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I currently do not have telescopes to sell.
If you want to get a feel for the different kinds and features there are in telescopes please click here to book a tour. I have a collection of telescopes of different styles and price ranges and will be happy to show you how to operate telescopes/binoculars, the advantages/disadvantage of each, how to find your way around the night sky, and answer all of your questions
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Most universal recommendation - 8 inch Dobsonian which can be purchased here - more info
Just starting out but not too sure astronomy if for you or you don’t have much to spend on a telescope-
I recommend just getting a good pair of binoculars. We teach all guest how to use binoculars for astronomy at Elevated Tours's Night Tours.
Binoculars are; relatively cheap when compared to telescopes, can be used for other things, is helpful to have with a telescope (should you decide to get one down the line) and a good tool to start to learn the sky. Binoculars sizes are listed with two numbers with an 'X' between (for example 12X50). The first number is the magnification (I like zooming binoculars that have a range here) somewhere between 10 and 15 will be good higher magnification will be more difficult to use. the second number is aperture size and with astronomy the bigger this number the better. The only drawback is that the binoculars will get bigger and more expensive. I think 50 is good it's a bit big but not too big to be thrown in your backpack, I wouldn’t go any lower than 40. Amazon has a good selection here
Just starting out and you want a good telescope:
I recommend an 8 or 10 inch Dobsonian telescope to anyone. The biggest telescopes we have are Dobsoian telescopes If you come to a night tour at Elevated Astronomy Tours you will be able to see one in action. If you are interested in buying a Dobsoian please ask about them we will be happy to show them to you.
A Dobsonian telescope is a design, it’s not a brand, most name brand telescope manufacturers make Dobsonian style telescope. Dobsonian telescopes vastly increases the size of telescopes available to amateur astronomers. They are easy to use and learn the sky with and, allow you to observe faint, deep-sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies. price can range from 300$ to 500$. Amazon has a good selection with good pricing as can be seen by clicking here. There are plenty of cheaper telescopes to choose from but I recommend to save for a good one as it will last your lifetime, telescopes that are hard to use can turn people off from astronomy, and telescopes that are small won’t let you see as much.
The main drawback with a Dobsonian is the size if you don't have dark skies in your back yard or plan to camp/travel with your telescope just get a nice compact ~4 inch telescope. This is the kind of telescope I let guests use on my tours. Do not get a telescope smaller than 90mm (3.5inch) any ting smaller than this is usually an off putting kids toy that has all the magnification of binoculars but all the hassle of using a telescope (just get binoculars). anything more than ~6inches will start to get large enough you should start to consider portability.
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Just starting out, and want to put a lot of money in a really cool toy:
If budget isn’t really an issue and you are fairly new to astronomy I’d recommend a large (8 inch or more) “go to” telescope. The most expensive telescopes we have are go-to telescopes If you come to a night tour at Elevated Astronomy Tours you will be able to see one in action. If you are interested in buying a Go-To telescope please ask about them we will be happy to show them to you.
A “go to” telescope is one that is on a computerized mount, this means the computer will find the objects for you so you can tour around the sky with ease! The computers are usually fairly easy to use, and knows thousands of objects, but you will need to know a little bit of the sky to set it up (but this is easy to learn from the instructions). The main drawback is the price tag (you can get a much larger non-go-to for the price of a go-to) and you won’t be forced to learn the sky as much.
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Used telescopes - if you maintain your telescope it will retain its value better than most things. You can still get deals from buying a used telescope just inspect it before purchase and be sure you can trust the person you are buying it from.
Here’s a quick checklist for used telescopes:
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The mount works - it holds the telescope firmly but is still easy to move the telescope to point in all directions in the sky.
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The mirrors/lenses are clean - cleaning the optics of a telescope is a costly and delicate procedure. If done wrong it can do irreversible damage to the telescope always be wary if the person selling it to you cleaned it themselves. If it looks fairly clean and still has all of the lens caps it should be good.
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The focus knob works and the eyepiece/s are in good condition and easy to use. I’ve regretted buying a telescope with a bad focus knob before. Also 1 ¼ inch fitting eyepieces are standard and good but 2 inch eyepieces are usually better just be sure it fits the telescope you have. Eyepieces come in sizes in millimeters, the lower the number the harder to use but the better the zoom, I would stick to 20mm to 30mm or normally the telescope will come with a range so you can swap based on what you are looking at.
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Alignment - if the optics in the telescope are out of alignment you will get a very bad image check the telescope for dents, scratches, if it has a sturdy protective case the owner stored it in is always a good sign. The only way to be really sure is if you have a collimator use it to check the alignment of the mirrors.
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The finder scope- are there lense caps for the finder scope? is it focused? Are the crosshairs lined up with what is in the telescope? Is it firmly mounted to the telescope? Finder scopes are easier to fix and replace than the rest of the telescope, if you see a problem try to negotiate a price that fixing it is still in your budget.