Don't Fall for 'Hobby Killer' Telescopes This Christmas!

[@Astrolavista]

One more thing to consider! If your kids want to use a telescope for daytime viewing as well as stargazing, steer clear of Newtonian or Dobsonian reflecting telescopes, as they produce an upside-down image. While this isn’t an issue for astronomy (since there’s no 'up' or 'down' in space), it can be confusing during daytime use. For a versatile option, I recommend a refractor or Maksutov telescope with an erect-image prism diagonal, which will provide a right-side-up view

[@CorvusNumber6]

I don't own a telescope myself but after watching Ed Ting's videos about 'hobby killers' I consider myself warned 🤣 (I bought myself a really nice pair of 10x50 binoculars instead).

[@Vic-pz5oh]

Similar story to me growing up but still didn't give up.flo are very good

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

Great and very timely advice. I remember being given one of these things for Christmas 1967. It showed some craters on the moon and that was it. I was so disappointed but didn't say anything as I didn't want to upset my parents. Being an inquisitive kid I dismantled it after the guarantee run out and rebuilt it using an eyepiece from an old broken pair of binoculars a friend gave me. It was actually improved, I could actually see a few Messier and NGC objects although of course they just looked like out of focus stars and there was of course a lot of false colour. Still, I had a lot of fun using it for a year or two. Real telescopes were very expensive back then and a lot of people built their own, usually Newtonians, we built one at school and I can still remember the first time I looked through it, it was Easter 1970 and I saw Saturns rings for the first time, I still have my notebook with the drawings I made. We are so lucky today in the range of decent astro gear available. Actually I rarely look through my telescopes they are mostly used for imaging but I do like star gazing with binoculars. Comet Tsuchinshan Atlas looked quite spectacular. I always warn people about cheap scopes from non astronomical suppliers ( except for some camera shops that occasionally sell branded scopes like Celesteon or Skywatcher) when asked for my advice, i also tell them not to expect to see dso's as anything other than a faint misty blob, except for some clusters which can appear quite striking, unless they get a smart scope.

[@Astrolavista]

Great memories Kevin, thanks for taking the time to share! You also reminded me that I need to dust off my mirror grinding project which got shelved at the polishing stage. I need to make a pitch lap and continue with it at some point.

[@stuartbolden2142]

Great advice as always ,Chris. Another good video which is invaluable to the beginner .

[@Astrolavista]

Very kind of you to say Stuart, thanks! Hopefully it will help save one or two disappointments (no fault of the parents of course, who always have the best intentions). Have a good weekend mate!

[@shabingly]

IMO, really good advice and really well explained.

[@Astrolavista]

Thanks :)

[@dunringill1747]

Nice, good advice

[@bierrollerful]

12:19 Wait... does that mean you wear a go-pro while vacuuming? 😆

[@briwaxman]

thank you

[@Tony-Elliott]

Great advice Chris mate

[@Astrolavista]

Thanks Tony 👍

[@MM0IMC]

12:21 Hoovering again? 🤔😂 Probably around about 1979-1980, my parents bought me a toy telescope for Xmas. It was truly awful, but they weren't to know that.

[@Astrolavista]

lol sometimes I have to multitask 😆

[@3dfxvoodoocards6]

Like! Would have been interesting to see some examples of beginner telescopes you recommend in different prices categories.

[@Astrolavista]

Thanks! I mentioned I would list examples in the video description; if you want to check them out (The video was getting a bit long otherwise lol) I covered a couple of common price categories.

[@3dfxvoodoocards6]

@Astrolavista I understand but it would have been much more interesting to see you review and talk about the beginner telescopes you recomand :)

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Great advice Chris I remember a woman chatting to us at an outreach event to myself & my astro friends that we hosted & they had brought with them what can only be described as cheap tat. We did set it up indoors thankfully as it were cloudy outside to there was no disappointment to view through the eyepiece. But I did say that the views you will get with this will be very poor at best & where you need to buy a scope from is from a proper vendor. Failing that join some second hand astro groups & buy one from there as most equipment is generally well cared for. Sadly people will see all these space images on the box with it reading 300X power & folk will think that's a bargain then get severely disappointed & put off the hobby.

[@Astrolavista]

Hey Tich mate! you did her a solid with that advice, and good shout about second hand; I used to use Astro Buy and Sell more than a lot, and rarely had a problem. I think the images on the boxes of these toy store scopes is one thing that may have improved. I didn't notice the usual Hubble-type Eagle Nebulae image on the 60mm plastic refractor box...but it still said 525x through!

[@luboinchina3013]

The best bucks for the money and easiest to use would be 60/700 reflector made by skywatcher. I got it cheaply and still use it even now as a guide scope. Just need to fix the tube with hot glue so it doesn't wiggle when I auto guide. The tripod is really important even for visual so it doesn't wobble during viewing. Put some weight to stabilize it more. I wouldn't use NEWTONIAN for visual, as you usually need to stand often in a strange angle to see the object, while with SCT or refractor you can just sit down and watch comfortably without touching the eyepiece. For visual, wide binoculars with 2.5 or 3x magnification are great, as not the best for visual experience of the stars. With visual except planets, the wider field of view, the better the experience. Once your budget reaches the price of DWARF 3 or SeestarS30 or S50 get those instead. No visual scope will reveal as much as any basic astrophotography setup. Great video. PS. DON'T EVER BUY CELESTRON's cheapest POWER SEEKER 400mm. It's awful.

[@Astrolavista]

Morning :) Thanks for sharing " I wouldn't use NEWTONIAN for visual, as you usually need to stand often in a strange angle" I have a tip for this! If using a Newtonian on an EQ mount, position the focuser so it's pointing away from the counterweight bar and you will always be able to reach the focuser comfortably :) If using a Newtonian on an AZ or Dob mount then reaching the focuser should be fine. Having said this, refractors are my favourite for kids because the eyepiece is low down when the scope is pointing up at the sky, so easy for them to reach. They are also robust, no collimation required and can be used during the daytime unlike Newtonian's. Your recommendation sounds similar to the Sky-Watcher 70mm f/10 refractor I recommended in the description: www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/sky-watcher-mercury-707-az-telescope/ref/astrolavista/ I reviewed this against the Celestron Astromaster 70mm f/10 and the Sky-Watcher's mount was much better balanced and the included eyepieces provided sharper views. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3m0fmh3p6ychNU Thanks for taking the time to share your advice, cheers!

[@luboinchina3013]

@@Astrolavista Exactly that telescope. I mean, would you agree on it? I got mine for 300CNY that is like 40-5 pounds? You can still find them, but only rarely. They seem to be gone from the market in China. I still have it mounted on my Edge 8HD as a backup guide scope when stars are not available on OAG and also for Autoguiding on comets

[@kevanhubbard9673]

They are low quality but possibly, probably, give a better view than Galileo had through his telescopes? Also the quality can vary on aspects of them for example the finder looks to be say 30 mm but it's actually stopped down but the actual main scope is ok.

[@DavideMazzetti]

I very much doubt that. Galileo ground his own lenses out of glass - these toy telescopes use plastic more often than not as was pointed out in the video.

[@Astrolavista]

It would be interesting to compare a Galileo replica with a toy store telescope. I suspect the Galileo replica would show more as it uses glass lenses, whereas there tends to be some clear plastic optics used with the toy scopes.

[@MM0IMC]

23:15 0.93 inch? 🤔 Don't you mean 0.965 inch. 😉

[@Astrolavista]

Near enough ;)

[@luboinchina3013]

Let's all beginners to get Takahashi😂

[@Astrolavista]

They would love it :D

[@paganphil100]

Yes, just as soon as I win the lottery. 😊