Good morning,

I’m looking for some guidance. I’m sure this question has been asked hundreds of times before however I suspect the technology changes. Right off let me say thank you for your patience.

I’d like to buy a telescope for my son’s family. They would use it both in Ottawa and at our cottage. I’d like something that will be relevant for the foreseeable future, can be moved from one location to another easily and provides very good visuals. Not knowing about telescopes I’m not sure what to ask, what I can tell you is my son always says when at the cottage we should get a telescope and take advantage of this.

The more specific the suggestions the better.

Thanks to you all, best, Leslie

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Thanks Dave. ?I’m away at the moment so will miss these events. Other suggestions and guidance welcome. Leslie

Hi Leslie,

If they are new to astronomy, consider a good pair of binoculars like the Nikon Action EX 8x40.

I bought a telescope when I started out and it is great, but there’s a learning curve with the mount, eyepiece selection, scope balancing and observing comfort. Not to mention trying to find objects. It can be challenging, but if they persevere the rewards are great.?

I only recently bought a pair of binoculars to bring to the cottage because I didn’t have room in the car for the scope. All I could say is “Wow, I should have done this sooner!”

They are low enough in magnification that you can easily keep your bearings as you look in the sky (i.e. you know what you are looking at), but high enough magnification that you can see many, many more stars, clusters, the Andromeda galaxy, the moon, etc.

And a good pair like the Nikons can be less than $300. The only accessory I recommend is a nice chair to sit in, to help keep your hands steady and your neck relaxed. Sometimes I just lay on the ground.

-Adam

On 2023-09-13 06:41 AM, Leslie McDiarmid wrote:

Good morning,

I’m looking for some guidance. I’m sure this question has been asked hundreds of times before however I suspect the technology changes. Right off let me say thank you for your patience.

I’d like to buy a telescope for my son’s family.

A really good and affordable option these days is the StarSense Explorer lineup from Celestron.

These are "push-to" mounts rather than computerized go-to but use a smartphone
to find objects and visually align and place objects within the telescope's view.

Eg.




Rather clever, and easier to use that full-on computerized go-to mounts.

Cheers
--
Mark Lord

Hi Leslie,

The most commonly given advice for a first scope it to get solid-tube
dobsonian telescope of 6 or 8 inches aperture. These are completely
manual telescopes, But the collect enough light (enough aperture or
large enough diamter) show enough things in the sky to occupy one for
a lifetime. Examples are:
<>
<>

If you find these prices shocking, note that there generally isn't any
telescope worth buying that is available for less than several hundred
dollars. Good binoculars are a better buy in the less that "several
hundred dollars" range.

But not everyone likes the way a manual dobsonian telescope moves. So
some will recommend computer controlled, or guided telescopes. An
example is:
<>
which looks great on paper/screen. But I actually have one that scope.
I can say with certainty the mount on that scope is very jiggly and
it's nearly impossible to see anything with it at anything but the
lowest power. Also the computer/phone control can point the scope to
thousands of objects that the scope is too small (doesnt collect
enough light) to show.

The computer guided scopes Mark Lord wrote about are large enough to
show a great many objects. But they are quite expensive (several
thousand dollars) and are not beginner scopes. Even Mark, who is a
very intelligent and tech-saavy guy went through about 3 telescopes
before he settled on his current computer controlled Celestron. They
can also be complex to use.

So you will get a variety of opinions on the best starting telescopes.
Instead I think the best advice is to attend a public star party where
you can see a variety of telescopes and talk to the owners about them.
That's why some people suggested you attend the public star party at
the Carp Library/Deifenbunker this weekend. Too bad you can't attend.

The next best advice is to join the Ottawa Centre of the Royal
Astronomical Society. Not just becuase there are lots of helpful and
experience people there, but because that club has about a dozen
different telescopes that they rent to their members for about $10 a
month. It's a telescope lending library. That is definitly the
cheapest way to try several different kinds of scopes at your home at
your lesure.
see: <>

A final note: resist the urge to buy anything labeled "telescope" at
wal-mart or any department store. Those are toys. The Ottawa RASC club
held several "scope clinics" where we invited members of the public to
bring their telescopes so we could help them tune them up and use
them. A great many people brought "department store" or "bought in a
hurry for Christmas" scopes that were largely unusable. Or some were
so complicated that they were never unboxed before. Some clues that
you should not buy a telescope in a retail store are:
- the box has hubble pictures on it
- the box lists magnifications (any telescope can be made to have any
magnifcaiton by changing eyepieces. The best views are usually at the
lowest magnification)
- the box is under a sign that says "all sales final" :)
- you read the instructions and you don't know what the words mean.

Telscopes can be expensive. You may be advised that you can save a lot
of money buying used (say on Kijii). That is true. But it takes a lot
of experience to distinguish an unuable "deparment store" telescope
from a good buy. I suggest you avoid buying used unless you have an
experienced telescope-user check out the scope before you buy.


If you're going to buy a new scope, buy from experienced and dedicated
telescope stores. Two example are Astronomy Plus and La Maison de
l'Astronomie which are both in Montreal (sadly the telescope store in
Ottawa went out of business) or from store with excellent return
policies. Surprisingly, Costco sell telescopes by mail order with a
very good return policy. But don't be surprised if you return 2 or 3
of them before you get something that actually works for you.

The best and briefest advice is "try it before you buy it". Which is
actually hard to do unless you have access to a telescope-lending
library like at the Ottawa RASC.

best of luck.



attilla danko, , danko@...,
attilladanko@...

On Wed, Sep 13, 2023 at 10:08?AM Leslie McDiarmid
<leslie.mcdiarmid@...> wrote:

Good morning,

I’m looking for some guidance. I’m sure this question has been asked hundreds of times before however I suspect the technology changes. Right off let me say thank you for your patience.

I’d like to buy a telescope for my son’s family. They would use it both in Ottawa and at our cottage. I’d like something that will be relevant for the foreseeable future, can be moved from one location to another easily and provides very good visuals. Not knowing about telescopes I’m not sure what to ask, what I can tell you is my son always says when at the cottage we should get a telescope and take advantage of this.

The more specific the suggestions the better.

Thanks to you all, best, Leslie

I second Adam's vote for binos to start. (I started with a 60 mm Tasco refractor, but let's call that half a binocular.)

If you were to start them with a larger scope, they might have the same experience as people I sometimes meet at public observing sites.? They've got a new scope, but they're frustrated, because they don't know their skies, and they can't find anything to look at besides the moon and some of the brighter planets.? A computerized Go-To scope--one that can find things on its own--will alleviate some of this frustration, but they cost a lot more than $300.? Besides, I have a friend who has what he sometimes calls a "Go-Near" scope. "Go-Near" because, when it's not aligned properly, it can't find anything, even though I still can. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I think it's best to learn the sky first, and then use the machines to help you later. (I also walked two miles to school through waist-deep snow uphill both ways when I was a kid.)


But, if you're set on a scope, you can't beat a basic 6" or 8" Dob.?

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Wow, what a wonderful, knowledgeable, supportive community. ?Thank you! ?Lots to take in and understand. I’ll take some time to go through in detail all of this information before I make any decision. Again, thank you all, I really appreciate your guidance.?