Are there any astronomers or telescope experts here?

[Monkeyfun]

I want to purchase a telescope for a friend but have no idea what to look for in one but do know i'd like the most powerful one on a tripod for £50- maybe £150.
Any pointers or help would be very welcome.

[Monkeyfun]

I forgot to add the friend is an active 60-ish male.

[netibiza]

I worked or a telescope manufactures in the late 60's (Fullerscopes) of London but I very much doubt if a telescope of that price would be very good for star gazing. If he is just an amateur and is only playing then maybe it would be OK. The ones I'm talking about have spiders, and spider holders, and tubes and right ascension and declination, and eliptical flats and cassegrain mirrors,all a bit expensive.

[Graham-W]

All the experts say that if your budget is less than £150 you may be better off with a decent pair of binoculars at half that price.
However, for a little bit more, you can get this half decent reflector telescope with motor drive and software.
http://www.uk-telesco...r_500%20telescope.htm

[netibiza]

Yes those are the ones to which I am referring.

[netibiza]

Reflector is when the image is reflected from a mirror in the bottom of that big tube and a refractor is like a normal telescope. (If I remember correctly)

[Monkeyfun]

Does everyone agree with Graham-w's idea that i should get a pair of binoculars instead?

Graham i suppose if they're decent and give the viewer a better view of the heavens this could work.

Can you recommend any sites and what should i be looking for in a pair?

1 more thing what are the pros and cons of binoculars over telescopes, you'd thing that two eyes would lead to a greater viewing experience for one, is that correct?

[jake-the-peg]

I would disagree with some caveats.

The issue with binoculars is that you probably won't have a tripod which means that although binoculars might be better technically you won't see so much due to the inability to hold them as steady.

The issue is not power - magification is not normally an issue, you increase the magnification by selecting the eyepiece you want to use. If you select too powerful an eyepiece the image is too faint and will jump about the place if the tripod's not dead stable.

You're trying to get as much light in as possible which means as large an aperture as possible which is why Graham's trying to steer you to one of the cheap reflectors - they are quite a significant step up from the cheapest ones.

But even the cheaper ones will give you really good vision of the brighter objects like the moon and you'll see things like Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings

[Monkeyfun]

I see jakethepeg. Well many thanks to all of you and i'm still stumped at what to get but at least know a bit more then before i posted this thread.

[jomifl]

If you look back about 11 posts in 'science' you will find the answers to a similar question.

[Monkeyfun]

Thanks jomifl, i just found it by "garble"

[jomifl]

That's the one :-)

[scowie]

Does it have to be on a tripod? Cos dobsonians seem to come highly recommended. I have my eye on an 8" one, but there's a 130mm one in your price range here, if you're interested:
http://www.firstlight...ge-130p-flextube.html

[scowie]

There's a "buyer's guide" to that scope on youtube:

[jomifl]

Dobsonians are not very good for observing planets or the moon as they are not an equatorial mount and cannot track accurately. They are however very good for constellations and other large objects as pound for pound you get much more light gathering power.