Ever since I was a kid I always wanted a telescope to observe things like the moon craters, saturns rings, and nearby galaxies. Any of you have any experience with telescopes? I could probably afford to spend about $150 on one. Am I being realistic at that price? I realize this makes me a bit of a nerd, but I just find the universe to be a fascinating subject. I don't think I will take it so far as to join an astronomy club or anything.
There is one right now at Sam's that's right in that price range. I don't know nuthin' 'bout tellyscopes but stuff from there is usually pretty decent.
The SF.com Retard Remover...it makes the postards you have on ignore disappear completely:
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that seems pretty low for a new one, unless you really want to use it for checking out the neighbors or something
i haven't looked at prices in a while though, so in reality, yeah i got nothin'
I've seen a reflecting telescope at Hobby Lobby (my wife made me go with her) for $140. It seems to be a decent one, but from what I have read on the internet you should stay away from department store scopes. That's why I was hoping someone on here might have some insight.
I bought one for a friend as a wedding present once (around $120 or so).
I don't think they use it much.
we bought my boy one for christmas a couple of years ago..about that price range. It sits in the garage because we could never figure out which lens to use and never saw anything, but I'm sure others have more patience than we did
Do it for the Polar bears.
you definatley want to go for a reflector. 150 will probably get you a moderate telescope that can resolve the rings of saturn, but its doubtful you'd see many galaxies with it. really, I think that that range is probably near the lower end, but unless you plan on using it very regularly, thats probably a decent price.
I bought a Meade EXT 3-4 years ago for about $1,000. I'm quite happy with it.
Like you, this was a childhood dream and I never tire of looking at Saturn's rings or Jupiter and it's moons or the craters on the Moon or another galaxy.
With this one, I like the fact that the Meade EXT comes in a neat carrying case and I can take it upcountry.
Sometimes, a whole village shows up to have a look. I think it's pretty cool when some kids, or old kids like me, get interested in astronomy.
My brother bought an older used telescope at a pawn shop in Ardmore for about $100. It doesn't have the bells and whistles that mine has, but we can still see essentially the same things.
There are numerous websites that offer pros and cons of various telescope models. I think, basically, it's best to start out with something simple. And if you really enjoy it, you'll upgrade later.
This is like saying you read Playboy for the articles.Originally Posted by SoonerObsession
I'm not happy until you're not happy.
This is what I ended up with. I luckily had a friend give it to me because he didn't know how to put it together and didn't really have the will to. It took me about 3 hours to put together (would have only taken 1 if my twin 3 year old's would have left me alone for 5 seconds) Anyways, I was able to see Jupiter and 4 of it's moons, Saturn and it's rings (no cassini division), and the moon in a lot of detail. It's got me hooked! The planets are very small looking through a 10 mm eyepiece and I'm going to get some more lenses to see if it helps much. Let me tell ya, until you've seen them with your own eyes you can't appreciate how cool it is. I'm thinking about packing it in the car tonight to take it out of the light pollution areas to see if I can see galaxies and nebulas. I don't know where to go though. I don't feel comfortable just pulling over on the side of some highway.
dude, you just gave yourself an excuse to go camping
This is what I ended up with. I luckily had a friend give it to me because he didn't know how to put it together and didn't really have the will to. It took me about 3 hours to put together (would have only taken 1 if my twin 3 year old's would have left me alone for 5 seconds
"The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat." - Sam Snead
two years ago i got up at at 1:30 am and drove out to the lake afton observatory (outside of wichita) to watch the geminid meteor shower, which happens in december. so i was in the freezing cold watching meteors from about 2-4:30 in the morning (and we got to look at saturn through the telescope) and it was one of the most awesome things I've ever done. (At the time I was planning to be an astrophysicist.) Going to school three and a half hours later wasn't quite as much fun....
"I'm a mother****ing party all by myself."
Bring your tubes to Flagstaff. 7000' ft elevation. Great viewing.
posse member
I took my telescope upcountry during the Thai New Year holiday last week. The good people of Nong Bua Lampoo had never looked through a telescope before. Unfortunately, we'd drank way too much rice whiskey throughout the day and we could only find Jupiter just after sundown. It's still pretty cool. I've seen Jupiter and its bands and four of its moons from a rice field in Thailand. heh!
Nerd.
We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics. FDR.
It's going to be pretty hard to find a good telescope for $150. Anything in that range is probably going to be a waste of money (poor lenses, reflectors, eye-pieces, mount). However, $300 will get you a decent reflector with mount.
Check out a place called Astronomics in Norman. The folks there will be of some help.
Look at "Beginer's Advice" in the following link.
http://www.scopereviews.com/
I checked that place out on the internet and it seems that they overprice their stuff. I see the same scopes elsewhere on the net going for $50 less a lot of times. It's hard to believe they are the only telescope dealer in the OKC area! Somebody could make some money up here in Edmond if they put in a Telescope shop. I wish I knew more about them and had some money to get started.
My father-in-law buildt his own telescope, with the help of my brother-in-law. They ordered the lenses, but made the rest of it. It was huge, but worked very well.
And, knowing him, it was cheap to make.
The fans on here are known for their objectivity, fair play, open minded welcoming of others, debating in an upfront, firm, but respectful manner.....TexasLidig8r 11/21/04
Here's a pic of Al Gore using his telescope to watch the woman across the street undress.
posse member
my dad's got a pretty nice one. i don't think they ever use it. i'm hoping down the road few well-timed suggestions will get it for me.
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