Are any of these telescopes good value for money?

Question

im wanting to look at planet and moon viewing and maybe some deeper space objects, portability is also a factor as i will be taking my telescope to different locations in my car:

http://www.telescopeshop.co.uk/index1.html

Answer 1

Hello kev -

I'm not sure which scope you are looking at - assume its the LX90 because that's first in the sequence. Sure, that's a decent scope, and going to a Meade dealer is a good idea - they will be able to assist you after the sale, and we all need at least some of that.

Suitti's note about going to a local astronomy club is very sound advice. It would be really valuable for you to see what you can expect at the eyepiece and at the cash register - before you buy. If you have been on this site for a while, you may be aware that Suitti and I are having a friendly disagreement regarding the value of GoTo / PushTo scopes. He favors them, and I think you are better off spending your money on better optics and more aperture so that you can see things more clearly and learn the night sky more quickly. In either case, you may want to consider a scope with a little bigger aperture. There are several criteria to evaluate when shopping for a scope, but aperture rules. That's because it is aperture that determines whether or not you will actually see those faint clusters and nebulae clearly. With a 4 inch scope, they may be pretty dim and fuzzy. With a 10 inch scope (which is not much harder to transport and set up, really) they will jump out of the eyepiece at you.

This is why you should consider trying out different scopes before you buy. Astronomy clubs are generally very helpful, and you may be surprised at what you can see vs. what you expect to see. Good Luck and Clear Skies!

Answer 2

Well, you really need to tell us which telescope you are looking at, because there are a huge range of telescopes available to suit whatever your budget is.

You are doing the right thing by going to a proper telescope store, but you need to know a lot more about telescopes before you buy.

If I were you I would start with a decent pair of binoculars before buying a telescope and join your local astronomy club so you can have a look through what others are using and see what suits your desires and budget.

Answer 3

The ETX90 gets good reviews. One guy brings his with him on his motorcycle. That's portable!  I'd go with one of the Orion reflectors: xt6i, xt8i or xt10i.  These have a 48" tube, and so fit across your car's back seat.  I have the xt10i, and additionally, it fits in my car's trunk, though half the rear seat is folded down.  But the base fits on that side of the back seat too.  So i can have the 10" scope, myself and two passengers at once.

Here are the 3 P's for picking a telescope.  Price, Performance, and Portability.  Price and portability can be show stoppers.  Price less so, since you may be able to wait until you have more cash. But a scope that doesn't fit in your car is stuck where ever it ends up.  That leaves performance.  For deep space, what you need is as much light gathering as possible.  In your budget, that points to a reflector.

The push-to computer also comes under the category of performance.  Before buying my scope, i joined a local astronomy club and borrowed each of their loaner scopes in turn.  One was a ten inch reflector.  I spent half an hour not finding a fairly bright galaxy in my back yard.  It was too dim for my sky conditions.  Then, i repeated this for another galaxy.  Spending an hour to not find two galaxies is not something that will sustain me in the hobby.  With a push-to computer, i can observe a dozen objects an hour.  In in very short time, i found that very few galaxies can be seen from my heavily light polluted back yard.  And, an oxygen 3 filter lets me see most nebulae.

I like looking at Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, but mostly, i look at nebulae, clusters, double stars and galaxies.

Join a local club.  Actually look through the scopes you're considering.