Help choosing telescope

[Pliskin]

Hi,

After using celestia for some time, I went out in my garage and dug out my old telescope. now I was very eager to get it out into the yard and view the moon!. Unfortunately, this telescope wasnt very useful... I could see the moon better with binoculars!

Heres the telescope I used:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 86-3843853

Now as you can see, I wasnt thinking straight back then and wasted my money on that piece of junk. Well, 3 years later, I think Im ready for a new one. Thats why I made this thread, I would like some experienced opinions on which telescope to choose. here are my preferences:

*i live in a pretty light polluted area and cant get far away enough for it to matter

*I only need enough apeture and magnification to see Jupiter and saturn

*(most importantly) I only have $250 to spend on it


Think yall could come up with any suggestions?

[Pliskin]

Alright, ive found a very nicely priced telescope that should suit my needs if I buy a light pollution filter

Here it is:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/produ ... 1&keyword=

Only $100

Another one Im looking at is this one:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/produ ... 1&keyword=

so, taking into account the prices and my being a beginner, which scope would you choose?

::--::Pliskin::--::

[selden]

About a year ago, forum member ElPelado was in a similr situation. I think he got the first of those two telescopes. Perhaps he can be persuaded to describe his experiences with it.

[Guest]

*waits patiently for him to notice topic*

[t00fri]

My main advice ( I also gave to ElPelado and others) is:

Don't by such telescopes!

-- For reflectors the diameter should at least be 15cm=6"!
--The focal ratio (focus/diameter) should be >= 6:1 (Optical aberrations, notably Coma!)
--there should be NO computer gimmics, but setting circles are a must.
--the mounting can well be simple (altazimuth) but should be sufficiently stable!
--wooden tripods are fine, since wood has good damping properties and transportability is good.
--Do not buy NONAME optics! Orion in general is a good mailorder address. It's American and in the US for sure, you never get more than what you paid for;-)
--if you have a chance to look through the telescope before buying, DO IT under all circumstances.

I am an amateur astronomer since decades, have built various telescopes myself and own a 20cm=8" Schmidt Cassegrain since many years. I also own a very good 4"=10cm Newton telescope which excels because of its exquisite optics, but really the diameter of the mirror is too small.

Bye Fridger

[Guest]

Wow, so so you have any suggestions for a decent telescope for under $250? So far these are the only ones I can find for a good price

[t00fri]

Wow, so so you have any suggestions for a decent telescope for under $250? So far these are the only ones I can find for a good price

Orion Dobsonians have a quite good reputation. You can get a 6inch SkyQuest for $299.

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?itemType=CATEGORY&itemID=9

Bye Fridger

[ElPelado]

Well, Mr t00fri is right.
Abou my telescope(the smaller one): I was not sure if I will use it a lot or not so I didnt want to buy something very expensive for use it once a week.
But I must say that i gave me a lots of sattisfactions. Is a very good telescope for the moon(as any telescope) and its also very nicq to planets, but telescopes with bigger apertures are much better. If i had the money I would buy a bigger one now that i ve been using this one for a year almost.
If you want to ask something in particular you can pm me...