Refractor Telescope $19.99

[DealSpreeDotCom]

This telescope features 6x25mm finderscope with crosshairs, a diagonal viewer, four interchangeable eyepieces, 3x Barlow Lens, 1x erecting eyepiece, aluminum tripod with screwdriver, full illustrated instruction manual, space map, and more!" Plus there are $10 off $30 coupons so you could actually get the telescope and $10 worth of other stuff for $20...not a bad deal!

Telescope

 

[IronTek]

I'm not really into telescopes/specs/etc.

is this a good deal?

 

[VenGog]

Whats is the shipping cost? any other good buy's for $10. I became very lazy after becoming member/browser of these deals, because most of the postings give complete details, all the options etc., Please continue that style for people like me, who will just get those.
Thanks for this post though.

 

[Ace4]

$20 for a telescope is not bad. But any telescope that is listed as "525 power telescope" is generally not very high quality, and you will NEVER get that magnification from a telescope that small. At that magnification, everything would just be a blur. Generally speaking, the maximum usable magnification you can get from a telescope, under good seeing conditions (calm atmosphere, cold air) is about 50 times the aperture (in inches). So if that is a 60mm aperture (probably), that would be about 118 max magnification. Generally the mounts on those cheaper telescopes are pretty crappy, you touch them and they shake for awhile, and they don't keep the telescope steady. But for $20, you will see some cool stuff, as long as you realize that some of the lenses they give you will be useless (too high magnification). The moon will look cool, and you would be able to see the 4 galilean moons of jupiter, and a bunch of other stuff. But don't expect jupiter to look like the hubble photos you see

Like i said, $20 for a telescope is not bad at all.

Ace4

 

[VenGog]

Here is a bit better deal for $29.99
'Deluxe Set Microscope & Telescope
Price: $29.99'

Link for Telescope and Microscope

This Deluxe Microscope and Telescope Set is ideal for the serious young scientist. Comes with 1 5/8" die cast microscope and projector. The microscope can be used either traditionally or as a projector to display the samples being studied. The 61-piece microscope set includes 3 objective lenses (10x, 25x, 50x), a 4-color rotating filter, and numerous other accessories. The 30/60 power 50mm telescope has a zoom power up to 1000x. It has an all aluminum body and tripod and comes with a diagonal mirror. Also included are two interchangeable eyepieces (16.6mm, 8.3mm). 2 "AA" alkaline batteries are required (not included).

 

[Kroffty]

Is anyone having a hard time getting the $10 off $30 codes to work? The basket keeps giving me this b.s.(Welcome Gator.com First Time Customers! Your Gift Certificate or Coupon discount will appear once the $30.00 minimum purchase requirements are met. ) and I have over $50 in the cart.

 

[JackMDS]

I could not resist the Scope for my Grandson.

Shipping is $3 for the order + $1.5 per item. The Scope alone is $4.5

I added two small items, so total ship is $7.50.

The $10 discount appears only at the very end, after you enter all Info. including CC.

At the last step before confirmation it will be deducted.

 

[optoman]

Been looking for stuff around $10 bucks when I came up with this:
Star Wars Widescreen collectors edition

It's $15 bucks but after the discount it's only $5.

Anyone else have anything interesting for around $10?

Edit: How about some hemp bracelets?

 

[wsmith5]

ace4 is right on he money regarding the usefullness of this scope, it's a toy and not suitable for those with a real interest in astronomy, I have a telescope buying faq I can send (95k) to anyone interested ....

 

[fitzm]

Kroffty, I kept getting the same type messages so I just ordered it by itself.

 

[deadmeat]

I have a 5-yr old boy who thanks you for the heads up on the microscope/telescope combo. Never too early to get the youngsters involved in nerdly pursuits!

 

[bladerunner8]

_not_ a fan, but cyberrebate had at least a microscope a few months ago and always have binoculars etc. They also have forms to submit so the UPC code needn't be torn [gift form]
Yeah, _way_ overpriced for the initial outlay.
And I also agree that toys of this nature, I mean el cheapo yet powerful just add a frustration factor that really isn't fair to the kids who are the market.

 

[SideshowBob]

wsimth5, can you send me the telescope buying guide faq? i'm on the market...still browsing until i gather enough $$$ to get a high quality one...thanks...

 

[fitzm]

Thanx wsmith5. YGM.

 

[flot]

Well for $20 I decided to buy it and see what I get. It looks like it's medium decent so if nothing else it'll add some class to my apartment. ;-)

Since wsmith hadn't replied yet - I did a quick search and found a telescope faq at:
http://www.xmission.com/~dnash/astrodir/saafaq/faq.html

We'll see how it looks! $25 shipped for the scope and a cool super soaker to keep those pesky software developers out of my office.

 

[wsmith5]

my telescope FaQ is the same as Flots ( thanks for the post) but just in text form so you dont need to be connected to the net to read it, and I'll only email it if someone email's me about it.....

 

[Skip]

Just want to thank you for the scoop on the $19.99 telescope. I bought it as a gift and it was just opened today.

For $19.99 I am impressed with it. Very nice. Thanks

 

[fitzm]

Ditto. Nice for 20 bucks.

 

[MattStone]

I remember this from a while back. Was the original link to kbkids? i didn't remember it being that one. Any other cheap telescope deals?

 

[wizz0bang]

This is not a "hot deal" this ia a rip off. With telescopes the addage "you get what you pay for" applies, far more than it does with computers. The only deals on telescopes are found second hand.

60mm is useless for anything other than the moon and perhaps a glimps at saturns rings. Even high quality 60mm objective lenses are only used in binoculars and finderscopes at around 8x. The quality of any "department store" refractor is dubious at best. The mounts are unstable and awkward. In my experience they are worthless and should be used for day-time spotting scopes only, or trown away. They are so hard to use and get images out of, that most people who buy them will be turned off from astronomy for good and leave the hobby in disgust.

Go get a 6" or 8" dobsonian telescope... 6" is the minimum entry size for a telescope in order to get any decent results. Dobsonians are the ultimate "user-friendly" telescopes. You can pick one up for around $300 from Orion telescopes or some other dealer (Orion, Made, Coulter, Celestron all make good low cost Dobsonians).

There is a nich market for refractors... one good 70mm comes to mind (the Teleview pronto), but it costs $1200 + $200 for each eyepiece. It is primarily used for Ultra-wide feild, low power (20x) observations. Then you get into 4" refractors (105mm), which cost $2000 + for quality ones. Even then, they aren't all that hot for looking at general "wow, that looks neat" stuff for beginners.

Even with a 10" (254mm) telescope, you will be limited to 200x on a good night. The atmosphere is very unstable, so usually 120x will be your maximum. Most nebula and galaxies are best viewed at low power, 40x or so. Stating 500x on the box is absolutely rediculous for any telescope. I have used this type of mag before, but only from 10,000' under absolutely perfect skies, while looking at the planets through a very expensive and large (20&quot telescope.

The best advice I can give you... get in touch with your local astronomy club... they will show you the telescopes in actiona and you can make an informed decision about them. Many clubs even have a "loaner" program where you can borrow an 8" or 10" scope for a few weeks. Trust me, if you buy your kids a sub $100 department store scope, it will sit in the closet and get them frustrated.

However, if you want an ultra-cheap spotting scope... get one of these things, throw away it's tripod, and jerry-rig a more stable mount of your own. Probably not that bad for looking at terrestial objects.

Chek out these places for some info:
www.oriontel.com
http://www.murni.com/ody_0.htm