advice on a telescope Im still NEW

[antz02]

Im still not familar with them yet but im keen on getting started with this for a hobby

Any advice on what I would see with this telescope and is it really 1 for me who lives in a masonette first floor?
Meade ETX-70AT Digital Telescope
I look forward to hearing from you all soon please.

[Ian]

Hi.

The best thing to do would be to see some telescopes in action. Then you can get a feel for which can do what, how big they are and what you can see with them. Come along to one of our observing evenings and you'll find a good selection to try out. There is never any need to rush into buying a 'scope, it is expected that the stars will still be there in a couple of months and you'll know what is the best use of your hard earned.

If the weathers no good, still turn up, someone'll probably buy you a beer

[Sue]

As Ian has suggested the best thing is to come to the next observing evening Tuesday 28th Oct. Alternatively come along to the meeting at High Elms on Thursday 23rd. There will be lots of regular telescope users to talk to. If you have problems with transport to either venue let us know and we will try to arrange lifts for you

[Greg]

...there is also DCS (Deep Sky Camp) from Friday 24th to Monday 27th October.

[Rocket Pooch]

I have an EXT70 and there ok if you want to look at the Moon, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.  Also some of the star clusters and galaxies are fine.  They are great little scopes because of the portability, I take mine to on holiday (very sad eh!); you can also put some accessories on them that make life very simple for yourself.  As a beginner I have found the go to functionality excellent and the software they come with quite good to give you an idea what's up in the sky.

However, after having a look through some of the other telescopes at the club it's obvious the ETX70 is very limited in terms of the resolution and detail you get.  Having said that, I'm going to persist with the ETX70 because it's very portable and on clear nights it surprising what you can see.  With hindsight I would have bought an ETX90 or something similar but I did not want to spend a lot of money to start with.

I'd suggest you pop along to one of the AOS club nights and ask people about their telescope and any thoughts and recommendations they have.  If you come along drop me a note I'll bring the ETX70 along and you can have a go.

Regards