Beginner setup < $500?

[nimrod77 (Nathan)]

Hi all,
I'm looking for a beginners Telescope for my son and I to do some star gazing. He is mad keen on all things space at the moment and I would like to keep him interested but don't want to spend thousands. I have seen these Guan Sheng GS-680 8" dobs at Andrews for $400 and I am thinking that they might be the way to go. If I went with a Dob, could I take this out into a field some where and use it or should I go with a tripod? I'm open to suggestions and bribery if a better option exists for my $500 limit.
Any help would be great!

[takdriver (Graeme)]

Great choice

[that_guy (Tony)]

buy second hand from iis classified, save yourself some penny and buy a decent pair of binos. You'll never look back

[yusufcam (Colin)]

Originally Posted by that_guy

buy second hand from iis classified, save yourself some penny and buy a decent pair of binos. You'll never look back

it looks like, after culling the menagerie of scopes i've collected, that it will get wittled down to two, both of which i got second hand from here.

so i would tend to agree with that...

[BB (Brendan)]

A dob is a great 1st scope, I have been extremely please with my 10" Meade Light Bridge it has given me many nights under the stars even thought im about to sell it and upgrade . A dob really makes you learn the sky so a good star chart is essential or there are some great apps on ipod and iphone. I use Sky Safari by southern stars and it is brilliant.

[yusufcam (Colin)]

Originally Posted by BB

A dob is a great 1st scope.

all things being equal that is the best advice...

but if you live in a flat or have to move your scope around a lot then portability becomes an issue

[nimrod77 (Nathan)]

Thanks for the input guys! I have been looking on the for sale forums but I can't find anything much on there at the moment within my budget. The GSO setup looks pretty tempting.

Yusufcam, would an 8" dob be to hard to move around?

[yusufcam (Colin)]

Originally Posted by nimrod77

Thanks for the input guys! I have been looking on the for sale forums but I can't find anything much on there at the moment within my budget. The GSO setup looks pretty tempting.

Yusufcam, would an 8" dob be to hard to move around?

with the forums you need a bit of patience, but 8" dobs come up pretty regularly.. (mine might end up there soon)

as a rough guide i would say 8" is about as big as you would want a teenager to handle, 10" for a single adult and then they become a bit unweildly.

many people who have backyards put dobs on carts and wheel them around.

often depends where you will end up doing your observing and if a single person will set it up.

i use my refractors a lot more than the dob because of having to negotiate the stairs and hallways even though the views are much better in the dob.

if you have a backyard and your son is able to move it around then the dob would be the way to go.

good luck

[that_guy (Tony)]

personally, ive owned an 8 and a 10. being a teenager myself, its pretty darn easy to lift the tube seperately from the lazy susan mount. and me, i dont excercise if my life depended on it

[nimrod77 (Nathan)]

I rang Andrews today and found out that there GSO 8" dons will be back in stock by the end of the week. While I am waiting I am wondering if a refracting scope might be good too? Are these not as good as a Newtonian dob or just different? Keeping in mind that we are wanting to look at the planets, stars and perhaps some DSO's down the track. Would a bosma 102x1000 mm redractor be any good?
Thanks for all the input guys!

[M54 (Molly)]

Hi Nathan,

to IIS.

Regarding the Bosma refractor, are you aware that the price doesn't include the mount? The mount is an optional extra.

Personally I wouldn't buy an equatorial mount that wasn't a goto.
I had one and it was a pain in the proverbial to use.

I made a dob mount for my scope and it is the best thing I ever did. A dream to use compared to what I used to go through during an observing session.

The 8" dob. is an excellent choice to start with and within your budget.
I would go with that, if it were me.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by nimrod77

I rang Andrews today and found out that there GSO 8" dons will be back in stock by the end of the week. While I am waiting I am wondering if a refracting scope might be good too? Are these not as good as a Newtonian dob or just different? Keeping in mind that we are wanting to look at the planets, stars and perhaps some DSO's down the track. Would a bosma 102x1000 mm redractor be any good?
Thanks for all the input guys!

Forget about a 4" refractor. 30 years ago a 4" refractor was an excellent visual instrument for an amateur astronomer. Today as a visual instrument a 4" refractor is barely more than a toy. A 4" refractor is an excellent astrophotography tool.

You got it right with your first choice, an 8" dob.

Cheers,
John B