Reply #24: Be careful of the eBay Scope [View All]

I don't mean just any scope from ebay, I mean that 6" newtonian that's usually priced too good to be true. There are some good deals out there (my 6" newtonian is from eBay, for instance), but there are a lot of cheaply priced and cheaply made Chinese crapola scopes. There are some good astronomy forums out there with genuinely helpful people -- i used to get advice from people at Bad Astronomy.

Also, invest in a laser calibrator. A properly callibrated telescope is the difference between night and day, if you'll pardon the pun.

My Sister-in-Law's cousin brought a solar scope one weekend when we were all camping at Arches National Park. The ability to look at the sun, track sunspots and flares, really make out details, was astounding. What was even neater was that after a few minutes of sun-gazing, a horde of people began congregating in our campsite. There were well over a dozen total strangers lined up in front of our tents waiting to take a look. We keep meaning to buy one of our own, but finances are never quite right (and his wife thinks it's a giant waste of money, which it is, and that when we go out at night we're really going to the boobie bars, which we're not, but that's really a whole 'nother post).

Meade has great introductory level stuff. I like the prices on their dobsonians, but have never used a Meade personally. If I do purchase a new one, though, it'll probably be a Meade. The level of detail you can make out on deep sky objects is truly beautiful.