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Where - and how - to shop for telescopes

Where...

There are any number of places to purchase telescopes and/or binoculars. Since listing all of them would be a rather futile exercise, I will simply focus on a few places with which I have had great success.

Orion Telescopes

Orion is a very well-known and well-respected company that has been around for over 30 years. They carry their own brand of telescopes that are quite good and reasonably priced made by the telescope maker Synta, as well as carrying the well-known Celestron brand, and the high-end Vixen line of optical products. I have purchased products from Orion in the past - I own a "Short Tube 80" refractor, several different styles of eyepieces that are above average and very reasonably priced, and I also have a pair of their Vista 10x50 binoculars which are very nice.

In particular, I'd have no problem recommending the telescope above as first scope for anyone not interested in building their own. Solid mount, good aperture, and the 25mm eyepiece is likely usable (though the 6mm is not really that great). Overall, a very good first telescope for the price.

Astronomics

Astronomics has also been around for decades, and is another one of those well-known companies that just does a really good job of helping people find the right telescope. They carry equipment from both Celestron and Meade, both of which are well-known manufacturers and distributors of decent quality telescopes and binoculars. They also carry very high end equipment from companies like Vixen, Takahashi, and Televue. If I remember correctly, I purchased my C8+ Schmidt Cassegrain telescope from them a long while back.

Personally, I would be quite confident in recommending either one of these companies as a place to purchase a first telescope. Not only is each well-known for their fair pricing and good quality product line, but each is also well-renowned for their top-notch customer service. These days, that's a highly desirable quality from any company, but especially for a telescope purchase, which are typically few and far between (many people buy one good quality instrument once, and keep it for the rest of their lives).

If you have any questions or aren't sure what to get, each site has a nice tutorial on how to select your first telescope.

But if you have your heart set on one at a retail store, I would simply point out that many (though not al) "department store" beginner scopes generally fall short in a few areas:

• They emphasize magnification ("Get 675x closer!") rather than aperture. For comparison, the maximum practical magnification for ANY telescope is usually 150x or less, due to atmospheric unsteadyness
• The optics are generally decent these days, but many mounts are very shaky (how are you going to see at 675x if the mounts wiggles and each "wiggle" is magnified by 675?)
• The eyepieces that come with them are usually .965" diameter. The U.S. "standard" is 1.25"
• The eyepieces are often VERY poor quality, with very small exit pupils (the size of the hole you look through) and very short eye relief (the distance between your eye and the eyepiece required to see anything)

There are other minor issues, such as very small finderscopes and being difficult to point. But suffice it to say, a small aperture telescope - even as small as 60mm or 70mm - will show you much more than just your naked eye ever can. You'll see more of the Andromeda Galaxy, the four brightest moons of Jupiter, Saturns rings, craters on the moon, globular clusters, open clusters and more color in stars than you can simply by peering upward.

Just remember that you'll see far more with a larger diameter lens or mirror (NOT more magnification), you'll want a solid, easy to use mount and ideally 1.25" eyepieces. Remember those points, and you'll have a telescope that you can enjoy for many years to come, instead of getting frustrated with a poorly made one after a few nights.

Binoculars are a bit different, and in reality, most binoculars that are 8x42, 7x50 or 10x50 and have some optical coatings are a great first step into astronomy (but avoid the "ruby red" coatings - they don't do much except mask poor optical quality). Orion carries a wide selection of good binoculars that are reasonably priced. Astronomics starts a bit higher for binoculars, but carries excellent brands.

Surplus Shed - Find objective lenses for refractors and finderscopes, eyepieces, first surface mirrors, and more. VERY inexpensive prices for what you get, and the quality isn't too bad either, considering it's surplus stuff.

Telescope Warehouse on Ebay - I've bought a 5" primary mirror and secondary with spider for $15 from this store. Also, some cross-hair eyepieces and small finderscopes for my daughters' scopes. Can't beat the prices, and the stuff he has is mostly very well priced.

Meridian Telescopes - In particular, check out the price for a brand new 4.5" primary mirror with secondary for just $32.95 (as of Jan 2009). You can make a telescope for around a grand total of $100 for that price - just pick up one of these eyepieces while you're purchasing the mirror. For about $40 in additional supplies from Lowe's or Menards, you can make a really great telescope - a lot better than some of the ones sold in retail stores for that aperture.

Small Parts Inc. - wow, what can I say? It's the DIY's dream site. Small screws, tubing, bearings, rods, plastic, etc. What a great resource for anyone prone to tinkering with building stuff!

McMaster-Carr - the Big-Daddy of the one-stop-shop industrial suppliers. You need it - they've probably got it. Need I say more?

Hands On Optics - Go to Accessories / Parts / Antares. Nice stuff for those interested in making better telescopes. Great focusers, mirrors, refractor objectives, more.

One last thing: Please be sure to turn off your outdoor lights, or if you must have an outdoor light on, be certain it is a full cut-off fixture, and the minimum wattage required. No sense in lighting the underside of planes at night - it just ruins the night sky for everyone else! Besides, doing so really will save you money on your electric bills. For more information about light pollution, please visit the International Dark Sky Association.