thinking about buying a used telescope. found a bunch on craigslist , but i really dont know anything about them. just looking for a decent telescope to check things out especially when i go to northern michigan camping. any ideas as to what brand or specs to look for ? not looking for a real high end one. found quite a few on craigslist for $100 or less.

Dont go there, you will most likely get a bad setup. I had over $10,000 in my setup, so I know a thing or two. I suggest going to www.astromart.com I suggest something like a Meade ETX90. I'll see if I can find a few.

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=559011
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=546749
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds...fied_id=546089

The ETX125 is a bit better but will cost more. These scopes have tracking and goto. makes life much nicer. Worth the price.

Crash course in optics: There are two basic types of telescopes, Reflectors and Refractors.

A refractor is an older design (going all the way back to the time of Galileo) and consists of a long tube and a series of lenses. The light gathering ability of the telescope is determined by the diameter of the main lens and the length of the tube. Problem with them is that as they get bigger, they get heavy...really heavy due to the weight of the glass. The quality of the glass is also important, since the light has to pass through it, change direction, and not get distorted in the process. Big, quality refractor telescopes are big money.

Reflectors are different in that they use a concave mirror at one end to bounce and focus the light gathered on a prism. As mirror making became better, reflector telescopes got better, cheaper, and they dominate optical telescopes (the biggest single mirror reflector is the 200inch Hale telescope at Mt Palomar...mirror made of Pyrex by Corning in New York.) For a given size and weight, you can get a lot more magnification out of a reflector telescope, than a similar refractor.

A small, portable reflector type telescope is usually a good idea for casual star gazing. I'll second the recommendation on a Meade...they have a long standing name, so if you buy it and don't like it, you can get your money back on resale. They were one of the early makers of compact reflector telescopes. If you get hooked on the hobby, then the next step is to get a drive motor for it. My older brother is into the Hobby...I don't know the model number but it is also a Meade reflector..approx 12" in diameter, about 4' long. He'* always been quite pleased with it.

Personally, I use a 66mm Kowa spotting scope. Not exactly designed to be a sky watcher'* telescope, but for my use it does well enough (as well as being used as a very big camera lens and it'* intended purpose of watching bullets go down-range.)

spyin on the neighbors?

A 50x spotting scope will clearly show Saturn'* rings.

500x to 650x is the MOST you'll want or need. If you're on a budget, simply pick a name-brand in your price range. Lean towards those that have extra eyepieces.

I have a 650x and Katie has a 500x. I prefer Katie'* for the moon, as I can't even see the whole moon at 650x, only part of it.

Do not buy any telescope that brags about magnification. It'* all bull. 650x on a telescope is a joke. I had a 2500mm SCT and 620x was considered max. I got it up around 500x and there simply was not enough light anymore. Objects got so dim there was no longer any contrast. What you want is the largest collector you can get. A 90mm is small, but will go great on the moon. My 2500mm was not good on the moon, to much light. A 90mm will not do well on the faint fuzzys, but will do allright on planets. A 125mm wil do better on planets. One scope you might get lucky with is a older Meade LX10. This is a 8" scope and works well.

I think your incorrect on your magnifications. When I went to 500x on my scope I was looking at craters, and they dominated the field. I have many pictures on my site, www.thurs.net/dan and most of these were taken at 33x, If you look at teh notes anything at F10 is 100x, F20 is 200x.

Yep, but at a price. Spotting scopes have an extra lens (like a rifle scope) to flip the image back upright. So, the image is right-side up. That extra lens reduces the light transmitted... so for a given size spotting scope, the same size refractor telescope has got it beat. And for the price, a reflector telescope has got them both beat.

Ditto on the recommendation for change-able eye pieces. They come in standard sizes, so you can mix and match later (Like add a barlow lens to start with, maybe a T camera adapter, etc, etc... add as you learn.)

Danthurs, read what I wrote about extra eyepieces. The MAX is 650x.

I know how to read, and that'* bull. Unless yoru using a 30" light bucket, you are not using 650x Only worry about mirror size, and focal length. Anything below 8" you will not go over 200x. In the astroclub we laughed at everyone that braged about magnification. Get a scope that'* between F6.7 and F10. Want more mag then add a barlow and go to F20, you go to F30 and it'* to shaky, dim, and contrast faided that it simply dont pay. Your talking about going up to F60+ Even with the moon it fades and air currents will be so pronounced that you will get sea sick looking at the moon. I know what I'm talking about here. And just like you want to prevent people from buying the wrong stuff for there cars, that'* how I am with telescopes. I maxed my scope out at 620x, that'* a 10" mirror and a 2500mm focal length using a 2" eye piece. I also did this in dark skys. I looked and quickly dropped back to F20. Do not buy any telescope that has the biggest writing on the box showing the magnification.