I'm new here and am looking to take up astronomy as a hobby. I'm looking to buy my first telescope and came across this one. Specs are below. I don't know the brand name. Can anyone shine some light as to whether it is worth looking at? Also, what difference does tube length & width make?
Box Includes:
Equatorial reflective telescope
Sighting scope
Eyepieces
Moon filter
Sunglasses
Flexible cable controls
Declination circle
Barlow lens
Latitude scale
Hour circle
Equatorial mount
Tripod
Accessory tray
Instructions
Features:
High quality 4.5 inch (114mm) equatorial reflective astronomical telescope
Hard coated, concave mirror
Rack and pinion focusing
Equatorial mount
3 lense H20mm, SR4mm and barlow lens
Setting circles to locate stars
Crosshair sighting scope
Flexible cable controls: move the telescope in any direction by using cable
Declination circle
Latitude circle
Hour circle
Double hour indicatior so that you can easily find the location of a sky object even if the telescope is rotated either clockwise or counter clockwise
Moon filter
Height adjustable aluminum tripod
Specifications & Dimensions:
Lens clear aperture: D=114mm (4.5 inch)
Focal length: 1000mm(synthesized) Resolving power: 1 inch
Sunglasses ?
Well at least you will look cool.
Except ... its usually night when using it.
Hmm!
Unlike most self professed experts, it is impossible to say if it is any good on this description alone.
Although the anomaly of the tube length and focal length does sound a bit unusual. "synthesised"
This may be a reasonable instrument, but I would not expect to pay over $100 for that - unbranded. It will be pot luck.
Safer bet is to go with a known and trusted brand, Meade Celestron Skywatcher, Orion, even Saxon, to name a few.
Focal length determines magnification. (mag=foc lgth / eyepiece mm)
Width (or aperture) determines amount of light gathered.
Amount of light determines what best magnification can be expected (aperture in mm x 2) but poor atmospheric conditions will greatly reduce that too.
Equatorial mounts can be a pain in the neck for visual observing.
Probably better and bigger bang for buck to go Dobsonian.
Best advice is to go to a local observing session and have a look through others scopes.
Depending on where you are you are welcome to join us at the Mangrove Mountain pony club. See Star Parties thread.
I don't know where you are buying this or how much is on the price tag, but in my honest opinion, this does not read as an ideal beginner's set up. In fact, going only with what you've described, I am not confident it is really suitable for anyone.
(1) There will be many members here on Ice In Space who will walk you through what you require for a fantastic beginner setup. Like many in the hobby, I have seen newcomers to the hobby become disillusioned and frustrated by poor quality telescopes on mounts and tripods unsuitable for beginners. And that's all it takes for them to be put off and leave amateur astronomy.
(2) As Allan has stated, one of your best methods of chosing a telescope setup is to visit a local Astronomical Club. I'm sure when you locate the closest club, you will be most welcome by its members. There, they can show you many different types of telescopes, eyepieces and accessories to start you off. They'll no doubt invite you to an observing session at night where you can "test run" member's telescopes.
(3) A good pair of binoculars is also a great first instrument to own.
So Cameron, in summary, based on the information you've provided, don't buy it!
I would suggest reading them in order, fully to get an idea of what you are getting yourself into. I would also pay particularly close attention to what was written about the equatorially mounted newtonian reflector in the second article, because that's what you've proposed to buy. I personally wouldn't recommend that kind of set up for a beginner. Read the article to find out why.
Like those who've written before me, I'd strongly recommend you attend an astro society's viewing night. There should be a range of different scopes there, and generally speaking, people are happy to show you their equipment and show you what can be seen. You also learn more by actually using the various types of equipment than reading about them. Get to one of those viewing nights early so you can see what's involved in unpacking and assembling the different types of scopes. That can be a real eye opener...
Then do what every budding astronomer looking for their first scope should do;
buy a dobsonian telescope in the 6 to 10 inch range.
the size you pick will be determined by you. Which size you go for will depend on your own patience with bulky equipment. If you are a petite person who despises heavy lifting (like me), then the smaller the better. If you're a beefcake who eats bricks for breakfast, perhaps the 10 is more your thing. If you fall somewhere in between, go the 8 (most people, even asthmatic little weenies like me can handle an 8, I'm just too lazy to do so).
Anyway, to quote the first article I linked:
The best scope is the one that shows you the most stuff.
The scope that shows you the most stuff is the scope you use most often.
The scope you use most often is the one that's easy to carry, easy to set up, easy to point, and easy to look through. (And remember, you’ll be doing all these things in the dark!)
P.S. I cut and pasted the link above for a specific page but it's going to the home page instead. Just click on 'Telescopes' in the list
and you'll see some 'Dobs'.
I would NOT buy that scope, you will just end up heading down the pain slope.
Take a look at my post here for a beginner's package which covers all the bits I think a beginner needs to get going.
You can always substitute brands and used for new, but the whole idea is to show a beginner what they can expect to pay for all the bits they will need sooner or later.
Going to a club night (if you have any around you) and looking through some members scopes will help you see what each one can do and which scope is right for you.
First question and answer should be "what's your budget".
I agree.
If $122.95 is all you can afford to invest at the moment, this may be an alright investment to "just give you a taste of the hobby".
- (found picture of your scope see below)
I know.
I did the same thing.
Paid $100 for unbranded 6 inch equatorial mounted newtonian reflector.
And
I liked what I saw.
And I traded up to a skywatcher 8 inch within a few months. (for $850).
But I was hooked by then.
And then I discovered what I wish I had been told earlier, that an equatorially mounted reflector is not the best for a beginner for visual observing. Optics fine, but can be frustrating when manually locating objects.
Although I have never had one, I believe DOBs are easier to use, cheaper to buy, and generally bigger bang for buck.
Then went to my first observing meeting and started to learn.
Wish I had gone there first.
Basically this is not something you want to buy. It is just way to inexpensive. Orion sells a 4.5 short tube on an EQ mount for about $200. It is an excellent scope.
Might I suggest a good pair of binoculars?
The hard truth is that for $65 you will not get much quality in a new telescope.
However star parties are a great way to meet knowledgeable people and to get to look through some very nice equipment. You might even find a local club that has loaner scopes?
IT's a bird jones (barlow in the focuser) that's why the FL is 1000 and the tube is 400mm - which means it will be very coma ridden if you get to see much at all.
Not what I'd recommend - it is more likely to put you off astronomy than make you want more.
I started off with a cheapish Tasco 4" reflector with an EQ mount and flexi cable controls when I was about 12 years old. For a first telescope it was all I could have hoped for.
I had seen mars, jupiter with 4 of its moons (with little detail), the moon with nice detail and the orion nebula which kept me quite happy as a youngster.
However with the range of telescopes out there today you really should save up your money for a something a little better.
The EQ mount can be ok to use if set up and aligned correctly, reducing movement to just one of the flexi cables for star tracking. However I found with cheap mounts your object will quickly go out of view upon touching the cables due to slack and free play in the mount. Very frustrating at high magnification.
Also, focusing causes a lot of movement as well, and you'll be spending all night trying to find your object again.
I'd definately save up your money and get something more solid and easier to use, you wont regret it
If you have to buy a smallish scope to start with, at least get one with an alt az mount so you can actually look at stuff rather than spend time trying to find stuff. Then save for a decent dob or a go to (but dobs are better! thats why almost all visual observers these days use them.)
Don't waste your money on that scope, it is junk. It is too small to be useful on the planets, and too small for galaxies and deep sky objects.
A pair of decent binoculars is certainly a good idea, 7x50 or perhaps 11x70.
The first thing you should do is find an Astro society near you, and go to their observing nights so that you can get sone idea of what you can actually see with various kinds of scope.
Then if you really want a scope, a better way to start is either:
- look for a secondhand dobsonian reflector, 20cm aperture is the minimum aperture for a beginner. You can try the equipment for sale forum here, or talk to the people in the Astro societies near you.
- make a telescope yourself, as I did. It takes time, some research, patience and some hand tools.
[QUOTE=Wavytone;733887]Don't waste your money on that scope, it is junk. It is too small to be useful on the planets, and too small for galaxies and deep sky objects.
Not wishing to hijack this thread but I really do have to disagree with the above.
A 4.5" telescope is very useful on planets and is, from a dark site, quite up to catching all of the M-110 and about 2/3 of the H-400.
Certainly an 8" will,, in most cases, show more but there are many objects that the 4.5 will show better.
Please prefix all references to "Junk" with:
"Based on our experience, it is likely to be..."
As I recall, some "experts" said the same about GSO when they first delivered cheap telescopes into an (apparently) overpriced market.
The honest truth is:
Good optics at this price is uncommon; and
Even if it is any good, you will probably want a bigger aperture instrument very soon, that is likely to cost from $450 (eg: GSO 8inch Dob $449)
My main problem with these scopes is not so much the scope itself but the mount, usually unstable and hard to use.
You can certainly see a lot with 4.5", it's just the mount that makes it hard to find them.
