Hi folks!

This November, my husband and I stayed up all night to see the Leonid meteor storm. He and I have always been fascinated by astronomy, but seeing those Leonids was fascinating, and left us both speechless and hungering for more!!

So I am trying to find a telescope to give my husband for Christmas. I checked out the Meade ETX's, and don't know if he would like them, because of their short battery life in the field when it's cold. We stayed out all night for the Leonids -- a computerized telescope could not last that long in cold weather (that is what I read on an another astronomy site, if that is incorrect please feel free to let me know).

I'm looking for something we can take out to a dark field with minimal to medium light pollution, set up without too much trouble and stay as long as we wish without worrying about any batteries going dead. Preferably something that enables us to see Jupiter's rings and clouds, Uranus and Neptune. Pluto is a long-shot (I think). My budget is up to $350. One reason why I'm asking here is that the people here have much more experience than I, and may have used a certain telescope as an amateur and liked it very much before moving moved on to "bigger and better" (i.e., more costly) equipment. I'd be interesting in knowing what favorite "amateur" telescopes you preferred.

Thank you for any help you can provide, happy holidays!

• Here's my advise - bobsal - December 10, 2001 - 14:15 UTC
  • Thanks for the helpful advice! - littleone - December 10, 2001 - 16:17 UTC
    • Keep me posted - bobsal - December 10, 2001 - 20:44 UTC
      • Yes, this is a good book - mpinson - December 11, 2001 - 15:43 UTC
        • Re: Orion - James/">James - February 24, 2000 - 21:30 UTC
          • I saw 4" goto refractor in Sam's club for only $199. - alexander - December 13, 2001 - 19:45 UTC
            • You sure that was a refractor - bobsal - December 13, 2001 - 21:32 UTC
              • It was a reflector. Reflector is better than refractor. - alexander - December 16, 2001 - 18:42 UTC
                • too simple. - eddiec - December 19, 2001 - 13:30 UTC
          • Book of Abraham-Faccimily #2 - sagebin - September 29, 2003 - 00:11 UTC