Hi,
I am sure you guys get asked this question many many times so I apoligise for asking it again.
I have never really done any star watching, which is a shame as I live in central west NSW and ambient light polution is minimal.
Anyway I bought the Aldi $79 telescope a little bit back just for a bit of a play I around with.
I was in there and saw it and thought what the hell its only $80.
Never having had a telescope before it gave me something to mess around with, and a bit of a cheap thrill.
I was able to train in on Jupiter, and Mars, and a few other things alright but no details or anything, cant even see any moons of jupiter for example.
But the aldi telescope has whetted my appetite and I have decided I want to spend some money on something much better so I can get better views.
I have decided on a budget up to $500.
I have done some reading on the forums here and pretty much decided on a reflector type telescope with an 8" mirror.
Now I had a quick look on fleabay and did see an Astronomical brand 8" Newtonian telescope.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/203mm-x-800-E...QQcmdZViewItem
No idea on the quality of it though.
Was wondering what anyone here though of it?
Also quite willing to consider other telescope options.
Another one I saw mentioned on the forums here is Bintel brand.
Had a look at the site and one that looks in my price range is the BT-202 telescope for $429.
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/Product.aspx?ID=6739
Though with the right justificaton I could maybe stretch to the BT-252 10" mirror model for $599.
Also what about tracking motors? Or even goto mounts?
Even with the cheap aldi scope I had to keep moving it to keep up with the earths rotation when I was looking at jupitor.
So if I had something with a tracking motor in it it would make it a lot easier for me.
What would you recommend in that area?
Is what I am thinking of even possible for my budget?
As I said I dont really know exactly where to start and am quite open to suggestions.
Though please noone suggest I just get binoculars.
I am not interested in them.
Many thanks in advance.