Finding a Telescope for beginner

ht2 · Post by **ht2** » Thu May 20, 2010 5:13 pm

Hi,

I am a new, beginner in skywatching.
I started with a bino and now looking for a telescope.
There are many brands out there, some are very attractive and expensive too.
Could anyone suggest a good one that is within $100 budget?

I just found this telescope, china made:
http://www.olx.sg/brand-new-76700-astro ... d-12976061
or
http://www.seabasebinoculars.com/china- ... scope.html

Anyone has experience, please advise.
Thanks a lot.

guangwei · Post by **guangwei** » Thu May 20, 2010 5:52 pm

Save up more.. i would not recommend that..

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu May 20, 2010 5:59 pm

The "114mm / 700 telescope" for S$ 88 seems too good to be true. But if it's true I'd get one just for the heck of it. They claim to include an EQ-3 mount!

I have experience with a Barska 60mm / 700 telescope on an EQ-1. It cost me about S$ 200 from a True Value store. It's actually decently competent but the eyepieces really sucked. If I bought one of these scopes I'd change the eyepieces and replace the tripod legs with wooden legs to improve performance.

That said, if the S$ 88 is not correct, there are several other options:

1) buy a better binoculars (like the Nikons)

2) build a binocular mount for your existing binoculars, since stabilizing the binos will VASTLY increase what you can see, e.g. the Peterson Engineering bino mount

http://www.petersonengineering.com/sky/binocmount.htm

Or if really want a telescope for $100, make one:

Buy this lens (80mm f/11 achromat)
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l3002.html

and these eyepieces
http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l3630.html (gives you 30X)

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/l1732.html (gives you 139X)

With shipping, this should come in under or about S$ 100.

Then you have to look for a PVC tube of the right diameter (or a paper mailing tube from SingPost) and build an alt-az cradle like this:

http://www.homebuiltastronomy.com/kidpeek/index.htm

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu May 20, 2010 6:05 pm

@quangwei,

if it really is S$88 it is a reasonable deal. Even for S$200 it would be reasonable.

I have been using my W-O Z70 for the past few months on a crappy EQ-1 mount and it's actually usable, I was able to track the moon fairly well visually at 210X. Of course the EQ-1 was modded.

I would not characterize these department store scopes as crap. They are not, they are usually just let down by the eyepieces.

Here is a review on Cloudynights of a $21 telescope:
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?ar ... em_id=2421

The Chinese stuff really does have variable quality, but a 114mm, 700mm FL reflector is not an ambitious design, even if the primary where spherical, it would still perform relatively well. The Chinese usually are let down by extremely crappy mechanicals. But I've lived with two EQ-1's which must be the most crappy of the crappy, nothing can be worse. And yet, with some elbow grease they can be made tolerable.

The OLX ad claims the bundled EPs are Plossl's which if so, are pretty decent. I daresay that 114mm reflector would throw up better views than my S$500+ Z70ED (longer FL, so higher mags are easier to get, and an EQ-3 is better than an EQ-1).

I reiterate, even for S$200 the OLX scope would be a decent buy.

But then I'm from the Third World... :-P

So that's my opinion.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu May 20, 2010 6:12 pm

The OLX guy also sells binoculars cheap!

There is a 20-90X 75mm zoom bino for $79.

I know it will probably have ruby coatings, the eyepieces will be crappy, coma galore.. but $79 is even less than the cost of dinner out.

And if I can go pick them up personally and visually check for mis-collimation, it would be better than my shipped-from-the-US Celestron 15x70 which arrived mis-collimated and gave me migraines.

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu May 20, 2010 6:21 pm

I sms'ed the guy on OLX. He claims "yes" (single-word kind of guy) it costs $88. That's the cost of one eyepiece.

This is the location of the shop:

BUDGET LINK SHOP
Block 8, Empress Rd, #01-33, Singapore 260008
Category : Home
Trade : Hardware (e.g. Do-it-yourself Materials/chains, Chignons, Axes)

Category : Home
Trade : Electrical Appliances

That "chains & axes" bit makes me a bit nervous, hahaha!

But seriously, I am planning to go check it out. If the scopes are usable, they would make good presents for my friends with small children back in the Philippines.

(on the other hand, the title is 76mm and the picture is of an alt-az mount, which would be far less desirable)

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Thu May 20, 2010 10:12 pm

I won't recommend that. The telescope mirror is actually 3 inch and the mount is an Alt. Azimuth mount. the eyepieces it uses are 0.9 inch, not 1.25". It is a toy telescope. You can see the craters on the moon, m45, traces of m42, m44 and thats about it. the eyepieces are plastic, so is the whole focuser mechanism.

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Thu May 20, 2010 10:39 pm

Ht2, if you are just getting a 'toy scope' for your kids, it is possible to get one from a departmental store for just about $50. You can find them at Carrefour or Giant. If you want a quality scope for yourself to do some proper observing, $100 is a bit compromised to get some quality, unless someone is putting up a fire sale. However if you can stretch your budget to $200 for an ota, there are occasional good deals on Singastro: C4, Starblast, C90....

orly_andico · Post by **orly_andico** » Thu May 20, 2010 11:42 pm

@Chris,

Ah crap. So it's 76mm f=700mm and alt-az. You are right, pretty useless. So the text description is basically B.S.

One legitimate source is this guy named Bill Vorce / Telescope Warehouse. He sells on ebay. e.g.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Meade-90mm-refracto ... 53e16318fe

this is the Meade 90mm f/11 refractor, he's selling it for $39 (US) + $15 (US) shipping. VPost/Singpost however will extract quite a premium for US-SG shipping (for reference my Vixen Polaris with tripod cost S$97 to ship).