I also use 6 x 30 mm binoculars for scanning the sky. Works well for a wide view of the sky. I learned how to use an equatorial mount on an earleir telescope without any problems.
Do your research before you purchase a telsecope and mount. Clear Skies! Having taught Jr. Hi science for 27 years and being a member of our local astronomical society for most of that time, I fielded many questions from parents about what telescope they should get their kid for Christmas, birthday, or whatever. My advice -- get TWO telescopes! Actually, a pair of binoculars, which are really two telescopes hinged together in the middle.
At the time I was teaching, the best value in a pair of binoculars suitable for astronomy would be a pair of 7x35s, which would also be a good size weight wise for a 12 to 14 yr. That, and a decent, easy-to-use but comprehensive star atlas along with a constellation finder star wheel. My thinking was that for a kid to get interested in astronomy, he or she needs first to be able to find their way around the sky. The star atlas will show the beginner where to look to find clusters, nebulae, the Andromeda galaxy, etc.
THEN is when they'll be ready for a telescope. At any rate, he or she will still need the binoculars when they have a telescope, so the binocs are the perfect "starter".
Of course, if they have the advantage of living where there is a good astronomy club or society with telescopes for the members to use, they won't have to buy a scope at all! I agree with the "equatorial" posters. It only takes a few moments to show a newbie how to simply hand-push the tube naturally in one axis to follow the the diurnal motion of a target with ease. They intuitively take to it without further ado!
In one instance I had to go off for a bit to do something and on returning I found they had on their own acquired the Moon without any further instruction and were happily tracking it in diurnal motion as before! As for the Dobson alt-az mount in order to track an object successfully one is continuously making tedious step-wise adjustments that require a nudge on BOTH axes A caveat of the Dobsonian is the zenith dead spot. Alt-az tracking through or near zenith, where the objects are viewed at their best has one twisting and contorting the scope with frustration not only to find the object but to track it.
I usually recommend users to tip the mount with a wedge under the base about 10 so degrees not more for obvious reasons. This nudges the telescope axis away from the zenith improving acquisition and tracking. The point about 0. Again, a good Kellner works very well. Sure, smaller field of view but just as sharp in the centre view as any of the Plossls I own. In fact my livery of eyepieces for my 8-inch ARE 0.
One is in fact a cannibalized binocular 20mm eyepiece that has a remarkable FoV deg! Perhaps we need a manufacturer that can design a beginner scope with a sturdy equatorial mount. Yes people-children get into astronomy to learn, and learning about how telescopes work is about as important as, for example those who wish to take up photography need to know how cameras work.
Point and shoot photography is as point and shoot astronomy. It is entry by consumerism. As GH Martin posted above, not only do they need to know how to find their way around the sky they need to know too about how their telescope works. Good heavens. A typo!. My home made is a 6-inch f8 not 8-inch. It's so funny and also sad because many years ago I got a telescope with all the no no's you mention here. It was a Christmas gift from my siblings, I was kind of into astronomy when I was younger and I remember eyeing telescopes whenever I walked by a store, so I guess they noticed an wanted to do something nice, but honestly it was hell to use the telescope, I had to put it together every time I wanted to use it because I didn't have room to just leave it laying around somewhere and I could only see the moon because everything else looked too blurry and the equatorial mound wouldn't let me see stuff that wasn't on the sky, like mountains or, uhm, girls passing by I was a teenager when I got it , even to this day my siblings still ask me where it is and I lie to them and tell them I used it a few weeks ago when in reality it's been in the attic for like 15 years now.
Great article, but sounds a bit pessimistic IMO so i'm putting my grain here. Dobs are the way to go yes, but they are also much less common in the low end, that makes both avaliability and pricing, problems. Some people simply don't have the money to afford what most would call a decent telescope, "Save more money" is not really helping either.
In my country, i couldn't find any Dob, used or new that didn't cost four times my budget. Only high end dobs are sold here. That said, you make it sound like anything below USD is just garbage, which is argueable, but for the most part that's enough for a starter, then you recommend binoculars, In my city's case i completely disagree. Binoculars are next to usdeless here because of light pollution, you really do not see more than with the naked eye, here even a 50mm telescope as toyish as it is, will give you better views; and quality binoculars come to prices close to a good 70mm refractor so i wouldn't recommend them in my specific context.
That said, EQ1 mounts which are usually mounted on flimsy aluminum tripods are not really good not only because they are actually not really good, but because they cost more than their AZ mount counterparts.
On the other hand, EQ2 mounts are surprisingly better than what they were years ago and usually come mounted in steel pipe tripods which are both sturdier and better built. Not ideal but much better. I also noticed you make a comparisson, while factual, really unfair and rather tricky, with your Saturn's image. You show what a 70mm at x shows, and what it looks on a better telescope.
I mean, what si that supposed to mean lol? If i pay mroe i see more? The thing is that a 70mm should never be used with anything that pushes magnification more than x perhaps x cause it will look like that. Overpowering a telescope no matter the price, will result in images like that, but you make it seem like it only looks bad because its a 70mm refractor. In my 70mm refractor and a decent 9mm eye piece with a 2x barlow, i can see saturn with as much detail as the 2nd picture, now of course it looks considerably smaller in your FOV, but detail is crisp and present.
Now to my final point, AZ mounts and small scopes. Usually mounted on low end tripods. Are these good? Probably not if you are biased towards using high end equipment. Are they usable for a starter to learn the sky? Hell yes. Some people are put down when they read these sort of things, how awful those tripods are and such, but a starter does not have the bias of how much better high end equipment is, thus cannot say in his mind "this is so bad and unusable", a newbie just goes and use it and tries to make the best out of it.
Conclusion, astronomy is an expensive hobby. But that doesn't mean you should wait 4 years to save your salary to buy something decent. In the meantime, get a 70mm or 80mm refractor on an AZ mount and use whatever tripod it has. Buy it from a brand with a name or expect low quality lenses and eyepieces.
At this price viewfinders are crappy so get one with a red spot one and the one that has the better eyepieces. Reflectors usually are a little more tricky to use optimal temps, collimation, weight, size, etc- but if you prefer it get one with an aperture bigger than mm, or expect to see less than with a 70mm refractor. You won't compete with the Hubble Telescope, but you'll have a blast staring at the stars, the moon, some planets, even the the birgthest nebula and clusters which are completely invisible in heavy light polluted cities, maybe comets if you get lucky Don't be discouraged and get an AZ mounted quality 70mm refractor, cheap and will allow you to know the sky and see quite somethings while you save for something better.
I agree about the EQ mount And then, when you did, "it's gone". After reading articles like this some years ago, I did my homework and got a decent little 70mm EQ refractor, and am mostly happy with it.
An accessory I highly recommend is a red-dot finder. I was still having a bit of trouble finding things but no more This article fails to recognize what an impediment to the joy of astronomy that the occasional need to collimate a reflector telescope can be for someone new to the hobby. If you have a particular newtonian that holds collimation well, great. Not everyone is going to be so lucky, even if they buy the same brand your telescope that holds collimation has.
For this reason, I would almost exclusively recommend mm achromatic refractors with the understanding that the color correction will not be perfect. However it is a great starting point for learning. Collimation can lead to confusion and disdain for the hobby with the uninitiated. I have seen in happen many times. It didn't collect a lot of photons. Part of it was the eyepieces being pretty much junk, part of it was the finder being pretty much junk and the bulk of it was the instructions for the GEM being far too complicated.
As an adult, I know that for visual purposes it's "set angle to latitude, point RA axis as north as you can get it but if it's not perfect you'll still be fine, have fun. As an adult, I started out with an 8" Dob. Didn't consult any site, just saw it on Craigslist and said "yes, that looks awesome.
Interest re-kindled. Further down the line, I tried my hand with the equatorial mounted refractor again, and I was pleasantly surprised AFTER I swapped in a conversion diagonal to let me use a set of Plossls I use high end wide angle eyepieces normally, but for the old refractor the full set of Plossls I've amassed is very appropriate.
I also swapped the finder for a basic red dot. Next, I'm going to remount the scope in a set of rings instead of being bolted directly on the mount, so I can rotate it as needed to more comfortably use the finder throughout the entire range of motion. The bulk of that frustration would've been avoided by just getting an Alt-Az mount from the start.
I guess, in closing, it's not necessarily the aperture that kills things for a beginner, it's the complexity. I buy and sell nearly constantly, helps me to get some excellent gear and I nearly always make money at it. I've sold some scopes with equatorial mounts since to new users, I made sure to go over how the mount works before taking money. So far, everyone seems happy. Take a walk with me No mention of used gear.
I think used is where folks can get the most bang for their buck, provided they have the advice or assistance of someone experienced. The best place for that advice is a local astronomy club Orion offers telescopes for every level: Beginner , Intermediate , Advanced , and Expert. From our entry level beginner telescopes for amateur astronomers to our Dobsonian telescopes to our most advanced Cassegrain telescopes and accessories , you can find the best telescope for you.
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