What starter telescope should I get for ~$150?
Hello all,
I'm looking to buy a starter telescope for myself. This is what I am looking for:
- Budget: around $150. If I really enjoy it, I don't mind wasting $150 for starters, but am really not willing to invest $300 for a passing passion.
- Conditions: city balcony - get home, relax in the company of stars ;). Will travel to the mountains now and then.
- Observe and photograph planets.
- Reflector, should be better at this price range and better viewing position
- Equatorial mount if possible
- Looking for 150x magnification. Have observed stars and planets at the local observatory at that magnification, was really impressed. Not expecting the same amount of details.
- Focal ratio around 10. From what I read, this would be best for planetary viewing.
- Should come with a tripod
- Don't care about finders too much
- A smartphone mount would be nice, but I can buy / build one separately
Browsing the local astronomy shops and classifieds I found a few telescopes that fit the bill. Please note, prices in Europe are slightly higher than in USA. Here they are, in order of preference:
Opticon Zodiac 76/900 EQ
- 900mm focal length
- high magnification (supposedly 450x, but am not sure about the image quality)
- equatorial mount
- never heard of this manufacturer, can't find a site.
Celestron Astromaster 130/650 EQ UPDATE: actually a Skywatcher Skyhawk 114/1000 EQ (seller mislabelled item)
- 114 aperture
- 1000 focal length
- spherical mirror
- equatorial mount
Skywatcher Luna 76/700 EQ
- equatorial mount
- well known manufacturer
Orion Spaceprobe 3 76/700 AZ
-
great reviews: http://www.rocketroberts.com/astro/spaceprobe3altaz.htm
-
photographs made with it look like something I would like to take (with practice)
What do you think? Am I far off the mark? All comments are appreciated.
Posted Oct 28, 2017, 8:30 AM UTC · edited
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