Telescope suggestions?

[HarryPotter69]

someone suggest me a good telescope and must be cheap

[Gordon]

Welcome @HarryPotter69

Can you define 'cheap'. What are you planning to do with it just visual?

A bit more information will help.

[messier 111]

welcome in .

[gregl]

The answer to your question is not a simple one. There are many factors to consider, the types of objects you want to look at, where you will be observing (traveling to a site or from your residence), what you are willing to do to set up the scope, and what knowledge you have of the sky and finding things using printed charts or with computer-aided systems.

If there is any way you can find a club or even someone else in your location who has a scope, it is always better to look through several types and talk to their owners before you take the plunge.

[Graeme1858]

someone suggest me a good telescope and must be cheap

Hello Harry

Welcome to the forum.

The best place to start is by going out at night and just using your eyes. They're the cheapest!

Then you will need to decided how much you want to spend. You can get a small, low quality telescope for about £50 and it will show you craters on the Moon and a couple of the larger, brighter celestial objects. But if you develop a growing interest in the hobby, this will swiftly become frustrating.

My advice is to save up and spend a little more and get a Dobsonium. For £200 ish you can get a small 5 inch version but then the more you spend the bigger aperture model you can get.

Let us know what you decide to do.

Regards

Graeme

[jrkirkham]

Welcome to TSS. Your question has no easy answer. Everyone will need to know more about your budget, interests, location, etc. You've come to the right pace with that question. Just about everyone on this site is active in some form of astronomy and has made their share of good purchases and mistakes. There is an easy answer on what NOT to buy. Don't get one of those low cost flashy department store models like a lot of people get for Christmas.

[gregl]

Don't get one of those low cost flashy department store models like a lot of people get for Christmas.

This is so right. The photos on the box are more than likely from research level telescopes and are NOT what you will see through any amateur scope. Learning what you can expect see is part of deciding on a scope.

Also there is likely some plastic in places where metal is better, such as the focuser; the tripod will more than likely be weak and shaky, and some cheap scopes even use plastic lenses.

[DeanD]

Welcome to the forum! May I suggest that you download Stellarium (http://stellarium.org ). This a free planetarium programme that you can configure to your time and location and even the level of pollution in your night sky- so you can work out what you can see. A pair of (say) 10x50 binoculars will enable you to see a lot more than you can just with your naked eye, and you can begin to learn the sky and decide what you want to do with the hobby as you develop your understanding. Just about any binoculars are better than naked eye, even old or cheap second-hand ones if you don't have much money. 7x50 or 8x42 or even small ones like 8x32 will give you good views. (Just in case: "10x50" means 10 magnifications and 50mm diameter front lenses. This size is often recommended as a good one to start with. "8x42" means 8 magnifications and 42mm diameter front lens, and so on.)

Good luck, and we will look forward to hearing from you soon.

- Dean

[Richard]

If you are on a budget and have gone to a star party etc then the best for you is look for a used scope , not many here but CN (cloudynights) have a good classified section
A 90mm Mak on a simple EQ 1 mount works well the mount is stable and the scope works ok , you will start with planets and once you know it will show a few DSO , clusters , but if this is not for you then its a great spotting scope , binos are my best but dont show detail on planets

[jrkirkham]

Richard has a good idea. In the past I have purchased 2 90mm Maks and 3 Dobs (6", 8" & 10") second hand in the fall of the year. All were in good shape and all were much less than the new price. I am not sure, but I think people start cleaning out closets of old unused Christmas presents in preparation for new ones. I think Some people purchase telescopes as presents only to find that the person isn't as interested in astronomy as they thought. During October and November they sometimes come up on for sale sites.

[Ylem]

Welcome to TSS thanks for joining us

I recommend starting with binoculars, it's amazing how even a cheap pair will open up the sky

Infact many experienced folks use them more than any scope at their disposal.

[HarryPotter69]

Welcome @HarryPotter69

Can you define 'cheap'. What are you planning to do with it just visual?

A bit more information will help.

I guess so

[Mike Q]

Two words that don't go together, astronomy and cheap. Don't despair are there are ways to do this hobby on a budget. First find a astro club and go look at scopes, spend lots of nights with them asking all sorts of questions.

After doing this you will have figured out what you like to look at and what scopes works best for you. This will also give you an idea of a practical and realistic budget.

As mentioned elsewhere avoid at all costs department store scopes. Just don't do it. Also as mentioned binoculars are a very good way into astronomy.