Maplin telescope

Hi,

Got the Maplin christmas gismo catalogue in the post today.

On page 21 there is a 700x60 telescope for EUR 79, and a computer guided telescope for EUR209.

They are in fact the very entry level Meade NG-60 & NGC-60.

The general reccomendation is to not buy refractors beow 70mm in diameter. The 60mm ones gather only 3/4 the amount of light that a 70mm scope would and is roughly equivalent to a binoculars with 40 mm lenses.

Personally I think your EUR 79 would be much better invested in a pair of 10 x 50 binoculars.

As for the EUR 209 computer model, as I've said I think 60mm is too small, and at that money you can start to look at large binoculars which will give more satisfaction.

Others may disagree, but in case anyone is looking at them I thought best to say that IMHO 70mm is the smallest diameter you should consider for a refractor.

Cheers,
~Al

Then again, the computer guided model might be a double whammy - you could use the motorised mount for your (digital) slr camera for tracked exposures, and use the 60mm as a spotting/finder scope on a larger telescope!



Seanie.