SEBEN or Celestron?

bogwalrus

I want to get a telescope that is not too expensive and will wow me when u look through the eyepiece.

On ebay there are some cheap ones.

I am curious about a seben make called the big boss. It is a 6" reflector and seems to have some nice lenses. It is selling for arund 160euro.

The other make is the celestron 130eq and it is going for the same price. It does have a smaller lens however.

All i want a te;escope for is to just look through the eyepiece and see some amazing things like detailed plaents in the solar system. I would also like the telescope to go deep space and be able to see some clusters.

I dont have much cash so i need to spend smart and i know some of these cheaper scopes can be complete dodgey.

Can anyone help me decide here as you all have far more experience with buying than i have.

The scope does not need to be portable and can be as big as an elephant if necessary.

I read slades post also but i think my question (or help i need) is more specific.

Thanks all.

Redshift

I want to get a telescope that is not too expensive and will wow me when u look through the eyepiece.

When it comes to astronomical telescopes you're not going to do well on these requirements i'm afraid. and the term you get what you pay for never applied to anything more than it does to telescopes.

Anything i've read about Seben is not good and I would advise you to steer clear of them, you would be better with a smaller but optically superior scope. Celestron are well regarded in astronomy circles.

If you posted your maximum budget it may be possible to suggest some specific alternatives to you. but for 160 euro you would be better off getting a decent pair of binoculars to start with and invest in a better telescope later as your interest develops.

I know you are probably anxious to get a telescope and they are great but from personal experience I can tell you that I use my Binos more than my telescopes and you can do great astromony with just the naked eye or a good set of binoculars.
At least if you find astronomy is not for you then you still have a good set of binoculars to use for other things.

bogwalrus

yeah i did a bit more research on seben and they do seem to be a bit dodgey.

My father has a nice pair of binoculars. think they cost around 200. You can see the moon pretty well on a cold night with great detail.

I suppose i just love the idea of being outside with a telescope star gazing. I could be outside the house for ages staring at the sky so i know there is a passion there.Have been dying to get a telescope for ages.

So how much would i be looking to spend to get a good telescope that will allow me to see some spiral arms and maybe the red spot on jupitor?

The seben big boss says it can see jupitors red spot and a few clusters etc.. but for 160 its probably a lie.

thanks for the reply anyway redshift, much appreciated.

slade_x

bogwalrus wrote: »

So how much would i be looking to spend to get a good telescope that will allow me to see some spiral arms and maybe the red spot on jupitor?

you will want to be ideally aiming for 6"+ / 150mm+. you may very well get away with a 4" or 5"

You can view the center of the milky way without a telescope, you just require a dark environment. the same can be said with our nearest spiral galaxy "andromeda". both can be seen with the naked eye, but best viewed with binoculars or if you like low mag on a good telescope

The 5 Inch celestron you were looking at is your best bet for that price range
However there is an 8" Skywatcher explorer for €324, i cant guarantee the quality of these telescopes but i have heard they are pretty good for beginners. it isnt motorised however but that shows in the price. There isnt a very good selection available on ebay to be honest

robk24

i just sold one of those 8" explorers, was a helios but skywatcher bought them out and just renamed their products, i have to say the build is fantastic on them, very durable, superb views of all the planets and great for deep sky with it being an f5, i got some great shots with just a digital camera held to the eyepiece....

i just bought a Meade LX90, another great piece of kit, its fully go-to but have to say was expecting a lot better views for the dearer mirrors but i struggle to see a major difference....
plus it costs 6 to 7 times as much as the skywatcher range...

still delighted with it mind you, but as a beginner you cant go wrong with helios/skywatcher...

but stay well away from seben, EVERYTHING they sell is absolute crap...

also remember with sterling being almost par with the euro it could be worth your while heading up to north down telescopes....

http://www.jimmy65.uku.co.uk/

they are much cheaper than astronomy ireland, although they do now have a price match guarantee which i havent seen before could be worth calling both and checking prices....

here's their link...

http://astronomy.ie/shop.html

hope you find something nice.....

clear skies....

bogwalrus

thanks lads. i think ill do another week of research and read some reviews. will check those skywatchers out. If by next week i decide i really want to get a good/proper telescope i might splash out a bit more.

will let ye know how it goes.

slan

bogwalrus

bout time=)

A great offer (i think) on ebay.

Its a DTG dobsonian 8.75" with a few little extras like extra lenses and some camera lens thing. A bit unclear about the camera lens thing, do i use a special camera to do the photography with this lens or any old digital camera. Will figure it out i suppose.

Cost 280 on net anyway and a trip to galway. i called astronomy ie and they said it was worth around that if second hand but this seems it will be in good nick as hardly used and recently grounded mirror (or something)

Will post pics if i can sort that out.

slan

Redshift

bogwalrus wrote: »

bout time=)

A great offer (i think) on ebay.

Its a DTG dobsonian 8.75" with a few little extras like extra lenses and some camera lens thing. A bit unclear about the camera lens thing, do i use a special camera to do the photography with this lens or any old digital camera. Will figure it out i suppose.

Cost 280 on net anyway and a trip to galway. i called astronomy ie and they said it was worth around that if second hand but this seems it will be in good nick as hardly used and recently grounded mirror (or something)

Will post pics if i can sort that out.

slan

Now you're talking,
Enjoy your new scope, make sure it's properly collimated especially after being transported.

Dr Pepper

I have the 8.75" DTG Dobsonian and I've gotten great use out of it. Dobsonians offer a great way to get large aperture at a low price. I think I paid 300 for mine and Astronomy Ireland used to charge €600-700+ for them (and possibly still do) - so that's definitely a good price!

Another huge benefit is that it takes about 5 minutes to set up. To give you an idea of the value of that type of scope, I spent a small fortune on this 11" Celeston, which is pretty cool but I still use the DTG as much if not more often than the new one. But like redshift said, I use the binos more than anything!

Good luck with it. Let me know if you need any advice with that scope.. not that I'm much of an expert!

Thargor

Any links/pics of this 8.75" DTG Dobsonian please? Google image search has nothing.

Dr Pepper

Here's the thread I bought mine from (pictured at funny angle):
http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=18599&cat=32

Here's an Astronomy Ireland page about DTG:
http://www.astronomy.ie/dtg.html

Fairly home-made look to it but it does the job quite nicely in my experience.

bogwalrus

thanks lads. I collect it on saturday. The fella seems to know a bit about the scope so i will drain his brain while im there. Will probably be posting a few questions in the coming week though. cant wait to have it set up. I live nice and high up here in cork, so its almost always a clear night=)