He wants one, I said good idea for Christmas. Any advice regarding optics, zooms lenses etc (I have no idea what to look for) what to get and where from.
Don’t want to spend £££’s as it may be a passing fad.

Dammit. Thought this was a swaps ad.

Suppose I’ll have to buy my own telescope….

If the budget will stretch this:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

Will be able to see some serious stuff with it (Jupiter + moons, Saturn’s rings and some of the brighter deep space objects).

To be honest how much cheaper and you’re asking for disappointment but the Skywatchers 100P would be ok at £89.99.

First Light Optics are an excellent company, really first class and will happily spend time on the phone if you want to chat through ideas.

Also get someone to buy him Turn Left at Orion. Brilliant first book with 100’s of objects to look for with small scopes.

Get on stargazerslounge.com also, the astro equivalent of here. Excellent forum with very knowledgeable folk who are always willing to help.

Dammit. Thought this was a swaps ad.

Genuine lol.

I’ve got a telescope for sale here

Dannyb you see what you’ve done now? You’ve given me a make and I’m now all over fleabay looking for telescopes. How about this one?
Skywatcher

Thanks btw weeble but that’s too pricey.

No problem, thought it probably would be but worth a try 🙂

I have the 150P (slightly shorter tube but essentially the same). Excellent scope. Have a look on stargazerslounge.com under the beginners threads. There is an excellent sticky on what to expect to see and also one on what eyepieces to aim for over time

Have a look on astrobuysell.com/uk also. Great site for second hand astro stuff.

Finally download Stellarium. It’s free and an exceptional piece of software.

As you can probably tell I’m a little out of my depth here. Things I already know it needs to be a cloud free night and you look up. Will check out the website. Cheers.

Ooh, interested in this one too. My son (6) was disappointed when the plastic one my brother bought didn’t work. It was a nice idea but as it probably cost 15 quid from a gift shop I wasn’t expecting anything from it.

With Christmas coming it’d be nice to get him something through which he can actually see something!

Echo what others have said already, you really need a decent one to grab his and your interest. If you can’t see the the moons surface clearly or rings of saturn then you’ll be disappointed.

I had a similar question a while back and this one was recommended by a knowledgeable friend:
http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sky-watcher-heritage-76-mini-dobsonian-telescope/p1033882