delos, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.
Solar: HA: Lunt 50mm single stack, W/L: Meade Herschel wedge.
Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2461, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 261
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Re: First telescope recommendation for 6 year old + Dad
Yes, that could work, too.Bigzmey wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 11:03 pmOr phone adapter.Baurice wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:58 pmWhat I was going to say. I will add a camera tripod and adaptor so that dad can find something then show it to his son.notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:02 am Agreed. Small altaz refractor first. More complicated later, Perhaps binoculars?
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