Is a 102×500 SkyWatcher telescope a good telescope to begin with?


telescope
Zander asked:


I’m new at this whole amazing thing and I am quite a beginner at this telescope thing. There is this website (very reliable) where you can bid or buy stuff and this one guy is selling this 102×500 SkyWatcher f/5 telescope for only NZ$30. Is this a good telescope to begin with?

Thanks

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Astronomy & Space. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Is a 102×500 SkyWatcher telescope a good telescope to begin with?”

  1. Nyx Says:
    January 18th, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Yes! However, make sure that it comes with the supplied equipment -

    Couldn’t find a New Zealand price, but for Australia, a new one goes for around $250 AUS. So if if comes with eyepieces, tripod and the other supplied accessories AND there are no major defects (broken parts, cracked glass and so forth), you may have a bargain. Nyx

  2. Geoff G Says:
    January 19th, 2010 at 9:11 am

    Generally if a price seems too good to be true, there’s something seriously wrong. This telescope normally sells for about ten times this price, so I would be _very_ cautious! As a beginner, you would do best to buy your first telescope from a real telescope store, not from an auction site, so that you can get help and support.

    I owned this telescope for a short time myself, and would not recommend it to a beginner. Its aperture (lens diameter) is too small, and its short focal length leads to spurious colour, and requires very short focal length eyepieces to get much magnification. I’d recommend a 6″ to 10″ reflector on a Dobsonian mount instead.

    Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner’s telescopes:

    For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington’s Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).

    You’ll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:

    Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don’t buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:

    I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.

    Many people who buy telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley). Geoff G

  3. Larry454 Says:
    January 20th, 2010 at 8:44 pm

    This does sound too good to be true, but it also sounds as if you are buying it because of the price, without understanding the other criteria involved. This would not be my choice as a recommendation for a beginner. Here’s why:

    1. The aperture is insufficient. Aperture is the diameter of the scope at the front, where photons are collected. The bigger the aperture, the more photons and the brighter the image. Most astronomical objects do not need a telescope to see them because they are too small; they need one because they are too dim. With this scope, you will not be able to see very much beyond the planets.

    2. The scope is not particularly well suited for the planets, because it is so fast (short) that the relatively extreme optical contours result in false colors and aberrations.

    3. You did not mention a mount. Does it have one that works? Are you sure? A scope without a good mount is useless.

    4. Perhaps most important, I would not recommend that a beginner buy a used scope from a seller that you do not know. All beginners (heck, all experienced amateurs) require help once in a while. If you buy from a reputable dealer, he can really help you when you need it (I speak from experience). The reputability of the website in this case is irrelevant. They know nothing about astronomy, and the seller may be equally confused.

    I would not buy a telescope without knowing why I want the one I am buying. It is true that the price is low in this case. It is also true that in amateur astronomy, you generally get what you pay for. I would urge caution. Larry454

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