First Scope recommendation for a mate

[smersh]

I have a mate with a $300 budget for a first scope. He is a city dweller with not much astro knowledge and just wants to check out the sky to see if it is a hobby he would like to pursue.

I'm into astro imaging with canon 300D, LX90 and Orion Express 80 so I only know about that side.

BTW - he has a canon 30D so he might get the bug... ;)

I would tell him to get a dob (and I know many of you would too). Suggestions?

[iceman]

He'd probably need to stretch it to $400, and get the 8" dob. But then there's the additional accessories such as red light, planisphere, astronomy 2007 book, eyepiece case, etc.

The 6" dob is the budget entry level, and is still a nice scope but the 8" is much better bang for buck with the extra aperture.

[smersh]

What brand dob for $400?

[janoskiss]

Forget astrophotography for under $300. A 90mm achromatic refractor like those sold by AOE are pretty much the only reasonable option I can think of in the price range. Long tube will be better for a city dweller (less false colour on planets and the Moon). If the budget stretches to $350, go the 6" Dob.

[janoskiss]

... cheapest advertised price for 8" Dob atm is Myastroshop at $415, for 6" Dob $349 from Andrews.

[smersh]

I found this Celestron Nexstar 80mm on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190013857453&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:11


80mm Refracting Telescope.

900mm Focal Length.
Includes 1 x 25mm (36x) -1-1⁄4" eyepiece,
1 x 10mm (90x) - 1-1⁄4" eyepiece, 90° Erecting Image Prism and Solar Filter.
Starpointer Red Dot LED Finderscope.
Accessory tray with built-in hand control holder & compass.
Rugged Fully Assembled Aluminium Tripod.
Battery pack holds 8 AA batteries (Not included).
Incredible 4° per second slew speed.
Fully enclosed motors and optical encoders for position location.
Computerized Hand Controller (CPC) with 4,000 object database.
Storage for programmable user defined objects.
Easy to setup and use.
Two Year Limited Warranty.
NB: Magnification is calculated by the Focal Length divided by size of the eyepiece.
e.g. 900mm divided by 25mm = 36 times magnification;
900mm divided by 10mm = 90 times magnification.


All this seems too cheap don't you think?

[janoskiss]

Dick smith sell the exact same scope. I saw one set up in the shop. The mount seemed rather wobbly. It might be okay for deep sky widefield from a dark site but certainly at the bottom as far as value-for-money. The eyepieces are very cheap with plastic housing and minimal coatings on the lenses. It does come with a full aperture solar filter which is nice (though also dangerous if it's for a child / stupid adult).

In any case, being an 80mm achromat it is a long way behind an 8" or even a 6" Dob ito what it can show you. Under light polluted skies, the goto of the 80mm Celestron will probably go to many objects that will be barely visible in the scope if at all.

Here is another suggestion: 20x80 triplet binos and a tripod from AOE or Andrews. I used one last w/e and the are impressive. Nice flat field.

[M110]

Smerch, I actually bought one of the Celestron scope they are talking at Dick Smith in March, so can give you the pros and cons. Yes their mounts are rather wobbly, even a small breeze can be irratating. Yes their eyepieces are a little cheap, I am intending to replace mine. Yes, the small aperture limits what you can see. Obviously better away from city lights. Some pros now. The Nexstar computer controller will take to to anything in the sky up at the time, now it is limited by aperture so it will only show you fairly bright objects. The cotroller also has an info button, so you can send to find M48 and once you do that it will tell you that M48 is an open cluster and little info about it. This is an important thing for me as I'm not a patient man. I would not be patient enough to learn starhopping that you would need with a dob. Portability, you undo 2 screws and it's ready to go in the boot of the car. Not at all heavy or ungainly.
Hope this helps if there is anything else you need to know let me know.
Andrew

[M110]

Smerch, I actually bought one of the Celestron scope they are talking at Dick Smith in March, so can give you the pros and cons. Yes their mounts are rather wobbly, even a small breeze can be irratating. Yes their eyepieces are a little cheap, I am intending to replace mine. Yes, the small aperture limits what you can see. Obviously better away from city lights. Some pros now. The Nexstar computer controller will take to to anything in the sky up at the time, now it is limited by aperture so it will only show you fairly bright objects. The cotroller also has an info button, so you can send to find M48 and once you do that it will tell you that M48 is an open cluster and little info about it. This is an important thing for me as I'm not a patient man. I would not be patient enough to learn starhopping that you would need with a dob. Portability, you undo 2 screws and it's ready to go in the boot of the car. Not at all heavy or ungainly.
Hope this helps if there is anything else you need to know let me know.
Andrew

[acropolite]

Smerch, the view through an 80mm refractor is disappointing, to say the least, when compared to an 8 inch dob. A dob is also much more comfortable for viewing, particularly at the zenith and will allow viewing of much fainter targets (galaxies etc). Unfortunately, there isn't a cheap solution and the 8 inch dob represents the best value for your dollars.

[ving]

for your budget i'd go the AOE 90mm refractor on a AZ3 mount. thats if he cant stretch the budget to a dob :)