We’re off for our annual week in Cornwall in a couple of weeks.
We stay miles from anywhere, very little light polution.
I would like a telescope for looking at the moon and the planets if possible.
I haven’t used a telescope before so somthing easy to use for a simpleton would be essential.
Budget £100 (iro)

I think at that budget a good pair of 7 or 10x binoculars might be a better bet. If you’ve got a tripod then get a binocular clamp and you’ll be well set up.

Rich.

Skywatcher 130p. Speak to the guys at Clear View Optics-best astro guys around.

Alternatively look on astrobuysell. Excellent second hand astro site. I got a mint Skywatcher 150p and a decent enough mount for around £130 and that is enough to resolve Saturn’s rings and the weather bands on Jupiter.

Also get yourself on stargazerslounge.com – the STW of astronomy website. The beginners section is invaluable and the guys on there are hugely knowledgeable and being a UK site the advice is pertinent to astronomy in this country.

Alternatively a decent set of binoculars either 10×50 or 12×50 will let you see a surprising amount. Sign up to the binocular sky newsletter and have a look at that site also. Celestron are the go to budget brand and with good reason.

Finally budget for a copy of Turn Left at Orion and get Stellarium installed on your computer (desktop version is free, mobile app costs).

Any other questions fire away and I’ll try and help…

Everything that dannybgoode said. Spot on.

The disadvantage of astro telescopes is that they invert the image, so aren’t much use for anything else. I agree that a pair of bins and a copy of ‘turn left at orion’ would be a really good start. I also use an app called ‘Star Walk 2’ on my phone. There is content that you have to pay for, but it’s reasonable if you buy the bundle.

Thanks for the advice, guys.
I will look into the recommendations.

You guessed my next question by recommending the websites and books.
Where we are staying there is poor reception and no WiFi so I will have to go old school and buy a book I think…
Asked the question at work today and one of the guys has a big sounding Telescope which I can borrow, so may see what that is and have a bash with that. Perhaps buy one if it works out well..

I would love to stay up late with the kids one night and see what we can see…
I will update in a few weeks..
There really is a whole load of advice on this forum!

You guessed my next question by recommending the websites and books.
Where we are staying there is poor reception and no WiFi so I will have to go old school and buy a book I think…

The apps are self-contained, just like most navigation apps, like Viewranger; the data is native to the phone.
Sky Survey is one I use on my phone and pad; it’s based on thousands of photos the developer took of the entire night sky from all over the globe, so the star field you see is as accurate as possible.
Here’s a couple of screen grabs I’ve just done with the phone in airplane mode, while watching Coxy’s Forces of Nature: