n00b with no clue needs some help

[Rebelsound (Scott)]

Hey everyone,
My girlfriend is interested in amateur astronomy and has done some courses on astronomy through the observatory in Sydney. We spend alot of time in Illford and I think there is an astronomical society she wants to join out that way. I want to get her a telescope for christmas but have no idea what to buy. I have a budget of about $2500. I know nothing of brand, types, uses for gazing etc. Am I better letting her pick the telescope? Or can you guys help me find a good telescope for Said price so it can be a surprise.
Thanks in advance.
Scott

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Lucky Lady.

Do you know if she is into Refractors, Reflectors or SCT's.

Refractors are the long (or short) tubes with optical lenses which bend the light.

Reflectors are the larger tubes with mirrors used to reflect the light.

SCT style scopes have a combination of both lenses and mirrors.

Lots to consider when making a purchase.

Stu.

[Scorpius51 (John)]

Originally Posted by Rebelsound

Hey everyone,
My girlfriend is interested in amateur astronomy and has done some courses on astronomy through the observatory in Sydney. We spend alot of time in Illford and I think there is an astronomical society she wants to join out that way. I want to get her a telescope for christmas but have no idea what to buy. I have a budget of about $2500. I know nothing of brand, types, uses for gazing etc. Am I better letting her pick the telescope? Or can you guys help me find a good telescope for Said price so it can be a surprise.
Thanks in advance.
Scott

Hi Scott, welcome to the forum .

The best advice that any of us can offer initially is for you to contact a local group and go along to one of their viewing nights, or meetings.

Buying a telescope is not difficult - the choice is huge. Buying the right one for you, or someone you know, that's the difficulty. You have a budget that allows a great deal of choice. You need to decide what sort of use it will be put to. Just visual observing; astrophotography; planetary; deep-sky objects (galaxies, nebulae, globular or open clusters, etc), or solar.

Talk to people who have been through all of this before and get to look through the different models and types of 'scopes. Refractor or reflector? Focal length and aperture? Eyepieces, finder scopes? Equatorial, alt/az, or Dobsonian mount? Manual or computer-controlled?

A typical starting point for many is either a 60-100 mm refractor on an alt/az mount, or a 6"-8" Dobsonian reflector. That will leave you a lot of change from $2500! That being said, just ask lots of questions - here, the astro groups, the retailers. This is a very good place to start, but there's is no substitute for looking through the real thing first.

Good luck - particularly if your girlfriend gets aperture fever, or some other astro-bug!

Cheers
John

[blink138 (Pat)]

how about going out with me instead scott? ha ha!
anyhow most people on this forum strongly suggest starting out with a dobsonian telescope....... and for good reason as they are relatively inexpensive (sorry about that) big aperture for small dollars
perhaps an 8, 10, or 12 inch model..... check out astro shops such as bintel
good luck!
pat (male)

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

From a girls perspective.... She would love you long time, if you bought her a 10" Goto Dobsonian telescope. It's within budget, so you will have money left over for a 2x Barlow lens and a laser collimator.

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

From a girls perspective.... She would love you long time, if you bought her a 10" Goto Dobsonian telescope. It's within budget, so you will have money left over for a 2x Barlow lens and a laser collimator.

So true but so wrong.

[chaffingbuttock (Matthew)]

so to summarise, one person asking if your girlfriend prefers longer or larger scopes, one guy offering to be your girlfriend and a couple suggestions to get 10 or 12 inch dobs.. there is a lot of innuendo in this thread!

scott, I think John gives sound advice to narrow down your choice.. what would she use the scope for? I am also a noob, so I won't give any advice, but just to say that from my research that really does define what you need to buy i.e. for visual, don't need as solid / expensive a mount as for photography. For your budget, also consider that there are a whole lot of knick nacks to buy, such as eyepieces, battery packs to power the mount, dew heaters, etc etc etc.. and these costs do add up too.

good luck.

[blink138 (Pat)]

heh matthew there is no innuendo intended by your avatar name then ha ha!
charming!
pat

[chaffingbuttock (Matthew)]

innocent until proven guilty!!

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Mate, to IIS!

There is some good advice here. But, you want to surprise her? DON'T BUY IT FOR HER!

Let her make that decision.

As mentioned, the best scope is the one that best suits & gets used. It really is a personal decision, just as much as the fellow she's dating is.

That you are going to buy it for her is surprise enough!!! Especially when you don't say anything & take her to Bintel here in Sydney one Saturday morning, and just say to her "Baby, go wild! (but to a $2500 limit!!!)"

Remember that she is the one that's gonna need to lug it in and out, so if it is too big she will struggle with it.

The surprise won't be lost by taking her to the store. But I'm sure it will be better in the long run to let her chose.

Bintel has a banner in the right margin of this site. Their advice is second to none, and they will look after you two very nicely.

Ps, you can afterwards take her to a nice lunch at the Fish Markets that's across the park from Bintel before heading home.

[Wavytone]

As per Mental's suggestion... Take her to Bintel and ask the guys there.

I'd also strongly suggest before you do that, if possible find someone with a couple of decent scopes and head out to a dark sky so she can get a taste of what to expect from something similar, there are several members here in Sydney (self included).

The key decisions will come down to:

a) is this for visual use only, if so is her interest more in the solar system (planets and moon), or more interested in deep space (nebulae, galaxies)...

b) is she inclined towards photography, with a DSLR ?

c) is she reasonably comfortable with the idea of navigating around the sky from a map (star charts) and learning to recognize some of the constellations - if not you'll be looking for one that is equipped with digital setting curcles or computerised GOTO capabilities, ie you dial things up from a handset and if you are lucky it points at it, however this assumes she can set it up right in the first place.

d) the physical aspects of dragging it out and setting up. A decent-sized big dobsonian reflector is well within your budget but might rapidly finish up stored in the back of a garage if she can't manage it easily.

Telescopes are a bit like cameras - there's little point owning a behemoth if it's too inconvenient to use. A scope that will be loved and much used is one that is convenient, gives a nice view, and goes everywhere, even if it's a tad smaller than you might dream of.

This is why (for example) many observers here own a 100mm refractor - it, is always useful, even if they also own a bigger scope.

One or two books will be essential, Nortons's Star Atlas in particular, and perhaps Sky Atlas 2000 for some deeper maps.

Lastly, eyepieces. For a beginner 3 budget ones are enough - low, medium and high power. Later she can keep an eye out for better ones secondhand on the forum here, or on www.astromart.com, though it would be best to wait until she knows which ones are best suited to the scope she has.

Once the primary needs are sorted the chaps at Bintel will sort out a solution, I'll refrain from doing that here.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Agreed.
As Scott seems to live pretty close to me, relatively,
I have already offered (byPM) to show him a few different scopes i own and to take him (and friend) to a Pony Club observing night to experience a variety of scope types and sizes in action.

But it is a great gift idea, and the budget should allow an excellent result, but all the above questions and issues should be considered before any firm advice can be given.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

I agree with Mental
$2500 is a lot of money and If my partner offered to spend that much on me I would want a say in what was bought.
My first scope was a present from the SWMBO and because of my own ignorance I asked for a 130mm Newt on an Q2 mount. Thought it would be the Bees Neez. $500 later and a few frustrating nights I realised I had asked her to get the wrong thing (shoulda got an 8" dob!). Anyways I felt guilty and still am a little.
My point is that it is very easy to get something that appears like a good idea but may not be the best way to apend the hard earned, and if it is a present, guilt may come in later. So talk to her about the purchase and get some reserach and definitely go with her to a shop (Bintel are great!) to see what you are buying.
That all being said a good quality 8 to 12" dob is hard to beat. For $2500 i would go a 10 or 12" (as long as she is comfortable with weight and size! hence the visit to the shop to view one!) without go to and then get a couple of premium eyepieces (naglers perhaps?) some charts some charts and books and dew protection.
While Go To has it's place, I am not fully convinced it is the best balue for money in a dob.

Malcolm

[GraemeT (Graeme)]

Another vote for Mental, Wavy & Barx's advice.

[Poita (Peter)]

Next time you are in ilford, drive the extra half hour and head out to the mudgee observatory, you can get a look through a range of scopes there and get some good advice.

[Blue Skies (Jacquie)]

Originally Posted by mental4astro

There is some good advice here. But, you want to surprise her? DON'T BUY IT FOR HER!

Let her make that decision.

What he said!! Especially because of this...

Remember that she is the one that's gonna need to lug it in and out, so if it is too big she will struggle with it.

When I got my first scope it was important that I was able to handle it - and I have to say it still is an important factor for me. If I can't handle it myself then it's the wrong scope for me. A scope you can't be bothered getting out under the stars because it's too big or takes too long to set up is a bit of a waste.

Also it sometimes takes a while to find what is going to suit you best, depending on your wants and capabilities. Ideally I'd suggest you/she join the club first, use some of the scopes there and then go shopping. What about her birthday next year? Or there is Valentines Day... A membership the local club in mind would be a good prezzy as well, and I'd go for a some nice star charts and a nice red torch and some other little accessories that are all just as important for making it a pleasant experience.

[Jethro777 (Jethro)]

I would encourage you to take your time. When I first got interested, there seemed to be all sorts of wild specials I HAD to have. After a while, I realised that not all were suitable for what I wanted to do (Astrophotography - damn expensive by the way...) so I can only repeat...

Take your time. and... Buy a quality mount, especially if your thinking of adding a camera to it one day.

None of this will run away, not even the "offers" you see, engage in the forums, read, read, read. I don't think a scope makes a good gift "surprise". Don't buy it for her, lovely thought that it is, of course..

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

In regards to being able to lug it around.
I'm female (0r was last time I looked) 5'8" and unfortunately, not as strong as I used to be. But I manage my 10" goto dob quite easily. I push it around on a hand trolley. It's kept in a shed, so there are no stairs to negotiate.
It packs easy enough into the back seat of a mid size car.
Just sayin'.

[M110 (Andrew)]

I wouldn't buy a dob for a girl. Especially not a big one, as they weigh upwards of 30kgs. Not very portable for her. They are big and heavy and everything has to be done manually. I would suggest a Celestron 6 SE. They are $1500 from Andrew's Communications. They weigh about 12kg, they have a go-to facility. Here's the link to the Celestron website.
http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/c...xstar-6se.html

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Originally Posted by M110

I wouldn't buy a dob for a girl. Especially not a big one, as they weigh upwards of 30kgs. Not very portable for her. They are big and heavy and everything has to be done manually.

My boy Jack, when he was 10, used to use my 10" Dob all the time. They break down easily into 2 manageable pieces. And there is the trolley option too. I used him as my goto as well. He would put the object I wanted to look at in the FOV for me. Manuel scope are definitely the go if you really want to learn the sky.


Just about every woman on this forum owns a dob. Our Suzy owns a 10" dob, Jen has a 12" dob, I have a 10" dob, Anna owns an 18" SDM and Petra has a 20" SDM, Fay has a 18" Dob, Liz owns a 12" (I think) Sorry ladies if Ive missed you out.

I apologise for being so cranky on this post. The comment touched a nerve is all.
Women love light buckets and good optics too.