Xmas Gift Scope Advice

Hi all,

A friend of mine is looking at ideas for Xmas gifts. He saw the below scope on line and wondered whether it would be a good gift for a family member who is an occasional observer or best avoided altogether.

www.jessops.com/online.store/products/76685/show.html

My own view is that for the price - whether the mount and also the optics might not be of the best quality. Is it worth a go given the price?

Thanks

Neill

It's a 4" reflector Neill. Your friend is not going to see anything worthwhile with it, no matter how good the optics or the mount or anything else. Note the bit about "usual 60-80mm"? They're talking about refractors.

Hi Neill
There are many members here far better qualified to answer your question than I am, but I will give you my opinion for what its worth, beware of overrated claims for one thing you will not get 400x mag, 200x would be nearer the mark as you probably know, I can barely get 400x with my 8 inch, the mount would not be great either. really for that sort of budget and after post and packaging I would be more inclined to buy a good pair of binos. This in my opinion only and I am sure people here better in the know will help. Best of luck whatever you decide.
Aiden

Have you seen this:
www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_inf...onian-Telescope.html
Reputed to be very good value for money and of reasonable quality.

michaeloconnell wrote: Have you seen this:
www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_inf...onian-Telescope.html
Reputed to be very good value for money and of reasonable quality.

A member of the IAA has one of these scopes and speaks very highly of it. Bear in mind that he also owns an SN-10 so he is aware of what a decent view is.

Hi all,

Thanks for the feedback. Would agree that the Jessop scope is best avoided. The table top celestron could be an option, we are talking about a very occasional observer who might want to grab a look at the moon or the brighter planets, so something easy to set would be essential. He had an ETX70, but it was stolen. So looking for something of similar capability.

Saw the below on telescope house - Orion is an established name, easy to set up - any thoughts?

www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Orion_Go...actor_Telescope.html