Ditto to Stephen's post.
And for what its worth, find the group and have a look
before you buy a telescope. It is very useful to get an idea of what to expect and what different scopes are like.
I think this is a very important quote from Brian Nolan's article on this web site (
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-260-0-0-1-0.html)
Hopefully you’ve also looked through someone else’s telescope. If not, I’d better let you in on a little secret: astronomy, especially visual astronomy, is largely a conceptual hobby. By which I mean, the stuff you see won’t look that much different to what you can see through binoculars. (The big exception here is the moon.) In general, it’s largely what you know about the stuff that you’re seeing that appeals to a lot of amateurs. Sure, you’ll see cloud bands on Jupiter, and eventually spot the Cassini division in Saturn’s rings, but stars will always look like tiny pin-points no matter how big a telescope you look through, and “bright” deep sky objects frequently look disappointingly dim to a beginner. Not only that, and despite all those gorgeous photos you see on the boxes, pretty much every deep space object you’ll ever see will appear monochrome, colourless. No beginner’s telescope is big enough to show colour, nor detail in another galaxy. If you’re lucky you’ll see a grey smudge. Sometimes you won’t even see that. (The problem isn’t the scope, it’s your eye. The human eye just isn’t sensitive enough in low light. Colour is reserved for planets and a few stars.)
No, it’s the knowledge that what you’re looking at is mind-bogglingly huge, or ancient, or impossibly far away, that lends excitement to the blur in the eyepiece. (When I first saw the brightest object in the universe, it also happened to be the faintest speck in the eyepiece. I had to use averted vision just to see it. The person I was with just couldn’t see it at all. Geez, I was rapt!)
Maybe you already know this, but just in case...
Anyway, all the best
I too would highly recommend BINTEL in Camberwell. It's easy to find and if you need to talk so as to get the info you need they are the guy's. They are happy to spend time with you and explain all you need to know. They answer questions in 'English' and not in Jargon unless they think you understand the tech lingo. They are friendly and patient. I know that is where I got my first insight into things. Andrew is the main Character but the other are all intelligent people. They can communicate at any Socio/economic level. You can't go wrong. Other shops sell camera and this and that as well as thingy-ma-jigs etc, but this mob sell Optical equipment. The name says it all BIN(binoculars)TEL(telescopes). They are friendly specialists. They also have there own in-store products which are great and a bit cheaper (monitary not quality). Give them a go. You'll see. 
StevenA
