Telescopes - know anything about them?
 

I want to buy a telescope to look at the sky etc, plus sights within the city - so I need something that will be good for the sky and stuff 200-2000 feet?

I see a lot of terms in the descriptions of these things - very confusing :)

refractor, 675x, optical factor, blah blah

someone break it down for me, and I don't want to spend more than $150US

thx

peepin tom here ??????:Graucho :Graucho :Graucho

http://www.telescope.com/

this one for example:
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...iProductID=330

thanks Mr. Thumbs

peeping tom? - it's called a voyeur LOL

Actually I'm more interested in the sky and view - I know where to get my voyeur fix online ;)

You won't get much of a scope for $150 if you're wantin to use it for astronomy..

You need a decent reflecter scope.. don't get a refractor.

The 2 refractor scopes here are about the best you'll do price-wise.

lol

http://www.visiongear.com/images/slice7.jpg

Was gonna say much the same. I worked in Natural Wonders for a couple of years in my youth and learned a bit about the things. Your $150 will only buy you a scope that will be good for peeking at your neighbours and looking at the moon (but not in any great detail).

If you want to really have a look at the sky you are gonna have to get one of the big mother fuckers and spend nearer $1000. Of course the big bastard won't be any good for looking out your window at the pretty lesbian college girls that just moved in across the street. :winkwink:

For $150 you will get nothing but a a plastic toy collecting dust in your garage, even on Ebay. Don't waste you time with astronomy unless you are willing to spend at least $1000 on a scope and some decent eyepieces, there are plenty of good deals on Ebay. Go find a local astronomy club and see if it's really something you are interested in first. Get something with a motor drive and object database, trying to find stuff and keep it in view is a major pita otherwise.

Trust me on this one, this is how it works - whatever you buy you will either a) throw it away in disgust and find another hobby, b) sell it for 1/3 what you paid so you can buy a real scope. It's not a cheap hobby, people who get hooked usually have $5,000 - $50,000+ invested.

And if you go really nuts you end up with one of these:
http://www.globaldialog.com/~obsessiontscp/30shrd.jpeg

The two that I mentioned above.. ( meant the two 'reflector' scopes).. You can use for good views of the Moon, Saturn's rings, and maybe pull in a few galaxies just a tad, but that's about it..
but they're twice as much as you're wantin to pay..
Anything less won't do..

Actually that's the only scope on that page even remotely worth considering and is a clone of the best design for a cheap mass market scope ever devised. It's pretty stupid the way the guy is holding it in the picture though, he might as well be riding a roller coaster while he's at it.

Shitty, I guess it'll be mainly for neighbours, the view, and the moon ;)

I'll invest in a good scope down the line.

Should I just get binoculars instead then?

What kind of magnification do I need for that?

That looks like a giant black bong LOL

:rasta

I have 3.. hit me up and I'll help ya

If you have the budget and desire for the top of the line nothing compares to Celestron's. You won't want to stop looking. The views you get of the planets especially will blow your mind.