Anyone know anything about Telescopes?

great advice · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:07

My nephew wants a telescope for his birthday and his cool uncle wants to buy him a good one

are the Meade ones any good? they seem to be able to point to anything in the sky just by punching in numbers!!

How does that work? the spec doesnt list GPS or anything :confused:

http://www.meade.com/etx/etx_mak.html

I have a budget of £500 and want to get him something that will be portable enough to fit in the boot of a car yet powerful enough to stare deep into space

Also do you know any good astrononmy forums or reference sites?

Kerplunk · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:08

Nasa do it for us.

great advice · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:11

Kerplunk said:
Nasa do it for us.

What's your point?

G-MAN2004 · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:17

Kerplunk said:
Nasa do it for us.

You're helpful but then again im not exactly helping

The_TailGunner · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:19

great advice said:
they seem to be able to point to anything in the sky just by punching in numbers!!

How does that work? the spec doesnt list GPS or anything

im guessing that you would type in the position of the star based on star chart tables, with the numbers being the right ascention and declination. kind of like latitude and longitude, but for looking at the sky as opposed to the earth...

Definitions HERE

the one you describe sounds good...

try looking at something along the lines of an 8" to 10" reflector telescope if you can, but 4.5" and 6" models are less expensive- the motorised bases are handy as it will keep the telescope pointed at whatever you are looking at as it moves accross they sky, but they arent essential...

there are gps based models, but they tend to be expensive- besides, you will learn more working from charts and tables...

note- make sure you buy a tripod...some 'scopes that come with the motorised number-punchy bases dont come with...

TG

norm · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:47

What power magnification would one need to identify and spot high flying aircraft?

Quite interested by the number of planes that frequent the skies round here.

great advice · 5 Mar 2006 at 19:56

norm said:
What power magnification would one need to identify and spot high flying aircraft?

Quite interested by the number of planes that frequent the skies round here.

A decent set of Bino's will do, 8x40's will give you a good view of very high flying aircraft

Tailgunner - thanks for the advice

Do you know if the Meade ETX 105 is any good? Thats the one thats been pointed out to me as being the best in its price band.

norm · 5 Mar 2006 at 20:02

great advice said:
A decent set of Bino's will do, 8x40's will give you a good view of very high flying aircraft

Can you recommend a good brand or pair?

Capt Doufos · 5 Mar 2006 at 20:03

The 105 should be pretty good. They are expensive for the money because they are so compact and have the autofind, and autotracking.

Just bare in mind the telescope can't just magically find stuff though. You will need to calibrate it correctly before each use.

The_TailGunner · 5 Mar 2006 at 20:07

i dont know it personally, but googling for meade etx 105 review brings up a few results. by all accounts it looks popular...

check out a few astronomy forums and ask around, as my info is a little out of date...

TG

Webby · 5 Mar 2006 at 21:44

Weasner's Mighty ETX Site is a great resource for all thinks to do with the ETX range of scopes

Fusion · 6 Mar 2006 at 18:32

great advice said:
A decent set of Bino's will do, 8x40's will give you a good view of very high flying aircraft

8x ain't gonna be too hot for jet spotting, I'd be saying 12x. As for what brand- how longs a piece of string? What's your budget?

Meade scopes are the dogs danglies by the way.

skankmaster · 6 Mar 2006 at 18:42

In the old days, astronomical telescopes were mounted on wedges and your light bucket was calibrated to the north star, This meant tweaking the angle of the wedge, so that your tracking motor only needed to control your right ascension (left to right). Nowadays, with GPS, the scope doesnt even need the wedge, as the firmware can calculate the amount of horizontal and vertical adjustments needed to track an object in the sky. Oh the joys of technology!

norm · 6 Mar 2006 at 18:46

Fusion said:
8x ain't gonna be too hot for jet spotting, I'd be saying 12x. As for what brand- how longs a piece of string? What's your budget?

Meade scopes are the dogs danglies by the way.

Budget, could push to 125 if the difference in performance was that marked to say a cheaper model in the 50-75 region.