i am on the market for a good affordable ($300.00 or less of possible) portable telescope. i cannot remember the brand or model of one that is short and fat and the pic quality is supposed to be very good for the price around $250.00
any amature astronomy folks?
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Originally Posted By: mikeg5
i am on the market for a good affordable ($300.00 or less of possible) portable telescope. i cannot remember the brand or model of one that is short and fat and the pic quality is supposed to be very good for the price around $250.00
"short and fat" sounds like Celestron .
Some places are selling the Celestron AstroMaster Models pretty cheap.
i am on the market for a good affordable ($300.00 or less of possible) portable telescope. i cannot remember the brand or model of one that is short and fat and the pic quality is supposed to be very good for the price around $250.00
"short and fat" sounds like Celestron .
Some places are selling the Celestron AstroMaster Models pretty cheap.
Originally Posted By: LTVibe
Originally Posted By: mikeg5
i am on the market for a good affordable ($300.00 or less of possible) portable telescope. i cannot remember the brand or model of one that is short and fat and the pic quality is supposed to be very good for the price around $250.00
"short and fat" sounds like Celestron .
Some places are selling the Celestron AstroMaster Models pretty cheap.
actually its an Orion starblast 6. from the reviews it seems to be pretty good. granted its a table top mount and not a tripod but i can work around that.. does anyone have any other advice and or ideas?
Originally Posted By: mikeg5
i am on the market for a good affordable ($300.00 or less of possible) portable telescope. i cannot remember the brand or model of one that is short and fat and the pic quality is supposed to be very good for the price around $250.00
"short and fat" sounds like Celestron .
Some places are selling the Celestron AstroMaster Models pretty cheap.
actually its an Orion starblast 6. from the reviews it seems to be pretty good. granted its a table top mount and not a tripod but i can work around that.. does anyone have any other advice and or ideas?
NO, you sound like you have it under control. Orion is going to be your best bet on affordable quality scopes. Makes me realize I need to get a new Orion catalog!
I had a succession of cheapo scopes back in the 80's as a kid. The best little scope I had was a small 4.5 inch Jason that was marketed for viewing Halley's Comet. Also had (and still do) a 60 mm Tasco on a basic equatorial mount. It's been ok but the mount is horribly unsteady. These days I just get out my 10x50 binocs if I want to look at something.
I had a succession of cheapo scopes back in the 80's as a kid. The best little scope I had was a small 4.5 inch Jason that was marketed for viewing Halley's Comet. Also had (and still do) a 60 mm Tasco on a basic equatorial mount. It's been ok but the mount is horribly unsteady. These days I just get out my 10x50 binocs if I want to look at something.
Look at a 4.5" or 6" Dobsonian ("Dob"), Orion sells these as does Celestron and a bunch of others. These will have a longer focal ratio than the Starblast for better viewing on planets, but with a smaller field of view (every telescope has some compromises, even the $8000.00 ones - they're $8000).
Here's a review on the Starblast 4.5" http://www.scopereviews.com/page1t.html.
Originally Posted By: lewdwig
Here's a review on the Starblast 4.5" http://www.scopereviews.com/page1t.html.
i was looking at the XT4.5 which rated better than the starblast 4.5. the starblast 4.5 is just shy of what i want. however the XT4.5 orion seems better and at 200 bucks seems to be a great deal for what you get. the starblast 6 is even better but yet its of course more expensive. good ideas though guys thanks. keep em coming
Here's a review on the Starblast 4.5" http://www.scopereviews.com/page1t.html.
i was looking at the XT4.5 which rated better than the starblast 4.5. the starblast 4.5 is just shy of what i want. however the XT4.5 orion seems better and at 200 bucks seems to be a great deal for what you get. the starblast 6 is even better but yet its of course more expensive. good ideas though guys thanks. keep em coming
this is the starblast 6
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09964
this is the skyquest xt6 for the same price
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08942
between those two i dont know what to pick. it seems like the xt is better for planets and the starblast is better for more deep space stuff like nebulas..
keep in mind i dont know much at all about these things
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09964
this is the skyquest xt6 for the same price
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08942
between those two i dont know what to pick. it seems like the xt is better for planets and the starblast is better for more deep space stuff like nebulas..
keep in mind i dont know much at all about these things
Don't laugh at about what I'm about to tell you, because this is a result of much trial and error and lot's of research. I got one of those Sam's specials, you know, stuff that Sam's brings in on a limited basis. It was a "tube" telescope with a 6 inch reflecting mirror. Didn't really know what I was getting into, just knew I had wanted one and the price was right and I think it was fairly good name brand. Anyway, what I learned that once you get the reflecting mirror aligned with the eyepiece correctly, the most important piece and where the money is, is in the eyepieces. This set came with some cheapo-deluxe eyepieces, even I could tell my looking at them. This ain't rocket science and mirrors aren't that hard and expensive to make. Where the money is, is in the eyepieces. So, I found a website that sold Pollosal (sp???) eyepieces and got a 10mm and a 20mm and HOLY COW!!! what a difference, could clearly see the rings of Saturn and the detail of the moon was incredible! Find a decent reflecting mirror and spend the rest of your money on good quality eyepieces.
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Don't laugh at about what I'm about to tell you, because this is a result of much trial and error and lot's of research. I got one of those Sam's specials, you know, stuff that Sam's brings in on a limited basis. It was a "tube" telescope with a 6 inch reflecting mirror. Didn't really know what I was getting into, just knew I had wanted one and the price was right and I think it was fairly good name brand. Anyway, what I learned that once you get the reflecting mirror aligned with the eyepiece correctly, the most important piece and where the money is, is in the eyepieces. This set came with some cheapo-deluxe eyepieces, even I could tell my looking at them. This ain't rocket science and mirrors aren't that hard and expensive to make. Where the money is, is in the eyepieces. So, I found a website that sold Pollosal (sp???) eyepieces and got a 10mm and a 20mm and HOLY COW!!! what a difference, could clearly see the rings of Saturn and the detail of the moon was incredible! Find a decent reflecting mirror and spend the rest of your money on good quality eyepieces.
dang good tips there! so in theory i can get the $200.00 basic orion (bc i like orion and they build really good quality stuff) and focus more on the eyepieces? i was aware of the eye pieces really being the key.. thanks again man.
to add to this the starblast 6 comes with 2 eye pieces as stated
"
"Pop the 25mm (30x) or 10mm (75x) Sirius Plössl telescope eyepiece into the 1.25" rack-and-pinion focuser and you're ready to enjoy the wonders of the night sky"
Don't laugh at about what I'm about to tell you, because this is a result of much trial and error and lot's of research. I got one of those Sam's specials, you know, stuff that Sam's brings in on a limited basis. It was a "tube" telescope with a 6 inch reflecting mirror. Didn't really know what I was getting into, just knew I had wanted one and the price was right and I think it was fairly good name brand. Anyway, what I learned that once you get the reflecting mirror aligned with the eyepiece correctly, the most important piece and where the money is, is in the eyepieces. This set came with some cheapo-deluxe eyepieces, even I could tell my looking at them. This ain't rocket science and mirrors aren't that hard and expensive to make. Where the money is, is in the eyepieces. So, I found a website that sold Pollosal (sp???) eyepieces and got a 10mm and a 20mm and HOLY COW!!! what a difference, could clearly see the rings of Saturn and the detail of the moon was incredible! Find a decent reflecting mirror and spend the rest of your money on good quality eyepieces.
dang good tips there! so in theory i can get the $200.00 basic orion (bc i like orion and they build really good quality stuff) and focus more on the eyepieces? i was aware of the eye pieces really being the key.. thanks again man.
to add to this the starblast 6 comes with 2 eye pieces as stated
"
"Pop the 25mm (30x) or 10mm (75x) Sirius Plössl telescope eyepiece into the 1.25" rack-and-pinion focuser and you're ready to enjoy the wonders of the night sky"
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Actually, the best advice you can get is to get the biggest scope you can afford. Light gathering power is going to make a big difference. The reason many of these department store scopes are no good is b/c they are relatively tiny yet have ridiculously strong (but poor quality) eyepieces. That leads to nothing but a fuzzy mess of an image.
Originally Posted By: BrianWC
Actually, the best advice you can get is to get the biggest scope you can afford. Light gathering power is going to make a big difference. The reason many of these department store scopes are no good is b/c they are relatively tiny yet have ridiculously strong (but poor quality) eyepieces. That leads to nothing but a fuzzy mess of an image.
thats troof!
Actually, the best advice you can get is to get the biggest scope you can afford. Light gathering power is going to make a big difference. The reason many of these department store scopes are no good is b/c they are relatively tiny yet have ridiculously strong (but poor quality) eyepieces. That leads to nothing but a fuzzy mess of an image.
thats troof!
I look at books with pictures taken with good telescopes.
MUCH cheaper and better stuff can be seen.
MUCH cheaper and better stuff can be seen.
Yes but there are some good scopes that can be had out there that can provide lots of enjoyment to the average hack. I'm just glad I finally got myself a nice digital SLR. I've already toyed with taking some sky pics at night but haven't put it on the tripod yet.
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