	$refractor telescope$

Do Your Research

Types of Astronomy

BestTelescope for under $500

ETX on sale at the

Do some research before you buy your first telescope

Don't get stuck with a scope you won't use!

First off I suggest you don’t even mess with the little ‘super store’ $49.95 special. These little scopes are good to give a 5 yr old to chase the cats out of your yard but that Is about it.

Most people that buy these toys (I won’t call them scopes) look through them once. They are so disappointed at what they don’t see, their new telescope usually sits in a corner of the house somewhere, covered with dust, substituting for a clothes line.

You want a telescope that is useful.....they are more fun!

Next,

Get a telescope that fits your life style!…you could have the best telescope known to man…if your not using it …Its no good

You want a telescope that is useful.....they are more fun!

Get it yet?

I have seen people get enthused about astronomy…go out and spend 3 or 4 thousand dollars on a 12” LX200 that will do every thing but make your coffee. They use it 3 times…If you ask them why they never take the scope out anymore and they say “its to heavy for me to set up” or “its to much work to pack it in and out of the car”

I have seen people by beautiful scopes that are technological wonders! They spend thousands for them and then won’t use them because they can’t figure out how they work!

(Another indoor cloths line)

My point is ….If you can’t program the VCR…Don’t get an overly complicated computerized telescope!

If you have a small car, get a portable telescope!

If your 75 with a bad back get a light weight scope or a huge scope permanently mounted on a pier in an observatory in your back yard!

Yada yada yada preach preach preach ...you get the idea

Next.

For the Best Telescope
Do some research!, Do some research!, Do some research!

Did I mention to do some research? There are a million good places to research your first telescope. There are a ton of telescope based web sites that have more information on telescopes and telescope accessories than I could even think of. So I am not going to get into that part of researching your first scope. I will suggest that you visit "sky and Telescope" a great astro mag and go to Mead.com and Celestron.com and maybe Telescope.com for a start. (Although if you’re not up on the lingo, some of them are going to be confusing at first Check out the astronomy glossary)

Please! If you go browsing online don't buy until you are ready! I can't stress this enough. If this site does nothing else I hope it makes the point to only buy your first scope WHEN YOU ARE READY and you know what you want...By the time you know what you want for a first telescope you will have enough information to get a fair deal and will be better off for it

The absolute very best advice I can give some one that is considering buying there first telescope?

JOIN A LOCAL ASTRONOMY CLUB

Seriously, this is probably the number one thing you can do for your self to make a well informed decision on your first telescope purchase.

Star Party at Balboa Park in San Diego 9-3-08

Cindy and I joined the San Diego Astronomy Association before we bought our first real telescope. (yea I had one of them toys) The club gave us the opportunity to look through hundreds of telescopes! Fortunately for us the SDAA is over 600 members and is one of the larger astronomy clubs around so we were very lucky to have so much research opportunities available.

For the most part I have found amateur astronomers to be a super bunch of people..Yes you have your snobs and super geek's but they are usually the ones with the coolest equipment and the most knowledge!

To be honest, once you get them guys talking about there setup, you cant hardly get em to shut up LOL.
They will pour more information into your ear in one night, than your brain can assimilate in a year! I swear my mind has shut down on me on a few star parties…."sorry guys no more room in there..I gota go"

If you want to learn about telescopes and astronomy in general, even if you never buy a telescope JOIN THE LOCAL ASTRONOMY CLUB.

There is more info there than the local library and all you have to do is hold still, they will force feed it to you if you show the slightest interest<G>

Go to star parties! They are held all over the place just look for them. Typically they are held by the local astronomy club. If you go to star parties look through as many telescopes as you can. THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE THERE FOR! Sounds silly I know …but I have seen people go to a star party but are to shy to go up to a telescope and look through it.

Astronomers love people looking through their scope…If you see a scope set up. Go up and ask if you can look too. 90% of the time you can ..unless they are doing photography…in that case, they will snap at you and tell you they are busy NOT. the majority of the Astronomy world are some great folks!

So do your research!

1. Join your local astronomy club The number one research method for fist time telescope buyers and beginning astronomers

2. Go to star parties. Not only great for astro information but they are fun!

3. Online and reading. This will be ongoing as you learn more about astronomy! The research never ends.