Quote:
Originally Posted by grasshopper
On that note, besides eyepieces (which I will ask about once I have narrowed down the scope purchase) what other gear should I be looking at getting for him to start out with?
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How long is a piece of string? (And how much money do you have?!)
Seriously, though, you can have a LOT of fun with nothing more than a telescope with two eyepieces, and some sort of guide to find your way around the night sky.
Many hobbyist telescopes are provided with two eyepieces; one for wider angle views, and one for more close-up work. (25 mm and 10 mm, or something similar, are the common basic "starter" set.) Over time (assuming he stays with the hobby) he may want more and / or better quality eyepieces, but I wouldn't rush into this until you have some experience with the telescope, and what sort of objects he is most interested in observing. (New eyepieces will make great Birthday and Christmas presents for the next couple of years!)
SkySafari is a great tool for finding targets and recording your observations, but he may also appreciate a good Observer's Guide book or star atlas, such as the "Astronomy 2015 Yearbook for Australia"
http://shop.iceinspace.com.au/shop/a...2015-yearbook/, but again, this would make a great Christmas gift!
The other specific sub-hobby he might be interested in would be astro-photography. I wouldn't rush in to spending too much money too quickly, but you can buy brackets for holding a basic digital camera up to the eyepiece for shooting the Moon etc for a few dollars on eBay, or for $100 - $300 you can buy digital planetary / solar system "eyepiece cameras" for shooting the Moon or the brighter planets. For deep-space photography (nebulae, galaxies, etc), you need more expensive equipment, a good tracking mount, etc, all of which suddenly takes you into a whole different class of expenditure!