Posts Made By: Sandra Hewitt

Been reading here and another forum. Posted there, now posting here, looking for advice.

I am in a bind to get something ordered. My parents have decided to give one gift to my three kids this year; a telescope.

A little background: I have 3 kids ages 8, 6/12, 5. The oldest is interested and we thought it would be a great family thing. Yes we could go binoculars, but since it's coming as a gift, may as well go bigger. We do camp, in a pop up. So nice if we had something that we could travel with. We are in CT about 1.5 hours northeast of NYC, up on a hill with trees on 2 sides of the house. Summer would be semi obstructed by leaves on our back deck, winter has a clear view back there. We camp most often in NY, CT, ME, NH and up across the border. There are 5 of us, so we are packed to the gills when we camp. Being able to bring camping is not a necessity, but a nicety. I have been gifted a 350.00 budget plus shipping. Hubby knows a bit about the sky, I am clueless, can pick out the moon, but interested in doing something with my kids. Kids are typical, very, very active, especially when they are together. It's like having 4 year old triplets many times. And of course, they have limited patience.

I have narrowed it down to 2 telescopes. I am looking at the Celestron 130mm GoTo reflector which runs 350.00 and comes complete with a GoTo system. To me, the pros of this are that the kids can punch something in and see it. Ease of use may help to keep them interested. Not sure how much we could see though, I worry that they may outgrow. Orion reps recommend this one. Like how it has a tripod thing. Don't see dimensions. Looks easier to move around.

The other is the SkyQuest XT6 Intelliscope. This runs 359.00, we would have to invest an additonal 150.00 for the objest locater. There is a 4.5" but doesn't appear that you can add the object locator. Pros to this in my mind are that I doubt we could outgrow it. Cons are the size, looks like a monster, can't find dimensions on it. Sits on the ground versus tripod. Bulky for camping, harder to hide from theives (sad isn't it!) while camping if we brought it. Space in the family room when not in use may be questionable due to bulk.

As I understand it, the Star Seeker would track for us, the SkyQuest we'd have to bump along. I am just way too undecided. Looking for and appreciate any words of wisdom so I can go ahead and make the purchase. Thanks in advance!

Sandy

Heard back from my folks. They checked out the prices I gave them and are okay with the Orion xt6 plus intelliscope. So then hubby says well maybe we should put the extra cash in and get the 8". Is there THAT MUCH difference with the scopes? Hubby does want to go with the intelliscope option for assistance after we get used to doing the normal, easier to view things.

To my inexperienced eye, the 6" will be a bit more portable, from what I've read it should cool down in about 1/2 the time or thereabouts of the 8". The 6" may, from what I've read, retain collimation better than the 8". The extra aperature on the 8" will excel with DSO; what may be a fuzz in the 6" will be more visible on the 8".

There is a 6" on the classifieds here in my state, but hubby is nervous about buying used since we don't know what to look for. However, buying used, we could get a good paid of binoculars as well as a few accessories for the same price. Downside is, if somethings wrong with it we could be out a bunch of money.

Decisions, decisions....

Hi All!

My parents gave my kids (8, 7, 5) an Xt6i for Christmas. All set up and use it as the weather permits in finicky New England.

Looking to get eyepieces that are easier for the kids to use. The scope came with 25mm and 10mm plossls. The 25mm is okay for them, but the 10 gets a tad tricky with eye positioning. I was looking at some of the wide angle offerings.

My eyes are fine although not what they used to be pre-40; husband is very near sighted but wears contacts most times not glassses.

I have been reading the forums since we got it set up, but am suffering from information overload on eyepieces.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!
Sandy

Well, I have gotten very differing opinions; those public here and elsewhere and some private ones as well and appreciate everything that has been said.

As of right now, I am leaning towards the xt series and have given up on the goto types mounts. I did read tons today, so much my eyes hurt right now, and seems like with so many things, simpler is better. I have given up on my camping requirement, looking only to home use for this gift. I will look for a pair of binoculars and bring that while camping. If the kids get really into it, we could always purchase something inexpensive and easily portable later on.

My husband spoke to a good friend of his, come to find out he has the XT8i and highly recommends it. 2 of his kids are the same age as ours. He went bigger as he has more light pollution where he lives in a busier city by the shore as well as a better financial base than we do. He did say he has not yet used his intelliscope but he did purchase it.

I spoke to Orion again today, got hold of a really wonderful gal and we spoke of all the options in our price range. I did forward all the info off to my parents, cost of all the scopes, the intelliscope, shipping. We'll see what happens. Best case scenario, they say go for it all, worse case scenario, they only want to buy the scope in which case we wait to get the intelliscope but I do think I would buy the 'i' series just to have that option.

So, now on to accessories that I will need for this beast. I have been told to get a telrad, is that similar or better than the Orion finder? I will buy the sky map. If they bought the scope and shipping, I was leaning towards a barlow as well? Good/bad? And will I need a moon filter?

Thanks again. Glad todays responses were so much nicer than what greeted me this morning. To be honest, I came quite close to asking to have my sign in deleted. Glad I didn't.

Guess I did things a bit backwards. I have been reading up on telescopes and eyepieces, etc. since mom and dad mentioned this telescope. Since getting the scope and setting it up, I've spent HOURS hear and elsewhere reading on eyepieces. Talk about information overload.....

So I post here, THEN I called Owl Services. From there I am getting a 32mm plossl that I have read decent things about. Nice to read here that I made a decent move. I also ordered a 15mm widefield and an 11mm ultra wide. From what I've read the 15mm size is a good fit for general use for my scope. I will keep the 20MM we have sicne I like it. That 10mm is going in a drawer somewhere before I throw it off my deck! I did order a 2x shorty barlow when I placed the order for mom and dad so I think I have quite a nice assortment. Did I do okay? (nice to ask AFTER the order is placed, aye??!!)

Now I just have to settle on a finder since I've determined that I really don't care for the 6 x 30 on the scope. Kids can use it just fine at it's current angle, I just don't understand why Orion only put one adjustment screw into the darn thing, 2 or 3 would have been better and would have held it in position much better. As is with only one adjustment screw, if you sneeze, it's out of alignment with the scope.

I'm considering the Rigel although I worry that it would get knocked around alot with the kids being so tall, and the Stellarvue Deluxe MRF. I called them today and got another suggestion, a 9 x 50 RA finder, but the more I think about it, the more I think against that one. At their ages and sizes, the straight thru finder is perfect, just won't keep still, the RA finder would require a chair for them. Maybe something to consider in the future but not for us now. Leaning more towards the F2. Looks easy, has many options, not too big, most of all, I've read it's build fairly solid. I know, wrong forum!