Where to buy a telescope

[Zems]

Hi this is my first post although I have been visiting the forums for a while and purchased the astronomy calender.

I live in Townsville and was wondering if anyone could recommend any shops online or near Townsville. I study at JCU and we're having the local astronomy club join us on the 20th to view the Gerrard Comet. So I was hoping to get something real soon. I was looking at the Meade ETX series as well as the Celestron Nexstar series. My budget is around $500 since this will be my first telescope.

[Poita]

Grab a second hand one from someone here if you can, you will save a motza and usually get much needed accessories etc. Otherwise www.andrewscom.com.au or www.bintel.com.au are good places to start. Andrews has two 10" GSO dobsonians in stock for $549, that is a killer deal.

[Gem]

Andrews is good - usually the cheapest. I would recommend against the ETX. If you want a small, goto scope then the Celestron ones through Andrews are better value in my opinion. Lots of people here would tell you to get a 10" dob. That is fine advice, but maybe you want something small, easy to transport anywhere and has goto... in which case you can get an 80mm goto scope for around 599 I think from Andrews. Everyone has an opinion... it really depends on what you want to do with it and your budget. :)

[Damienandwendy]

Hi James,

The Townsville Astronomy Group is most likely heading out to Donnington Airfield at Woodstock this afternoon/evening (cloud may cause an issue but I believe a few are heading out including myself - TAG is on the www at http://astronomy.abigbluesky.com/).

Best bet is to come out and have a look at a range of scopes to get a better idea. Failing that, wait until the astro night on the 20th and have a look then before making a purchase. Helps to have a look first and discuss what you want it for, portability, etc.
I bought my first scope from Myastroshop as a few people on forums recommended them. Andrews seems to have some good pricing and a decent range too. I found the website at Bintel a pain to navigate through and tend to avoid it.
One of the TAG members has an 8" collapsible dob up for sale for around $450 which is fairly reasonable for a secondhand scope about 12 months old. http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-041E

Cheers

Damien

[traveller]

Second what Peter said. A dob is best for beginners and unbeatable at the dollar v aperture stakes. Get a 10" or a 8" with a couple of quality eyepieces and the sky is your limit. There is a classified section on this site, there is also astrobuysells.com.au . Stay away from e#ay unless you know what you are getting and done lots of home work.
:thumbsup:

[Damienandwendy]

The night at Donnington has been cancelled due to 100% cloud cover - second week in a row.
There is a viewing night at Pallarenda next Wednesday or if you can hold off for a couple weeks, wait till the 20th for the JCU night.

cheers

Damien

[Liz]

Hi James :hi:

Yes, our viewing night cancelled cos of cloud .... again.

The best recommended scope for a beginner is a Dobsonian. Many of us in our club use them, and as Damien said, there is one up for sale on our website. You cant do better than an 8" dob, believe me.

With a scope you want aperture - a bigger mirror = more light gathering = more seen. You dont want to get a little 3" when you can have an 8" in your budget. :thumbsup:

http://astronomy.abigbluesky.com/index.php/forum?func=view&id=2187&catid=36

Will see you at JCU on the 20th. :)

[Zems]

thanks for all the advice. The problem I have with a dobsonian telescope is that its just too large for me to keep since i live in a small apartment. Theres not even enough space in the garage, as well as portability. But I will still look into getting a dobsonian. The collapsible 8" dob sounds like something I should get. I think I will wait till the 20th to make my decision though. thanks again for all the advice everyone.

[Poita]

Yeah, wait and see some telescopes in the flesh so to speak. You will get more than enough time to look through them all on the night.
If you are pushed for space, you may want to get a 2nd hand 8" SCT, like a C8. Anything under 8" and I reckon you just miss out on too much stuff. A C8 or similar is pretty compact and 2nd hand you can score on around your price range if you keep an eye out.

[Amunous]

Shop around don't get one from the first place you come across. Ive found Andrews communications to be a lot cheaper than Bintel in regards to scopes.

[Dave2042]

Zems

Re the small apartment thing, you'd be surprised at what fits in once you're used to it and when it's something you love.

In my tiny inner city terrace in Newtown I have a wife, two kids (one a 6 footer), a piano, my wife's furniture collection and a 12" Meade Lightbridge standing in the hallway.