Tabletop Beginner Telescope

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Stargrrl
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Tabletop Beginner Telescope

Unread post by Stargrrl »

At our recent Astronomy Day Event in Barrington, RI, many people asked about the simple starter scope one of our members was using (Ann G). Ann asked me to post the details of this for anyone who is looking for a beginner telescope that is super easy to both operate & transport!

The telescope is this one: https://amzn.to/2NZyvr2. It is a single unit and comes completely assembled.

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The scope comes with everything you need, including a red-dot finder, eyepieces, and an informational DVD. The only other thing you might consider adding is a "zoom" eyepiece, which lets you view objects at different magnifications without having to remove it: https://amzn.to/2LyQQtw

You will need a stable surface to sit this scope on. A small folding table or even an overturned trash can makes for a steady base. This is a great scope for seeing the moon, Jupiter & Saturn, and bright deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula.

And, if you need help with it, you can always come to an ASSNE club meeting and we will get you set up!

Rebekah
RebekahB
ASSNE Meetup Page (all public events): http://www.meetup.com/ASSNE-MA-RI
Explore Scientific AR102 refractor/Garrett Optical 30x100 binos/Oberwerk P-Mount
"Then felt I like some watcher of the skies / When a new planet swims into her ken..."
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Pete
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Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2003 9:03 pm

Re: Tabletop Beginner Telescope

Unread post by Pete »

I've been asked to recommend beginner telescopes for some 20 years now, and the response has changed every few years. If the telescope isn't simple to use and intuitive it will just cause frustration. Alt/Az mounting is critical. Most junk telescopes sold these days use polar mounts that the newbie will not be able to use. (Most are so crude that I can't use them either.) I've had a long tube 80mm refractor for 20 years now and it allows good magnification on bright objects. Doesn't have the light gathering that the previous posting 114mm Meade has but ya simply look down the tube to point.

Celestron has recently introduced a low cost 80mm long tube with cell phone star finding.

https://www.celestron.com/products/star ... er-lt-80az

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... lt_80.html

Simple and intuitive. There's not really all that much difference between 80mm and 114mm when it comes to most deep sky objects and the refractor's longer focal refractor is much superior to the short 450mm focal length on the little Meade Dob.
Pete P.
Bruce D
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Re: Tabletop Beginner Telescope

Unread post by Bruce D »

Depending on their price range I've usually steered beginners towards a DOB, relatively short fl with a wide field to help find things, even a 6" opens a decent window on the sky, but your logic is sound also. Nice to hear from you Rebekah!
Bruce D
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Pete
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Re: Tabletop Beginner Telescope

Unread post by Pete »

About 10 years ago I used to recommend the Orion $400 8-inch Dob as something that would capture all Messiers. But almost all manual Messiers are beyond newbie capability. When Orion bumped up the price, for a brief while I recommended their 6" Dob. In general I'd subsequently find that these scopes didn't get used. Big. Heavy. Not intuitive.

Eventually it dawned on me the $119 Orion 80mm aperture f/11.3 903mm focal length I've used as a guidescope for 16 years is ideal. Put it on an Alt/Az mount and just point it. No need for finder.

I'd been recommend the $160 Meade but when Celestron added a cellphone type alighment system for the same price....
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Pete P.
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