Telescope options under $500

[Electric_CityWx]

Figure this would be a good spot to ask.

A fellow forum member is looking for recommendations on a decent telescope under $500.  Can anyone help out with suggestions?  Thanks. 

@TheRex. Hope you get some feedback!

 

 

[clm]

8 hours ago, Electric_CityWx said:

Figure this would be a good spot to ask.

A fellow forum member is looking for recommendations on a decent telescope under $500.  Can anyone help out with suggestions?  Thanks. 

@TheRex. Hope you get some feedback!

 

 

1. Stay away from department store (walmart, target) telescopes.  You will not see 650x of anything.  Also you will be extremely frustrated with the scope usage, i.e. no bushings and pure metal on metal wearing away and watching the scope tilt down without you touching it, horrible optics, horrible construction and much much more.

2. What are you expecting to see?  Planets, moon, nebulas, galaxies?  Are you planning on astrophotography?  Refractors, Newtonians and Dobsonians are good for planets, Reflectors are good for deep space.  SCT's are a balance between the two.  You'll need at least an 8" if you want to see all the planets.  The higher you go in inches in the optics, the higher the price.

SCT's are more compact and portable.

Spend a little more and go with one that has a GPS to find the stars and planets automatically.

Meade certainly was a good brand back in the day.  Celestron too, until Tasco bought it.  Tasco was known for its lousy optics.  However now both are out of business.  You can still find their scopes for sale on Amazon and other places.

 

[Electric_CityWx]

@TheRex, care to shed some light on what you had or what you're looking for?

I couldn't be of assistance, but you might get some here.

[TheRex]

Thanks for replying.

I'd like to look at planets mostly but it would be nice to see some things further off.  Where we live I can easily see the Milky Way when the skies are clear and humidity is low.  In fact, on the clearest nights I can turn off the lights in my house and sit in my living room and see the Milky Way through the picture windows on the southside of my house.   Light pollution is limited up here.

I would like to buy one that has GPS to tell me where to look.  I wasn't the best at finding things with my old telescope.  Having the ability to take pictures is nice, but nothing I need to have.

But at the end of the day, I'm looking for something that I don't need a Ph.D. to use.  Simple tends to work better for me.

[Electric_CityWx]

Cuz I go off topic with everything.. sigh I'm really laughing!

21 minutes ago, TheRex said:

I can turn off the lights in my house and sit in my living room and see the Milky Way through the picture windows

That's amazing!!

[Electric_CityWx]

4 hours ago, clm said:

Stay away from department store (walmart, target) telescopes.

Something I would buy... Stay away from ✔️

[Electric_CityWx]

I did a very quick search on telescopes.  I can't believe how high tech some are.  Mind blowing.. gps and stuff with your phone and all that craziness.  I've got an Olympus? buried in the shed somewhere from early 2000's that I don't think it's ever been used.  I don't even know where it's from (Walmart possibly 😂no clue) 

@clmyou have a lot of knowledge about a lot of things.

[TheRex]

1 hour ago, Electric_CityWx said:

Cuz I go off topic with everything.. sigh I'm really laughing!

That's amazing!!

One night I was in the living room and happened to see a falling star through the window while I was on the couch.  That is when I decided to turn out all the lights and see how good I could see the stars without freezing my butt off outside.

[clm]

22 hours ago, TheRex said:

Thanks for replying.

I'd like to look at planets mostly but it would be nice to see some things further off.  Where we live I can easily see the Milky Way when the skies are clear and humidity is low.  In fact, on the clearest nights I can turn off the lights in my house and sit in my living room and see the Milky Way through the picture windows on the southside of my house.   Light pollution is limited up here.

I would like to buy one that has GPS to tell me where to look.  I wasn't the best at finding things with my old telescope.  Having the ability to take pictures is nice, but nothing I need to have.

But at the end of the day, I'm looking for something that I don't need a Ph.D. to use.  Simple tends to work better for me.

Ok so a refractor is best for planets.  However for a budget you get more for your money with a dobsonian however they don't have an equatorial mount which is best for auto tracking planets and stars.

Refractors are getting harder to find due to a drawback where their lenses have a chromatic aberration.  But they are still good.

I have a Meade SCT 8" LX90.  The Schmidt cassegrain is a mix of both refractor and reflector, but compact and has an equatorial mount.

If you can find a Meade refractor or Celestron refractor or an SCT within your budget then all the better.

You will need to get a moon filter.  Even for a crescent moon it is extremely bright.

You also want to get a few zoom lenses as well because the ones that usually come with the scope are not the best and show too much in the field of view.  Which can be fine, but not if you want to zoom in on Jupiter.

Also get a dew cap for those Dewey nights.  Also if going from a warm house to a cold outside you need to let it sit out there for awhile to defog the lenses 

Remember, the cheaper you go, the worse quality of the lenses will be.

Edited January 9 by clm
typo

[clm]

42 minutes ago, TheRex said:

One night I was in the living room and happened to see a falling star through the window while I was on the couch.  That is when I decided to turn out all the lights and see how good I could see the stars without freezing my butt off outside.

You are extremely lucky.  As a kid I could see big and little dippers here.  Now I can barely see the big Dipper.  Light pollution is horrible here.

[clm]

1 hour ago, Electric_CityWx said:

I did a very quick search on telescopes.  I can't believe how high tech some are.  Mind blowing.. gps and stuff with your phone and all that craziness.  I've got an Olympus? buried in the shed somewhere from early 2000's that I don't think it's ever been used.  I don't even know where it's from (Walmart possibly 😂no clue) 

@clmyou have a lot of knowledge about a lot of things.

Yes and some of it is unnecessary.

I was a victim of a store bought telescope.  It was just horrible and a Meade to boot too.  Got it returned.  Could have fixed it up good, add bushings and the like, but was more ticked off at the poor quality.  So I did a lot of research and wound up with a Meade SCT LX90.  Very happy with it.  GPS is archaic as the scope is over 20 years old but oh well.  I won't part with it though.

It wasn't cheap back then as Meade was at its peak.  But worth every penny.

But COVID brought down Meade and the field for bankruptcy.

[clm]

1 hour ago, Electric_CityWx said:

Something I would buy... Stay away from ✔️

If I was going on a trip and wanted to take one with me into the national parks, then id go for that.  Fix it up and if it craps out or gets damaged I won't feel too bad.  If I took my LX90 I would drive and baby the heck out of it.  It came with a transportation case, a very nice one, so would be safe driving with it.

Out west they have star parties and some pickups are outfitted with caps that open from the top and large Newtonians mounted into the bed of the pickup.

[clm]

3 hours ago, TheRex said:

Thanks for replying.

I'd like to look at planets mostly but it would be nice to see some things further off.  Where we live I can easily see the Milky Way when the skies are clear and humidity is low.  In fact, on the clearest nights I can turn off the lights in my house and sit in my living room and see the Milky Way through the picture windows on the southside of my house.   Light pollution is limited up here.

I would like to buy one that has GPS to tell me where to look.  I wasn't the best at finding things with my old telescope.  Having the ability to take pictures is nice, but nothing I need to have.

But at the end of the day, I'm looking for something that I don't need a Ph.D. to use.  Simple tends to work better for me.

SCT would probably be best for you with planets and seeing extra, such as Pleiades, or the seven sisters as they are known as.

Fun fact, Subaru's logo is based on Pleiades.

[clm]

@TheRex Getting back on track to what you're looking for, a gps tracking scope for $500 budget.  I'm always wary of a used one based on you're dealing with optics and tubing that should never be jarred, smacked or anything.  Of course a brand new one could get beaten up during shipping (yes i'm looking at you UPS), but you'd be the first owner of it.  

 

Obviously Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen even with a pair of binoculars.  A 5" or higher would be better suited for Uranus and Neptune.

With just budget only, a Dobsonian would give you more bang for your buck in terms of aperture, however given their mount is not equatorial, it negates the use of a GPS.  

You also want to use star chart software to see what will be seen in your night sky tonight, tomorrow night, etc...  This one is free to download and use.  While a phone app can help, the computer version is much better for planning ahead of time and also seeing everything in one shot of what will be available at 7 pm, 10 pm, etc....

http://stellarium.org

 

1. Celestron Nexstar 130SLT (reflector) or 4SE (Maksutov-Cassegrain) - these are average and while nothing special, they're nothing horrible.  Middle of the road basically.  Though there are some complaints about their mounts.  The 6SE though more expensive will expand your view of the planets and give you better views of Neptune and Uranus.  Though its more expensive.  There may be some deals out there.

2. Celestron Astromaster 130 reflector

3. Celestron Starsense line.  No GPS but uses a phone app and a 3 star point alignment.  I don't have any knowledge of this alignment, but heard it is easy.  Though what one finds easy, another may not.  Not sure if its available for Android and iPhone or just one or the other.  However for your budget, this line isn't bad.

4. Sky-watcher Skymax line, but the field of view is narrow.  From what I heard, its useable but not wowing you.

 

My advice is:

1. If you have $500 only and no more, then I'd go with the 4SE or try to find the 6SE on a deal or slightly used.  But if you do the slightly used, research the heck out of the seller to ensure you're getting the scope in excellent shape.  I mean if the tubing has a few surface scratches, then no big deal.  But the tubing should have no cracks.  Any air getting in and out has ruined the optics.  Budget aside, if I only had a choice between the 4SE and 6SE and nothing else, I would take the 6SE.

2. If you can save a bit more, or come up with a bit more of money, then this may be your best bet.

3. You can always start out with $500 budget, get a scope and then when you save some more, get another scope that is larger.

 

[clm]

13 hours ago, TheRex said:

One night I was in the living room and happened to see a falling star through the window while I was on the couch.  That is when I decided to turn out all the lights and see how good I could see the stars without freezing my butt off outside.

 

This is the major reason why I cannot see a dang thing anymore at night.  During a new moon, Jupiter pops out and so does Venus.  Mars is getting harder to spot.  Also another reason why I missed the northern lights the past 2 months, aside from the cloudiness.

It never used to be this bad.  Just makes me sick.