My 9 yo son wants a telescope for Christmas. I’d rather order one online if I can find a decent one for a decent price…say, $50 - 100. Having not looked at them, I have no idea what quality I can get for the price. He’s a beginner, so it doesn’t have to be high-end, but I would like something sturdy, kid-friendly, and strong enough that he’ll “see cool stuff.” It would be great if it came with, or I could buy in addition, some sort of manual so we can actually find said cool things.
Any feedback? Thanks…
karol
Something like this Mede ETX 60 ?
It’s a real telescope - not a toy, and it has an integrated drive and database. They seem to sell for around $100 on ebay.
Holy cow. Telescopes have changed a lot since I was a lass. That looks interesting, although I have to read more to see if I need a computer or if it just has optional features that use one. (No computer until tax time.)
Coooooool.
I’m pretty sure that you can use the telescope and star finder without a computer - the computer just allows you to do extra, neat things (virtual planetarium). Meades have a very good reputation as high-quality amateur telescopes.
For that price binoculars may be better.
For (quite a bit) more - there is this
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=bestholidayscopes/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09814
Or better (for not much more)
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=bestholidayscopes/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09804
Brian
I’m agreeing with N9IWP that binoculars might be better. In fact, they would be better. And if you’ve got binoculars, then a good tripod and mounting bracket would be the thing to buy.
A solid tripod alone can eat up $100. If you have a photography shop in the area that sells used equipment, that might be a good place to look. The sturdier the better. Maybe with a video head…?
At the moment I’m not an expert on this subject, but I’ve been pretty well-informed several times… and then the technology moves on or I forget things.
Anyway… a fair pair of binocs on a tripod will let you see four moons of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, hundreds of moon craters, the clouds in Orion’s belt, and a lot more stars than the naked eye (including double stars.) An $80 telescope will probably have a shaky, fall-apart tripod, a tiny field of vision, and worse optical performance than the binoculars.
Plus, a decent tripod or set of binoculars can last you a lifetime and be used for other things. A cheap scope will be no fun to use, and astronomy gets boring and abandoned by most people pretty quickly.
Consumer Reports (at your local library) can tell you which binocs are good. If you’ve got a tripod, then 10x50 binocs are good. If you’re hand holding, then something with less magnification, like 7x50s or 7x35s. The second number is how big the main lenses are, and that’s what determines how much light they can capture. If the optical quality is equal, then 50mm is better than 35mm.
Optical performance is important because you want stars to look like round points of light, not elongated smears surrounded by rainbows.
…actually though, the Meade that beowulff linked to does look like fun. It’s a table top model (I think) which gets around the problem of a flimsy tripod, providing you’ve got a sturdy outdoor table or platform.
I would like to mention that the views from a small scope aren’t going to look like the stuff the Hubble produces. (Big surprise, eh?) Saturn will probably be a round fuzzy disc with a fuzzy bar across it. Will you be able to see any patterns on Jupiter? Maybe? Maybe not? I’m not sure how big a scope that would take.
Great. Now I want a telescope and binoculars. And a microscope, too.
My Santa doesn’t have as much spending power as my kids’ does.
Thanks for all the input…some neato stuff here.
Good binoculars are really, really nice to have, but I don’t think they are right for a child.
Why?
They are frustrating to use. Good ones are heavy, and for most Astronomical viewing, you are going to be in an awkward position - head back and looking up. Even I have problems keeping th image steady for long periods in this position. I think even a poor telescope will be more satisfactory for a child. If you are going to buy a tripod for them, then basically, you are spending twice as much on the optics as you need to - you are buying two telescopes when could buy one bigger or better one.
Comet hunters use binoculars, but the ones they use are enormous and fabulously expensive.
Check with your local astronomy club. They’ll have advice, you can go to one of their viewing nights to sample the scopes, and someone may have a deal on a used or homemade one.