Affordable Telescopes

   Orion Telescopes & Binoculars is one of the largest distributors of astronomy hardware in the world. Whereas Meade makes its livings mostly with the Mak-Cas and SCT designs,Orion does a major business in ALL types of telescopes, but mostly in Dobs, Newtoniansand refractors. Their prices generally run from $200 to $650. Take a close look at theirSkyQuest "IntelliScope" Dobs (their 10-incher is shown here). These are "semi-smart" scopes, with digital readouts (they call it a 'computer-controller') that help you find objects manually (14,000 objects are in the database). They are priced from $399 to $699 for 6, 8 and 10-inch apertures (the Intelliscope option is $149 of those prices, you can buy the scopes without Intelliscope for less). These are excellent buys and are highly recommended.

   The IntelliScope feature is a popular form of manual 'GO-TO' for Dobsonian telescopes. Almost all Dob manufacturers are offering this type of device for easy entry into the popular technology of finding celestial objects without knowing where they are. These are manual systems in that any object of known RA and DEC can be found by simply entering the object's coordinates on the display, and then moving the scope by hand until the display reads "zero"... and ZAP! There it is in the eyepiece! For $149 it's a great entry-level system which in theory will help you find virtually any object you want to see. You must still 'track' the object yourself unless you have a motorized Alt-Az drive. Motor kits are available for any Dobsonian telescope, and do-it-yourselfers are installing them all the time.

   Meade is by far the largest selling brand of telescopes. Their bread and butter items are (for the most part) the increasingly popular Maksutov-Cassegrain and SCT designs. Their latest line of ETX, LX, and DS-series instruments are amazingly easy to use, computer-accurate, and relatively affordable. Their LXD Series of Schmidt-Newtonians and refractors are excellent instruments, within reach of most beginning amateur budgets. Their 6-inch Schmidt-Newtonian, complete with Autostar GO-TO computer drive sells for $999. An optional coating process (UHTC) is available on many of their scopes. The LXD refractors, (AR-5 and AR-6) are very nice computerized "Go-To" achromats. And of course their LX200's and LX90's are always seen at star parties in prodigious quantities. Meade's Series 5000 Premium Grade eyepieces are among the finest examples of quality optics.

   Meade's ETX Series (pictured here) is possibly the most popular mass produced telescope in the world. Coupled to their Autostar controller, the ETX telescopes open a wide door of accessibility to beginning amateurs as well as veteran observers. They are extremely portable, and are available in 80, 90 & 125mm aperture sizes. This is a high-quality instrument, and a lot of fun for observers of all ages and skill levels. The ETXranges in price from $299 to $899.

   Stellarvue offers some very high quality refractors in both achromatic and APO^†configurations. Achromats are available in 80mm (80mm of clear aperture as measured by Sky & Telescope magazine) and 102mm. Various packages are available starting at $499. High grade APO designs of 90 and 105mm start at $1995 (the SV90TBV is pictured here). These are extremely good bargains, and very highly recommended!

^†NOTE: - APO is an abreviation for "Apochromatic", an expensive configuration of refractor telescopes which yields images that are almost completely color-corrected for chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is a refractor's tendency to display a bluish or violet prominence around very bright objects.