telescope
 

I'm thinking about buying a telescope. I want one that will allow me to gaze the stars but also my surroundings as I live in an area with beautiful scenery.

What should I get? Are there some that are only designed for looking UP? Etc,

It's not out yet but was thinking something like this:

http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes...technology.cfm
http://www.meade.com/etx-ls/images/etx-ls.jpg

Don't lie B, by 'sorroundings' and 'beautiful scenery' you mean hot neighbors right :D

This should work :rofl:

ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS,

Which telescope do I buy?

I don't ask you what you do with your telescope, don't ask me what I do with mine.. lol.

what kind of stuff do you want to look at? There are certain scopes designed for watching meteor showers, some for looking at relatively stationary objects, some for looking at close objects, some for far...more info and I may be able to help.

(would this be considered, near focus capabilities?)
Goal 1, - Downtown Los Angeles at night.
Goal 2, - Griffith Observatory
Goal 3, - The Canyons around my house
Goal 4, - Cool stuff in space.

I live in a scenic canyon and we also have snow capped mountains, historic landmarks, etc.

But I don't want binoculars on a tripod. If I'm going to spend some money, I'd just assume buy a nice piece of equipment that is sturdy, well made and will last beyond those cheap telescopes people buy as toys and throw out after 3 uses..

Didn't know you could gaze at the stars through all that light pollution in L.A.

http://www.utahskies.org/lightpollut...ion_nebula.jpg

I don't think it's ideal.. But also don't think it's impossible..

But again, I'm mostly getting one for land based usage.. But I don't want a spotting scope. I want a nice telescope.

A very common question. Based on your plan for terrestial observation, occasional star-gazing, better than a spotting scope....

IMHO, you should get a refractor. In simple terms, that is a long tube, not a reflector or catadioptric (like your picture). But there are lots of other choices. Most of the sites I list below have articles called "How to buy a telescope"

Telescopes 101:

Simple refractors are finder scopes. One step up gets into the spotting scope category. Larger and better quality ones are available. Eventually you get up to an apochromatic telescope, meaning that it has better characteristics related to false colour (purple fringing).

Some comments:

Lots of people buy telescopes. Most of those scopes end up at the back of the closet. Better to wade in slowly, or limit your expenditure to a sum that you won't mind losing half of if you sell the scope on ebay. Just a cautionary note.

Real scopes have quality eyepieces. Different eyepieces have different magnifications. You will need a selection, and maybe an erecting prism for terrestial viewing (so the image isn't upside down). Doesn't matter with stars, but it matters with scenery.

Real scopes deserve real mounts. That is what holds it all up. You don't need a computerized Go-To mount for your stated purpose. Instead of an equatorial mount (which tracks the motion of the stars with motors) consider an alt-az mount. It moves side to side, and up and down. The scope is balanced so that it holds its position. I use an equatorial mount for astronomy (Vixen GPD2 with computerized Go-To) and a very solid camera tripod with a special head for quick peeks. The latter is fine until you want to look straight up, then you need a proper astronomical alt-az, such as a Televue Gibralter.

Real scopes come from telescope stores, not department stores. Start with www.buytelescopes.com (Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird). I drive to the US just to buy from them. There are lots more. The good ones all sell mail order. Check out Astronomics (I haven't used them myself)

The telescope community has lots of web sites. I like www.scopereviews.com (Ed Ting). Check out www.cloudynights.com

Some brands to consider: For your use, I would look at www.televue.com I have had a Televue 85 for 10 years now which is good for your described use. You can go up or down from that model in price (and aperture). Televue make very good eyepieces, no matter which scope you buy. I have 8 or so, from 3 mm Radians to 35 mm Panoptic. Cool stuff. You can also check out Meade, Celestron, Vixen, and Takahashi.

The rest of the stuff: Mounts, eyepieces, camera adaptors, finder scopes, cases, and that is just the start. It is an addiction.

Hope that helps

Jeff

You may just want to get something called a Dobsonian telescope, we have the old version of the Meade you have pictured in your original post, and it is a piece of crap, it is so difficult to use and the motors are always broken. For first-timers, the Dobsonian is really easy and hard to break if your not careful (it's a really simple design, long tube with a collector at the bottom that focuses to an eyepiece 3/4 of the way to the top. If used pretty much every type of ocular scope, here at G'town we have an observatory that I help run.