Need Advise-Entry Level Telescope

[exposurecontrol]

A friend of mine at work wants to buy her significant other a telescope. She's looking at one on e-bay: 6" Newtonian Reflector Telescope 1400mm. The buy now price is $219. Neither of us knows enough to make a wise decision. I asked her what her price line was..she can spend up to $300. Is the above an ok starter telescope/reasonable price..or should she be looking for something else..if so where? Seen any deals on e-bay or the like? Thought I would ask you folks in the know.

[chris.bailey]

What does her significant other want a telescope for and whats the budget?

[Adrena1in]

My first scope was a Newtonian Reflector, bought off eBay. Just a 4.5" with a focal length of 500mm. For viewing, and less than about $130, it was great. But for taking photos though it, which is what I really wanted to, it wasn't really any good. Newtonians aren't best suited for it, which is why I went down the Refractor path.

And personally, for me, if I was going to get a 6" Newtonian for viewing, I wouldn't get one with such a long focal length. The one you mentioned has a focal length of 1400mm and a focal ratio of f/9.3. I'm not saying it won't be great for viewing the moon or the planets, because it will. I've got a 5" f/9.5 Refractor and that gives lovely views of the moon and the big planets. But for viewing galaxies and nebulae you want the widest aperture you can get really...i.e. big lens/mirror and short tube. But shorter tube means less magnification means not such good lunar and planetary viewing.

So, yeah, if you can find what your friend's other half really wants to do then it'll be easier to make recommendations.

Plus I hope the scope in question comes with a mount?

[dpastern]

A friend of mine at work wants to buy her significant other a telescope. She's looking at one on e-bay: 6" Newtonian Reflector Telescope 1400mm. The buy now price is $219. Neither of us knows enough to make a wise decision. I asked her what her price line was..she can spend up to $300. Is the above an ok starter telescope/reasonable price..or should she be looking for something else..if so where? Seen any deals on e-bay or the like? Thought I would ask you folks in the know.

Have you got a link to the scope in question? I'd probably avoid it in all honesty, probably not very good optics, and the mount is probably not very good either. Cheap scopes (and misinformed newbies) are the biggest reason why people start and then leave Astronomy as a hobby imho.

Dave

[HeIsLord]

A friend of mine at work wants to buy her significant other a telescope. She's looking at one on e-bay: 6" Newtonian Reflector Telescope 1400mm. The buy now price is $219. Neither of us knows enough to make a wise decision. I asked her what her price line was..she can spend up to $300. Is the above an ok starter telescope/reasonable price..or should she be looking for something else..if so where? Seen any deals on e-bay or the like? Thought I would ask you folks in the know.

I am new to this list, and hope I am doing this correctly. If not, I apologize.

There are several things to think about when making a purchase like this for someone else. Every type of scope works differently, and her S.O. might not like this type of scope. Also, something else to consider, is what other things are needed to make this scope really work? For example, our 16 year old son and I have a 10" dobsonian, and we love it. It works great for viewing, but not for astrophotography. The eyepieces that came with it were duds for us, so we decided to invest in some high quality eyepieces, and for us, they have been worth the investment, but they cost more than the scope did! I personally try to avoid Ebay for astronomy equipment. I have seen a lot of rip offs there, by sellers who know nothing about telescopes. I have even seen an auction for a scope, where the description did not match the scope they were selling. Naturally, the scope they pictured was of much higher quality than what they were really selling. Two places I would recommend for astronomy equipment, would be Orion and Astromart. Orion has just about everything in telesopes, and Astromart is a kind of Ebay for all things astronomy. I have purchased several things on Astromart, and have been very happy, but I have heard that some don't like it, so I guess like anything, you need to use caution. Another option, would be for her to tell her S.O. what she wants to do, and check out a local astronomy club, if there is one available. Sorry to go on so long, but I just wanted to give your friend a few things to think about before jumping into this.

Blessings,
Carol

[SiriusDoggy]

With a budget of $300 you are obviously not going to get anything with any kind of tracking controls so I would go with the Edmund Astroscan. Laugh all you want but it's a great "first" scope for someone on a $300 budget.