Refractor Telescope - LIDL £50 (any good?)

dfarry

As a kid I always wanted a telescope but never had one...

In recent years I have seen cheap telescopes for sale at places like LIDL and ALDI and considered buying them...

However I know nothing about telescopes or really astronomy for that matter and would like to learn more, with my children.

The latest offer at LIDL seems good http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20051215.p.Refractor_Telescope (to a newbie like myself) and I have some binoculars by Bresser that are very good.

But do you think this is worth buying or will it be money down the drain.

Also I live just outside London - so would ambient light possibly affect what I am able to see through the telescope?

Thanks for your help.

popapapa

Hi Dfarry!

I got that telescope a couple of years ago for my son and he has loved it. Apparently, it's a bargain and should retail at around £100. We live in a rural area with no air pollution and have been able to see Saturn's rings with it! don't know performance in more built up areas though.

I might be one for my godson too...

dfarry

Hi Pop,

Thanks for the feedback...

Just a few further questions though...

Does it come in a sturdy case and have you attempted to take any photographs through it?

I'm not really sure what to expect... for example in the case of Saturn and the rings, were these clearly visible or was the image more like a "spec" and a small white line?.... in other words somewhat underwhelming.

I'm not expecting much for £50...but that initial WOW! factor would be good.

Have you also tried viewing closer planets such as Mars.... or even the lunar landscape?

superscotsman

dfarry wrote:

As a kid I always wanted a telescope but never had one...

In recent years I have seen cheap telescopes for sale at places like LIDL and ALDI and considered buying them...

However I know nothing about telescopes or really astronomy for that matter and would like to learn more, with my children.

The latest offer at LIDL seems good http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20051215.p.Refractor_Telescope (to a newbie like myself) and I have some binoculars by Bresser that are very good.

But do you think this is worth buying or will it be money down the drain.

Also I live just outside London - so would ambient light possibly affect what I am able to see through the telescope?

Thanks for your help.

Ah, it just so happens that you have come to the right person.

Someone like Patrick Moore will sniff at this and will recommend some reflector telescope that will cost you 50 times more. He will also tell you that you would be better off with a pair of good binoculars. Maybe you would be, but I have found that my pair of good binoculars are not so good, because they magnify not only the mountains of the moon, they will magnify hand tremor. You will therefore need to attach the binoculars to a tripod.
Now it just so happens that this telescope comes with a tripod. It also comes with oculars (eyepieces) that can be cannibalised, when it comes to upgrading your kit. So this telescope is not so bad after all. Note that the image will in most cases be upside down, although I think a reverse ocular (a concave lens) is included in the package for non-astronomical use.
Where I do agree with Patrick Moore is that if this thing comes with a solar filter, throw that thing away. You must not look directly at the sun under ANY circumstances. Put a sheet of paper on a clipboard, hold that away from the eyepiece and the image of the sun will appear on that.
Yes, light pollution will affect what you see, so you will have to drive out to the countryside to get the full benefit of the telescope.
One can get sniffy about such equipment, but I think it will do more good than harm. My advice: go for it.

BigAde

Thanks superscotsman...
Was wondering if this was any good, I think this answers the question...
Cheers.

dfarry

Great advice there SuperScotsman... many thanks...

Since posted my message I asked a friend who I know has a Reflector telescope.... I asked him to look at this LIDL telescope and he felt it looked good for the cash...

However over the weekend he decided to offer me his telescope free of charge (well I will have to buy him a kebab and rice)
I tild him to think about if for sure over the weekend... apparently the eye piece is broken but could easily be fixed he said (he just hasn't bothered).

However he also sent me this link to his telescope http://www.beststuff.co.uk/celestron_powerseeker_114.htm

Obviously I am not going to turn down a free telescope and I think this cost him about £200, however how would this telescope compare to the LIDL one.... is it in a different league or is the LIDL one still good for the price?
One good thing about the Lidl one I think is because it is a refractor it can be used during the day (perhaps to view landscapes etc...) this is not possible with a reflector?

BigAde

And what would be the difference between the Lidl one and this one (apart from cost):
http://www.beststuff.co.uk/galaxsee_525_refractor_telescope.htm

speedyjoe

BigAde wrote:

And what would be the difference between the Lidl one and this one (apart from cost):
http://www.beststuff.co.uk/galaxsee_525_refractor_telescope.htm

Well that one has a 60mm objective lens and the Lidls one is 70mm, bigger is better.

The Tasco has a simple alt/az mount, the Lidls has a sturdy equatorial mount which means when properly aligned you can easily track celestial objects as they cross the sky. As magnification increases objects move out of the field of view more quickly and re-finding them, especially by the novice, can be very frustrating.

The first specification mentioned says "525x maximum magnification", this is a nonsense figure the likely maximum useable figure would be more like 140x. When you read quotes of ridiculous figures like "525x" you know someone is trying to mislead the uninformed and the telescope is probably crap.

Finally it's a Tasco - it's going to be crap.

HTH

BigAde

Thanks Joe - the Lidl one it is then!

superscotsman

The reflectors are normally preferred for astronomical work as it is technically easier to have a bigger mirror than to have a bigger lens. The astronomical telescopes are usually unsuitable for landscape work because they work on the principle of two convex lenses, which will give you an upside down image. If the telescope comes with a set of removable eyepieces, one of them will probably be a concave lens, and using that will show the image the right way up at the expense of some magnification.
These telescopes are more powerful than the spyglass Cap'n Blackbeard uses to identify the flag of his next victim, and you will find that aiming and focusing the thing on a freezing night is a test of your patience and endurance.

b1g1an

Aldi did a reflector telescope last year...

Search the skies with this fantastic reflector telescope. • 76mm spherical mirror • 700mm focal length • 262x maximum magnification • 6 x 25mm finderscope • 3 x 31.7mm eye pieces, 20mm, 12.5mm and 4mm • Full length aluminium tripod with AG Azimuth mount and accessory tray • Two space maps and CD Rom astronomical guide • Instruction manual • Complete in smart carry case.

...which I got for £30 in their sale, don't really know how good it is but I'm very pleased with it. Think it's come up a few times so may be around again soon.