Time To Get Serious...No, Seriously!

[Kosams (Jim)]

After a brief search I found your site. I asked Google a silly question and I knew someone would have asked it before. Well, I finally got around to take this 'sport' more seriously. For years I'd go fishing and spend half the night looking at the stars. Now living out at Lewiston I have a clear view of the night sky although I do get a bit of light saturation from the south from the lights of Adelaide. I've been looking into getting another pair of binoculars or a telescope. My binoculars are 8x30 which are great for fishing but other than looking at the moon they're hopeless with the stars...or is it my failing eyesight? I was looking at AOE 20x80s on the net last night and they seem to be the way to go and they were priced from $179 - $300+ and I know you'll be going to get a good telescope for that price. So the question is what would you buy with a budget of $300?

Thanks for being here.

Jim

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by Kosams

.......So the question is what would you buy with a budget of $300?

Yes, binoculars, Jim. But go for something cheaper because you will also need a reasonable tripod in the $120-150 range! Look at 10x or 12x binoculars. AOE do reasonable pairs. If you have a big solid tripod, then, OK go for 20x80, but keep your 8x30s handy for when you get lost with the narrow field of view of the big pair!

Then start saving because you will want a telescope and you will end up spending anything up to $800 to get started (including all the bits and pieces that we all add to the basic package).

[Kosams (Jim)]

Thanks Eric. I'm looking at the AOE 12x60 as they are quoted $119.00 and it will give me some left for a better tripod.

Jim

[erick (Eric)]

Yes, I have the 12x60s. I'm happy with them as general purpose astro binoculars. You'll see a lot and learn a lot, so you'll move to a scope, as I did, with a lot of confidence. My 12x60s are always to hand, sitting on a tripod, when I am out with scope.

[dannat (Daniel)]

I will throw my weight behind 15x70 - though you need to be seated/steadied to use them handheld (not weight but magnification)

[Dog Star (Phil)]

G'day Jim,
I've had a pair of 8x40's for several years now, from before I was into star gazing, and I think they're a great little all rounder although a little lacking in magnification for star work.
My brother gave me a pair of 20x80's some time back and I love them(!) although they are virtually impossible to use without a tripod.
Only recently bought a pair of 12x60's and I'm loving them too - a nice compromise between the 8's and 20's. Must admit though that I'm seriously considering mounting them on a tripod as well.
Anything with enough magnification to pick out a bit of stellar detail pretty well requires a solid mount.
Hard to go wrong with any decent set of nokkies though and I always have all 3 pairs handy when I'm doing a bit of viewing. It's nice to swap between the 3 different fields of view for comparison as some asterisms look better in some fields of view as opposed to others.
Also have a 12" dob, but depending what I'm looking at, sometimes the view through one of the nokkies is better than the scope.
If you really want to do a bit of stargazing then I would strongly advise that you don't get anything under 10x.
Hope this helps somewhat?

[Liz]

Hi Jim ... I also have a pair of Andrews 11x70, which gives great views, were also a very good price.
They are biggish, but very light and easy to hold.
Comet Lulin looks stunning through them at the moment

[acropolite (Phil)]

ersonally, I wouldn't spend money on Binos seeing you already have a pair of 8x30's. I'd be inclined to add some extra to your $300 budget and get an 8 inch dob. Andrews Communication currently have a base model GS 8 inch dob listed for $399, which will give much more enjoyment than binos.