Re: Looking for a good beginner's telescope, suggestions?

From: Alexander Avtanski (avtanski_at_ispwest.com)
Date: 11/10/04 

Date: Tue, 09 Nov 2004 17:56:17 -0800

Ken S. Tucker wrote:
> mtmr02@yahoo.com (Mark Roberts) wrote in message news:<6e74a1a1.0411091126.1df78925@posting.google.com>...
>
>>Hi folks! My 12 year old son has been very interested in astronomy
>>for the past year or so, and has been doing a lot of star gazing with
>>the naked eye and a decent set of binoculars. I'd like to upgrade him
>>for Christmas and get him a good beginner's telescope. (My definition
>>of good would be probably run the middle between price and quality, as
>>I don't want to go overboard and buy something expensive and then end
>>up having him not use it!) He's primarily focused on the moon and
>>constellations before and would like to check out the planets and
>>maybe other objects further out. Anyone have any suggestions on what
>>to get him? I would appreciate any information those with more
>>experience than I could give. Thanks so much! - Mark
>
>
> If you're boy has a good IQ, and takes geometry serious
> then ask him if he understands what an "EQuatorial Mount"
> is and how it works.
> Usually an interest in astronomy is indicative of
> high intelligence and spatial understanding.
> Ask him if he would prefer an EQ mount or a less
> expensive Alti-azmuth mount, to see if he knows the
> diff. If he doesn't a week later, then you'll know
> to get a cheapy Al-az department store job.
> OTOH if a 12 year old can explain to you why an
> EQ mount is better, then the geometry lesson alone
> for him polarizing an EQ is a cheap lesson.
> The scope oughta be a refractor at 60mm or a bit
> more, to keep portability. Much larger will be
> tough on a 12 year old, and reflectors are less
> tolerant of abuse. That'll keep him busy until
> next X-mas.
> Anyway, talk to him and get back to us about
> what he think's he knows. ok?
> Regards
> Ken S. Tucker

I tend to disagree here on a couple of issues.

First, the EQ mount has both advantages and disadvantages. One
cannot just say "EQ is better", because it is not. I'm not saying
that it is worse, it's just a different beast.

Second, I don't agree with the recommendation for a "60mm or a
bit more" as a first scope. A decent 60mm refractor on an EQ
mount (as proposed) would not be more portable than a decent
small reflector on an alt-az mount. The second will probably
provide much better performance at possibly fraction of the price.

Just an example is Orion's StarBlast - a 4.5" newtonian, alt-az
tabletop mount (very stable and easy to operate). For $169 you get
an excellent scope that can keep you busy for years. I have this
one and I'm tired of recommending it to people, so this time I
won't, :-) No, seriously, IMHO it's a great scope and beats any
60-70mm entry-level refractor, and some not so "entry-level" ones.

There are several similar scopes to the StarBlast. Any of these
can do and (again IMHO) would be far better than a 60mm refractor.

- Alex

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