DS wants a telescope for Christmas...how much to spend?

[Bubbinsmakesthree]

DS is 6 and has decided that he will be asking Santa for a telescope “to see the planets”.

He’s been interested in the solar system in a low-key way for a couple of years so it’s not a flash in the pan interest but equally it’s not a yet burning passion.

I’m torn between buying something cheap (£20) that probably won’t be particularly impressive but will tick the box of Santa delivering on his wish. Or spending more (£100-£200) for something that might be better. I’m happy to buy second hand.

We live in London so light pollution means we’re not in a great place for star spotting.

Any advice? Would a 6 year old get value out of a semi-decent telescope or would it be wasted on him? Or is a cheap and cheerful version pointless and just likely to squash any enthusiasm he has for the subject?

My ds had a cheap & cheerful one at a similar age. It was rubbish. Then might have improved in the last 10 years.

Cheap and cheerful is pointless - you need to look at the magnification of the telescope and that will help you. Most kiddy ones allow you to magnify the moon a bit but you'll not get a decent view of any planets or the ISS when it flys' over at all. Plus of course in the winter he'll get use out of it but in the summer he'll have to be up really late to wait for the dark which is probably not ideal for a 6 year old. Deffo get a good one or you're just wasting money. Also download the SkyView app it will show him which stars are in the sky at the current time and then he can find them and learn all about the constellations above him.

Costco do one that looks good quality. Don't get a cheap one, they rarely work.

I'm going to disagree about cheap and cheerful.
I bought my son an expensive telescope at about that age (at his request), he just broke it, he was too young for such a thing.

I bought a cheapish one after doing a lot of research and reading reviews. It wasn't one of those children's ones. They are generally rubbish. But it was suitable for a child. I don't think it's still availble though.

We got DS1 a decent telescope for his 7th birthday. It's a Celestron and cost around £100. I can't remember the model but can check if you like.
It's great!
DS is 10 now and still uses it, as does DS2 (now 7). We were looking at Mars last night!

Just to add, the telescope we got isn't a toy and needs an adult to set it up/focus it.

We got my son binoculars instead of a telescope as we watched a programme that said they were more appropriate for kids. There was stuff about the right numbers to get for looking at space and for children's eyes. They were about £50 and good quality ones

Ooh thanks for the tips!

I’m tempted to get a half-way decent one second hand and then if it turns out to be a flash-in-the-pan interest then I can probably sell it on again without losing a lot of money.

If anyone can recommend makes/models that would be amazing.

Given the city light pollution, you could spend 1000s and still see nothing. My DH splashed out on one, the silly sod. He was supposed to drive it out to a local astronomy spot, never did, or take it on holiday to dark skies areas, never did. He just plonked it in the garden and saw... nothing. Such a massive waste.

We got good quality binoculars for our kids - they are much easier for kids to handle and focus.

DH got a telescope, but it's quite a faff and heavy so rarely used. Binoculars or the scope we have for birdwatching - mounted on a tripod - turned out rather more practical. (And of course great for watching wildlife too)

I got a telescope when we lived in a house with a loft and velux windows. I went on the forums to see which was the best for a beginner and then I bought one on eBay for about £35.00.

Later I gave it to a charity shop.

@Bubbinsmakesthree
Oh, a tip OP. If you look online and find your local astronomy club they often have open nights. You drive to a dark sky location, they they get out these massive great telescopes and let you look through them. They're knowledgeable as well so can explain what you see. I don't expect it's happening know because of covid but I'm sure it will in the future.

I bought my DH one on Amazon a few years ago, it's brilliant.

I had no idea what I was buying, but he had a random burning desire and is a sod to buy for so it fitted the bill! We live near a forest with wide open spaces, so main request was it was portable and easy to pack into a small boot, and set up in the dark - it's never BEEN to the forest, but is carted in and out of the shoe cupboard onto the patio and it still great.

Skywatcher Explorer-130M 130mm (5.1") f/900 Motorised Newtonian Reflector Telescope 10713 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CYHSZ90/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_KKv0DbMTMGXTP

Ah shit, didn't check the old link - is now currently unavailable from that seller! Was available elsewhere though. Was about £125 quid a couple of years ago.

I bought one recently for £70 from Amazon. I thought it was crap! But I wasn’t very patient with looking!

I’m still flip-flopping between a cheap “toy” which would be his to play with and something decent which would essentially be a family telescope he could use with supervision. I have spent A LOT of time reading about telescopes so I quite fancy one myself now!

At the ‘toy’ end I’m looking at one of the National Geographic branded kids telescopes between £20-£40. Reviews vary between “useless” and people who have had some fun looking at the moon and stars:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00K0O1P0K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZO7QFbKEK8PCF?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

At the ‘proper’ telescope end of the spectrum I’m looking at this Celestron which has a smartphone adaptor with an app you can use to help locate stars and planets - reviews seem to suggest it’s genuinely useful not just a gimmick but it would no doubt appeal to gadget-minded DH. It is however £179 so at the upper end of my budget.

www.wilkinson.co.uk/celestron-starsense-explorer-lt-80az-smartphone-app-enabled-refractor-telescope/?gclid=CjwKCAiAtK79BRAIEiwA4OskBsdj1YYhuZ7H0SDBjw0tJAjv2yEcFHQQ9C1Vw14fTktWRN7S80fk5RoC67sQAvD_BwE

I think I’m going to leave it a couple of weeks (the Celestron is currently out of stock anyway) and test DS’s interest before we take the plunge either way.

We bought this for DD. She loves it. Bit of money but you can see the craters of moon and Saturn's rings. We have a street light right outside our garden (photo to show how close it is) but there is an attachment that seems to help with that.

I think seeing Saturn’s rings is the thing that would really excite DS - though that doesn’t seem to need as powerful a telescope as I thought it might.

I am not very good with what any of the lense mm numbers mean. I just screen shot a few telescopes, sent to my Dad and asked him.
The same year I bought her a microscope too. That is also fun!

It take practice with telescope to focus. One small knock and it is out! I love it though. Fun to take outside on a clear winters night with a hot chocolate.

You'll probably be OK with things like the Moon or rings of Saturn, Moon's of Jupiter with a cheap telescope, (£100 or less) though advice used to be that if that was your budget binoculars were a better bet for beginners.

FWIW you can't keep cranking up the magnification with the cheapies, despite the adverts, because once you get a magnification more than say x30 you're going to very quickly need a rigid mount (to stop vibration) and a drive (to counter act the affect of the Earth's rotation)..if you don't have that you start spend all your time "chasing" whatever you are looking at.

A serious beginners scope, the sort of things somebody who is really into the hobby would want is probably going to cost £1000'ish or more and It's very easy to spend multiple £1000's on the hobby...

I’ve been focusing on refractors, even if we go for a ‘decent’ entry level scope. Partly because they “look right” and partly because I’ve been bamboozled by reading about collimation on reflectors and it all sounds a bit fragile for a 6 year old!

From a quality/image POV at the entry/beginners level a small refractor was always generally reckoned to be a better bet than an equivalent sized reflector, not sure if that is still the advice.

..and at least a refractor looks like what a 6 year old expects a telescope to look like, and most importantly the eyepiece is in the "right" place