[AZ-Observing] Re: amateur telescope
- From: "Bob Christ" <bchrist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 15:11:06 -0700
Barb, if you have not done so, I would suggest attending a star party (or
better - parties) and look through as many smaller scopes as you can and
"pick the brains" of the owners. You will gain a sense of the views that
scopes of smaller aperture, representing different
manufacturers/models/price bands, can deliver.
The excitement to plunge-in and buy *now* can be costly if you buy a scope
today and find out it cannot deliver when your thirst to "see more" surfaces
in 6 months. We've all been through this. Without gaining experience,
buying a scope for "today and tomorrow" is really difficult. You will be
able to narrow the field of scope type/size by identifying what piques your
viewing interest. Planets only? Deep Sky Objects (DSOs)? Not all scopes
do all things.
Contrary to my normal behavior when engaging in a new interest, I bought an
inexpensive used ETX60AT and used it for a year until I figured-out what my
"real" telescope would be. The approach turned out to be a real sound
strategy for me and I'm ecstatic with my second scope.
Used telescopes pop up every day - I'd suggest you give yourself time to
really "scope-out" what will serve you best.
Bob
Ps. Don't fret about the ease/difficulty of using a GoTo scope - operation
is relatively straight forward across brands.
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Stars
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2005 2:10 PM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: amateur telescope
I would suggest that you purchase the ETX-90PE telescope; www.optcorp.com
has them for $749 with free shipping. This telescope finds true north and
levels itself, which is one of the major headaches of a novice learning to
align and use a telescope. I had both a ETX-90 and ETX-125 and did not like
the alignment procedures that I had to go through to get it to be aligned,
the PE versions are much easier to use. You will still have to learn the
location and names of the stars to do a two-star alignment so that the
telescope knows where it is pointing, but at least getting it pointed to
true north and leveling it will be done for you.
Tom Hilton
-----Original Message-----
From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Barbara Liebler
Sent: 11/10/2005 12:28 PM
To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [AZ-Observing] amateur telescope
I'm new to the world of "star gazing," and I'm considering buying a
telescope. I see an Ebay item, number 756031424, that is a Meade telescope
with an "autostar" attachment. Will that be easy enough for a rank novice
to use to find a particular star?
Barb
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