Telescope for beginners

My friend has one, don't ask the model I've no idea, but it's a 'fat one' on a tripod.

Had excellent fun with it, but where I stay I don't have great access to the sky so it would be a bit of a waste. Always wanted one though.
 
That would be a good deal, assuming there's nothing wrong with it. But the previous advice still stands - EQ mounts maybe aren't the best for beginners, and most people are better off with Dobsonians while they "learn the sky" and get into the hobby.
 
PermaBanned said:
That would be a good deal, assuming there's nothing wrong with it.
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This is the description...

Skywatcher 200p (Black & White) with Tube rings and dovetail (Dovetail has signs of usage. Straight 50mm finder. Flocked with removable mirror cooling fan (9V battery powered). Skywatcher 2x barlow + 10mm and 25mm MA eyepieces and Cheshire collimator included

Noted on the stands - A plus for the tripod type is that they fold away, whereas the dobs dont and will take up a fair bit of room
 
I have a 200p and I payed the full price new for it, £289, and I can certainly say it's well worth it. It's the best value scope for the amount of mirror you get for the money you pay... Provides stunning views, and is still very easy to set up and carry around! :)

Also it takes up very little room, it has a small footprint, just needs the vertical space of about 1.4m on the dob mount... EQ mounts are far more complex for beginners, but I started off with one and it wasn't massively difficult to work out, but I ended up ditching that for a simpler dob because I couldn't be bothered with the hassle, just wanted to learn the sky myself with a dob mount :p
 
Its also good to keep in mind you will need to spend some money on some essential extras like EPs and maybe a filter or two etc :)
 
Tibbz2 said:
Its also good to keep in mind you will need to spend some money on some essential extras like EPs and maybe a filter or two etc :)
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Why are the essentials? Cant you just look through the scope and see things

If they are essentials, why dont they come with them? or do they come with standard filters?
 
Guest2 said:
Why are the essentials? Cant you just look through the scope and see things

If they are essentials, why dont they come with them? or do they come with standard filters?
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I guess the word "essential" used here is same with when you buy an SLR, you don't need a spare battery to operate it, but it should be high on your list of potential purchases :).
 
Guest2 said:
Why are the essentials? Cant you just look through the scope and see things

If they are essentials, why dont they come with them? or do they come with standard filters?
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Yes sorry you do get EPs with the scope but some people like to upgrade them to better quality ones, or expand the range of magnifications with more EPs/a barlow etc.

Other things like a sky chart/atlas and a red light are generally good things to have too.
 
Guest2 said:
Would some binoculars be similar to any telescope? They would certainly be more practical and take up less space - Something on the lines of these

Sunagor 30 - 160 x 70 BCF 'Mega Zoom 160' Binoculars

http://www.sunagor.com/acatalog/high-quality-binoculars.html

Similar sort of price to a 200P Dobsonian
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The general upsides to bins are that they are lower mag compared to scopes and that makes unique, generally it's better to leave the high mags to the scope unless you're going to spend some serious money on bins (a lot more than those ones cost!)
 
I have just moved into a Condo apartment and I'm on a really high floor. I was thinking of buying a scope just to spy on people in their Windows as since we are so high up there's like a million buildings and apartments all around us?

Am I the only one who would do this? Obviously they are so far away they wouldn't see me do this but I find it interesting
 
Jimz said:
I have just moved into a Condo apartment and I'm on a really high floor. I was thinking of buying a scope just to spy on people in their Windows as since we are so high up there's like a million buildings and apartments all around us?

Am I the only one who would do this? Obviously they are so far away they wouldn't see me do this but I find it interesting
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:D - I think it should work. Im the same, I can see about 10 odd miles out of our appartment window but only ever see about 3 stars! Not the best for a telescope really

Still, would be interesting to look at far away buildings and stuff. It would be funny if someone was looking back at you with a telescope!
 
Why has nobody suggested this as the best beginners telescope?

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