Quote:
Originally Posted by Alcyoneus
Hey everyone,
I’m looking to buy my first telescope and am putting about $75 towards it per week so it should take me quite a few months to be able to afford one which works out as it gives me a decent amount of time to do research and make sure that I’m buying the right one.
So far I’ve found that dobsonian telescopes are good beginner telescopes so I’m thinking that I might get a 10 inch one. I want to be able to look at the moon, planets, nebulae, galaxies and to one day be able to do astrophotography once I get more comfortable and used to just viewing but I know that you need different types of telescopes for that so I was wondering if you guys could give me some recommendations of telescopes for each purpose.
My budget would be about $2000-$2500 for each telescope (mounts and eyepieces included). I obviously wouldn’t be looking to buy all the telescopes at once but I want to be able to compare my options. Thanks.
Btw I live in a suburban area with quite a bit of light pollution (probably like a 7-8 on the bottle scale if that helps) so I would probably have to take that into account.
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The Dobsonians are outstanding value for money. Many people recommend the 8" Dob as being a great scope to use in the suburbs, as well as being easy enough to take out of the city to a dark sky location.
Smaller Dobs with their slow F ratios require less collimation and allow most eyepieces to perform well. The 10" Dob is a much more fussy performer that requires better EPs or at least a coma corrector.
Paradigm/Star Guider eyepieces are also widely acknowledged as being excellent value. The only Australian supplier that I know of is Proastroz, who sell the six of these for $415 (posted).
So, don't overdo it, go for a bargain Dob with these good EPs.