Quote:
Originally Posted by gbeal
Robert.
depends, like anything in this game.
If you have had nothing prior to this, then it will satisfy your appetite, and probably make you want bigger/better.
Where a lot of folk go wrong is by suggesting that this style of scope is not worth buying, when they compare it to what they have. In my case, I likely started with something like this, and have progressed over the (45+) years.
Before you buy, can you get together with others in your area? This will allow you to see what others are using and try them. It may mean you sit tight and get something better. If I had to be honest I would have suggested buying from a more specialized astro outlet, not DSE.
Gary
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Hi Robert,
I think Gary gave you three great bits of advice.
(1) Go and see what other people are using at a local astro society (if possible).
(2) Purchase from a dedicated Astro outlet.
(3) Buy the DS scope on price only, and it would need to be a damn good price.
Why
(1) You will get honest opinions from people at your local society and better still can look through other peoples scopes so you will be under no illusions about what you will be buying.
(2) I have been to a number of viewing nights and to date have never ever seen somebody turn up with a DS special. They may have them at home in the garage but they never use them once they get a better scope.
DS is not an astro outlet. The only reson they sell scopes is to make money and the scopes they stock to do this are slanted at one type of buyer, the impulse buyer. Therefore the scopes will be the lowest cost to produce (not necesarily lowest price) scopes available, with all the cutting of corners this implies.
So I think it cant possibly hurt to at least talk to the staff at a dedicated astro shop. I see you are in Melb, so why not visit Bintel.
(3) Even so the DS scopes are usually overpriced for what you get. However they will form an image of the moon, planets and so on so if you think this is as far as you will go and if the price is right then by all means get one. Remember the following though.
(i) It has a built in barlow.
(ii) This is because it has a spherical rather than parabolic mirror.
Why is the above important? It means you will never be able to upgrade focusers use the scope for decent photography and so on. Basically except for buying a few additional eyepeices its potential is as is out of the box and it cant be tweaked. Now given the price and your appetite for astronomy this may not be an issue.
Cheers
Paul