#First telescope. What to buy when choices are limited?

31 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

last edge
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Hello everyone!
I want to buy my first proper telescope. But I'm a student, and I don't live in England or America. So, buying a telescope in my country is either difficult or expensive. I think my first goal will be planetary observation. I'm currently considering several models I can get here. Please advise which one is best?

  1. Sky-watcher Heritage 150p - $460
  2. Askar 80 ed - $460 I was once told that the quality of the optics compensates for the aperture size.
  3. Celestron Nexstar 102SLT (used) - $600
  4. Sky-Watcher Startravel 120 (used) - $450
  5. Sky-Watcher Startravel 120 - $600
  6. Celestron Nexstar 90SLT (used) - $600
  7. Sky-Watcher Mini Virtuoso K100 Wi-Fi - $600
  8. Handmade Reflector 160/1300 - $350 The seller assembled this telescope himself. The problem is that I don't know this person, and if they say the telescope has a parabolic mirror, I won't be able to verify it.
noble sun
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I'd only consider the heritage or the handmade one, the first is tried and tested, the last could be a hidden gem

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The others are meh

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Askar 80ed would also need a mount which raises the price considerably

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Do you have pictures of the handmade one?

flint sandal
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heritage seems like a solid first score

last edge
# noble sun The others are meh

Yes, sure. The cool thing about this telescope is that it's foldable. On the one hand, that means it'll be very convenient for transport. But on the other hand, I'm concerned about whether it'll be stable enough.

IMG_3736.png IMG_3737.png IMG_3738.png
noble sun
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Oh nice it's like a hadley

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I would consider it, ask first or check if it's a parabolic mirror

formal idol
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Judging by its design, I think this handmade scope is a solid choice.
Is it sold near where you are ? If it is the case, ask whether you could test it or not before buying it ?

river lily
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The used Celestron NexStars are far too expensive. You can get a used 127SLT for about €400

last edge
last edge
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Me: What mirror did you use?
Him: A Chinese-made mirror is a supplier that I already trust. The trick with the telescope is that the focal length is very long, which makes the mirror reach parabolic accuracy so you see great. The long focal length also makes the collimation very forgiving, which is important for a telescope that is moved between places.
Me: But I still don't understand, are you using a spherical or a parabolic mirror?
Him: Spherical. But again, don't worry, remember the long focal length doesn't affect performance. By the way, you can look before you decide to buy and see for yourself that the appearance is good.

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He thinks that a spherical mirror will not affect anything. Is this true?

river lily
noble sun
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The hadley telescope is 114/900 for that exact reason, it has a spherical mirror but the long focal helps mitigate the aberration

formal idol
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He's quite true. For "small" mirrors (compared to the focal length, ie big f/D ratio), spherical mirrors are a good approximation of parabolic ones. But they are much cheaper to make.

last edge
noble sun
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Tbh I'm not sure

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Is it local? Just so you can try it out before buying

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Considering you don't know how smooth it is, if it holds collimation well and so on

last edge
marsh flame
last edge
marsh flame
fading ledge
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I used it yesterday for a star-competition and it was able to show jupiter, its bands and smaller details, i didnt look at the orion nebula but it should have alot of details, you can even distinquish a few details on the dumbell nebula. Note that you WILL have a very hard time looking at any globular cluster ( m80,m4,m14,m1 and others ) are practically invisible and cannot be seen properly

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for planetary, it should be able to see the gaps beetwen saturns rings

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And you also should be able to see the martian polar ice caps