First Telescope

[Sirius]

I am buying my first telescope soon. I have seen some good things about this one: http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=364&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCa t=4&iSubCat=8&iProductID=364&relateInfo=5&add=yes# tabLink

What do you guys think? It seems to be a good one in my price range. I beleive it will make a fine first for me.
--Sirius

[kookbreaker]

:D

Its a good'un. (He said without any prejudice in the matter).

It is short, though. Fair warning.

[Hale_Bopp]

I have used this telescope at star parties and recommended it to a friend who was looking for one last year. I liked it and they like it.

Its a good telescope for the price.

Rob

[Charlie in Dayton]

Nice starter scope. Good place to begin. Get a five gallon plastic bucket and make a padded plywood seat, and bolt it to the bucket top. You'll need something to sit on while viewing, because at its highest, that eyepiece is less than 40" off the ground, and you'll be bent over trying to see otherwise. Take it from me, extremely uncomfortable and dampens the enthusiasm. Or just go buy one...see below.

Plus, you can keep your astro-junk in the bucket...

Plastic bucket lid seat #1 (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=74036)
Plastic bucket lid seat #2 (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=44903)
Plastic bucket lid seat #3 (http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=37790)

[skyglow1]

Do note that the telescope is oversized and that it will probably cost a fair bit more to ship etc.

skyglow1

[Sirius]

Not if I can find it on Amazon.com; usually my dad can get free shipping on higher priced items.

About the height of the eyepiece (or should I say, the low :)), that can be taken care of easily.

I just found out that my mom will not help me buy it JUST because it doesn't have an equatorial mount! I don't care..... If I can get free shipping at Amazon.com, I can already afford it with $.25 to spare! That's okay anyway, because I'm getting a (small) allowance, and I'll be getting $30 I am owed soon.

[kookbreaker]

I wouldn't bank on getting free shipping through Amazon, the telescope is coming out of Orion's warehouse, not Amazon's. But hey, if you get it..

Also, you're gonna pay sales tax if you live in CA (and possibly WA).

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000XMSNO/qid=1077224153//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl23/104-3965431-1810363?v=glance&s=photo&n=507846

Why is your mother concerned about it having an EQ mount? Perhaps you should explain that a dob is a good scope because it is easy to set up. Therefore it gets used more often!

There's always the StarBlast: http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=4644&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&k eyword=StarBlast

[Sirius]

My dad buys from Amazon frequently, and he often gets free shipping on anything over $25.

[Tom]

They have it, $33.95 shipping (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000XMSNO/qid=1077282898/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-5219975-7463264?v=glance&s=photo) to US.

Same as Orion, sorry...

[Sirius]

When I looked at it on Amazon, it said $20 shipping to anywhere in the USA!

[Tom]

When I looked at it on Amazon, it said $20 shipping to anywhere in the USA!

Surcharge. If you complete to checkout, it's 13.95 + 20 for oversize item.

[Sirius]

Oooooo. We'll see. I live in North Carolina (USA) and there is no sales tax on the internet, thank God. But shipping is antother thing.... We'll see what happens. I might be able to get my dad to pay shipping for me at least.

[Sirius]

UH OH!!! Found a BETTER scope for only $20 more! Better, I think. Also, my mom will actually help me pay, because it has an EQ mount.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001DZ7VI/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl200/102-5561158-6521750?v=glance&s=sporting-goods&n=507846

[kookbreaker]

Bad Idea. That really is not very good scope. Undermounted and unstable. The mirror should be OK, but the eyepieces are goign to be verrry cheap Kellners.

That's assuming this is the model from the Chinese factories I know about. (I.e. the better ones).