How to Buy a Telescope : Deciding What Size Telescope to Buy

[foxjourney]

@dmana3172- i suggest that you buy the best the market can offer. try a pair of binnoculars with night vision. it'll give you great satisfaction.

[amanuel1231]

what is a good price for a telescope

[dmana3172]

I have saved up to $2,000.00 and I'm ready to buy a telescope that is mind blowing. I don't want to be bored with it like I was with my 4.5inch and I'm looking for one where portability is important and the size too. Which one would that be? I want the highest qualities and see more things. I was looking at SkyQuest 14 dobs by Orion, but not sure if it's a good scope. What do you think?

[skittlepower95]

@dmana3172 look on the meade site they make good telescopes, probably the best you can buy

[Jules7892]

@dmana3172 Don't forget, even your 14" SkyQuest, the Aperture is Large for a Dobsonian but you are still limited to "Visual Use Only" .. No Astro-Photography possible even on a point Keypad SkyQuest 14". The same $2,000 will get you an 8" GOTO Meade Computerized Telescope, Fully capable of Astro-Photography and a bigger Bang for your Astro-Photographic Dollar!!!!

[Flagged4PvP]

Okay I have a telescope in mind, but I'm not certain if it's what I'm looking for. It's a Celestron NextStar 130 SLT. I'm afraid that I would pay the $375.00 mostly for the computerized gizmos an gadgets more so than the visual quality. I do believe I have the smarts to learn to use all the fancy functions at a moderate pace, but are they necessary? Does anyone know if this is a good choice? Or should I keep looking?

[dmana3172]

What size of scope do I need to barely see exoplanets around nearby stars?

[Flagged4PvP]

@dmana3172 Celestron and Meade are 2 of the best brands of telescopes for amateur-intermediate astronomy. I would suggest visiting either of their websites and look for reviews on different size scopes to find what you are looking for. When you get your heart set on one, it may be best to search large retail supplier web-sites (wal-mart,target, etc.) and see if they have any 'available for shipping to store.' I know wal-mart has a SiteToStore deal which charges no shipping fee.

[Flagged4PvP]

@dmana3172 Cont... OR look for sales going on through the mfg. websites, occasionally there are month long sales on alot of stuff. Then just compare prices (retail/free shipping or directly from site/shipping fee) Howevr you probably won't find anything bigger than an 8" in retail stores. Which is more than enough for a first telescope. You will for sure see Jupiter/Saturn(Cassini Division!)/Venus/Mars and much more with an 8" As far as exoplanets go, I'd say something like Hubble. : )

[dmana3172]

@Flagged4PvP, thank you very much for assisting me. I will check. Also, I have another question for you. Which overall telescope is the fastest and easiest to set up outside? I don't like spending times for set up. I just want to take it out, look at the stars, galaxies, and would like to do astrophotos sometimes. Would that be the Cassegrain, Newtonian or Dob reflector, or Refractors?

[Flagged4PvP]

@dmana3172 Any with a quick-release mount helps alot for quick set up.

[djmisplacedmarblesTV]

seen a Celestron 76eq ,...any good ? 90£UK shipped .

just getting into this and wish for something to grow into...any suggestions can go up to about 200UK...for the whole family to use ..

[MrCohibaboy]

i like the size he is holding not too big but not too small either , my shop had one for $189 decent quality but not the best LOL

[dncviorel]

@MrCohibaboy if you can see Jupiter then it's a good telescope.Trust me.

[MidnightMan56]

I must disagree. My first telescope was a 50mm P.O.S. toy. Cost $40. I could see Jupiter, and even its four moons, but it was impossible to keep it pointed at Jupiter, its crappy tripod being its weak point. The optics were not that bad, considering the small size, but the mount was worthless. My advice is to invest a few bucks and get something worth having. I now own 70 & 90mm refractors, a 4.5" f/8 Newtonian on an EQ mount, an 8" SCT, also on an EQ mount, and a 10" f/4.8 home-built Dobsonian.

[ishouldplayzelda]

i don't have a telescope...yet but i have a monocular that's 20x to 30x by 50x. would that be equal? i took it out to a field last night and it was disappointing (not the monocular but the sky itself with all of the light pollution.) I'm wondering if what i have is good enough or if i should buy a tele, my friend has one in his room that i don't think he's ever gonna use, should i buy it off him? I'm going to strawberry resivour tomorrow so, i might be able to test the mono better there.

[TheRealSiguy]

A 20-30x50 monocular is not an astronomical telescope.

[Edsan91]

But a little more darker. SInce the focal ratio of the smaller tube was 4.3 and on this one its 6 that means how fast the light of the object will move to the eyepice i guess thats what it means. On the smaller one it looked smaller but becuase of the fast focal ratio more brighter and on this one bigger but slow focal ratio it was dimmer not too dark though we could make out the rings. Also its alot heavier since its a bigger tube and all the smaller 500mm was better for transportation.

[Edsan91]

A new telescope this time it was a skywatcher 130 n With eq mount. It had 5.1 inch aperture Focal ratio of 6 i beilve and a 900mm focal lenght yup it meant more magnification also the other one the 4.5 inch had a small tube this one was double as the other one. I thought man we will be seeing saturn so close its gonna be awesome lol. So we setup the tripod and telescope. Viewing conditions were pretty crappy STUPID LIGHT POLLUTION and we saw saturn again. ANd it looked better

[Edsan91]

Lol I can relate to all of you! Ive had a Konus motor 4.5 inches at first it had a 114mm aperture and 4.5 inches, a focal ratio of 4.3 (i never knew what this meant until now lol) and 500mm focal lenght. Me and my dad saw thru it and we were disapointed lol. We saw saturn but not so good. In that small tube. We returned the telescope and asked the owner why we didnt see saturn huge lol He told us becuase its very far away. But better eyepieces would better magnify the object. So we ordered

[jorgemario33]

I am a beginner and got an Orion 4.5 inches reflector instead the 6 inches reflector because it is easier for me to transport from my home to the country in my compact (small) car, but your video made me think that perhaps i made a bad choice. ¿why "6" is the right number?

[gustavolozada]

My first telescope was a 4.5 inches Reflector (Celestron) then I recently moved to a 5 inches Nexstar (SC) with goto and let me tell you that with a good eyepiece the difference is huge. Maybe because I was using regular eyepieces with the 4.5" but now I'm very happy with my selection. Obviously all depend on how much money you have and for me the next step (6" or 8") is too expensive if I want with the same features I have now.

[jorgemario33]

A friend of mine got an 8" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain, so i think very soon i am going to be able to see the difference for myself, i hope is not more than expected so i don't get jealous and feel the need of buying a bigger aperture telescope than the one i got. ¡Thank you for answering my question!

[SunFireFarm]

M first scope was a piece of junk refractor that I never used. Then I inherited a 4" Meade cassegrain. I love it! I use it every chance get. It's a 4" f10 and it's enough to see Saturn's rings. But now my daughter and I have aperture fever and we are planning to build a 6" f8 reflector. Eventually that won't be enough ether... I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to... LOL!

[Edsan91]

So to you jorgemario33 it all depends on the stuff u need it for that small orion can be magnified more if u add a barlow and more eyepeices and its more compact too! just look at what i have to do with mine lol more weight bigger tube etc etc. Urs is compact small can go anywhere fits anywhere. Ive learned from my mistakes now i wish instead of getting this big one i would go back to the smaller one I had cause less weight. But im stuck with this. I think u made a good choice. Read all my comen