I would agree with alot of the advice on here. Binoculars are how I started and you have done the right thing advising against the cheap and nasty refractors especially those on cheap Eq mounts. I actually had one and it never really got used. Fortunately i stayed with the hobby and went for a Meade ETX 105 someone sold secondhand for a few hundred $$$ at the time. That was a great scope. I did sell it, but then missed it so much I bought another a little later and not parting with it!
Definitely consider the wanted/trade ads and looking every now and then for one that comes up in the sale ads. Some great stuff in there.
