Quote:
Originally Posted by SimonG
I want something that offers good value for money for what's offered on return. It doesn't have to be the cheapest because I don't want to be stuck with something that's not good for much.
Budget is around $300 if Australian stock
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Get a Celestron 90GT from Costco for $229. An amazing value. A quality refractor with a GoTo capability. A 90 mm diameter puts it into capable territory where serious observation could be made.
P.S. It comes with two Kellner eyepieces, 10 mm and 25 mm focal length. Replace them, at least the 10 mm one. The 10 mm one has a short eye relief. Replace it with something reasonable, e.g. Celestron X-Cel LX 9 mm. Better yet, get a Celestron 8 -- 24 mm zoom, and get an eyepiece with a focal length of 5 or 7 mm from the X-Cel LX line. They are around US$50-60 in BHPhoto or Agena (plus postage US$13-17 per parcel). I have also bought a "Dual ED" eyepiece from Australian eBay for $85 including postage, which is a relatively good deal taking into account that
Agena sells them for US$65 (plus US$17 postage) (I am not sure about the warranty, though). It is an equally good series of eyepieces compared with Celestron X-Cel LX. (Though, Ernest of astro-talks.ru has tested them and found the 5 mm one was the best, even better than X-Cel LX 5 mm, however he heard the rumours the rest were not as good. Still, should be more than adequate for the 90GT telescope.)