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Old 09-12-2019, 11:37 PM
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Outcast (Carlton)
Always gonna be a NOOB...

Outcast is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Cairns, Qld
Posts: 1,285
Sorry,

I will add a couple of suggestions to look at around your budget..

80mm Short tube refractor on simple az/alt mount - https://skywatcheraustralia.com.au/p...az3-refractor/ AZ3 not the greatest mount ever made but, you could talk to BINTEL about the scope coupled with a better mount & still come close to your budget.
6" full size dobsonian - https://skywatcheraustralia.com.au/p...sic-dobsonian/ these are somewhat bigger & bulkier but, will deliver exceptional views, I acknowledge, a little above your budget not including eyepieces.
4 - 5" table top dobsonian - don't for one minute underestimate what you can see with a 5" newtonian.. I own a vixen 5" it is an absolute stunner of a scope.

These will all pretty much be in the ball park of your budget but, they vary in size & weight. Coupled with 3 reasonable quality plossl eyepieces in a low/medium/high power focal length & you are up & running...

Noting your are in Sydney, go and see the guys at BINTEL... be firm about your budget & check out what they have for you to physically see & at least play with in the store. The Bintel branded plossls are not a bad starting point for eyepieces & are considerably better than the cheap rubbish packaged with most mass produced scopes...

None of these have goto capability unless you want to add considerable funds to the equation so, you will need to learn your way around the sky...

Most importantly, stay away from stores like Australian Geographic, whilst they do stock some excellent scopes, the ones in your price bracket are cheap junk & will only serve to disappoint. Also, to be honest, stay away from EQ mounts to start with.. you will have enough challenges just getting going & learning the sky without having to figure out the mechanics of an EQ mount...

There are other equally good quality brands, I only picked these because they were simple for me to find & link to this post.. stay away from the celestron astromasters & skywatcher cheapie scopes, there are other quality brands producing equally garbage scopes too but, these companies also produce some little gems...

That's it... haven't really got anything more to say at this point... just remember, the best scope is the one you will actually use....

Last edited by Outcast; 09-12-2019 at 11:49 PM.
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