I’m looking to buy an entry level refractor telescope. Mainly for gazing at the planets and the Moon. An equatorial mount and a sturdy tripod is preferred.
Any advice?

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As a Long time Amateur Astronomer

I recommend these two articles from Sky & Telescope

Then you can decide what your Best Choice is

What to know before buying a telescope.
(pdf download in article(

Choosing a Telescope...

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Compact 9mm Just my $0.02

Go to Cloudy Nights Forums.
You will find a cornucopia of info.
👍👍👍👍👍

Like many things, performance depends on how much money you want to spend. I remember the first spotting scope I bought, a Bushnell I paid about $60 for it brand new at the Tulsa gun show. When I tried it out at the gun range I couldn't even see .38 caliber holes very well at 50 yards. It looked pretty clear inside the building when I was buying it but in practical use outside it was blurry. Sixty dollars was a lot of money to me about 35 years ago and the scope quickly ended up in my kids toy box. I later bought a Leupold and ended up selling it because I wasn't that happy with it's performance however I'm currently using a $300 Redfield scope and it's pretty decent.

Be cautious when buying an entry level telescope! If the telescope is not descent, you, your kids and other potential future amateur astronomers could get frustrated and turned off. Not saying you need to spend 5K, but at least get something worth buying and using. It's very frustrating using a poor quality unit.

Celeastron and Mead are the two major players. IMHO, I'd stay away from the cheap Big Box store brands. You might be better off buying a half way descent telescope used rather then a cheap new one.

Started in astronomy in the late 60s'. High magnification (telescope sensitive to touch and a jittery image) and city haze are not your friend. Viewing in city haze is only good for moon and bright planets Jupiter and Saturn. 7x50 binoculars are excellent for night sky viewing (the x50 is important). The Andromeda Galaxy is visually 2 1/2 times the size of the moon and is a great view away from the city in a very dark sky. Some magnification is only needed for the rings of Saturn and the moons, great red spot of Jupiter. M13 Hercules globular cluster and the nebula in Orion's belt are good. My first telescope was a 6" reflector on a Azimuth mount,was OK but needed an equatorial mount for proper tracking of the object due to the earth's rotation. Next I acquired a 8" F/8 reflector tube assembly and built a motor driven equatorial mount for it. Eventually I bought a 8" F/6 mirror for it and much better for dimmer objects. I also built a 4" F/4 reflector for dim object viewing under low power.
Equatorial mount is important even if it's not motor driven and has only the manual adjustment knobs on it.

The best night time viewing I ever had was back in the 70s' camping in Allegheny National Forest at the Kinzua Reservoir campsites. All I had with me were 7x50 binoculars, pitch black skies, the Milky Way was incredible.

I picked up a minty Spacemaster II not long ago.
15x and 60x eyepiece.
Will be taking it down to the house in Key Largo, for the 4th, as that's a family tradition.
Grandkids and their cousins are in for a treat.
Had a decent Halley scope, long ago, but gave that to my niece, who lives in the Sierras.
Bought a pathology microscope, decades ago, and showed the kids why they should not drink the water in the lake, while kayaking/fishing.

As stated, best to buy something decent.

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I would agree that even a nice spotting scope can get you started, though normal tripods don't work very well with objects that are nearly overhead. We were able to see Saturn's bands and 4 large moons with my 20-60x85 spotting scope, and the moon is spectacular through it.

My wife wanted to get more involved, so I bought her a Celestron Nexstar 6SE. It may be less "entry level" than you're thinking, but on this forum we think nothing of spending $$$ on a handgun, why not similar $$$ for a decent telescope? It's been a very good unit for us so far, and the tripod is plenty solid.

Plan on budgeting for some additional eyepieces, filters and other accessories you'll find yourself wanting once you get started.

The Celestron Nexstar series of 4SE, 5SE, 6SE, & 8SE are great scopes, compact, portable, and relatively inexpensive for what you get.

I think I’ve settled on the Celestron Starsense Explorer Dobsonian 150mm.
I think the Starsense app would be great trying to pinpoint viewing targets and the 150mm mirror should gather lots of light. The only drawback to me is it only comes with a couple eyepieces, but I can add them later, as I desire.

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Nice unit 150mm/6", 750mm focal length, F/5 focal ratio. the 2 eyepieces of 25mm and 10mm will give you 30x and 75x. Focal length mm divided by eyepiece focal length mm = power.
The F/5 focal ratio will provide good brightness of dim galaxies and nebula.
I doubt if you'll want more xx power and probably want less xx power. A 40mm/1.25" mount would be good. Higher power would be good for Jupiter and Saturn.

Do you think the 6” will suffice or should I save to get an 8”?
I don’t want to spend the money anthem find myself wanting a bigger and better scope.
I don’t intend to take it out in my car, just from the house to the back yard and back in.
The Starsense app seems to be a boon to noobs like me.

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Call around to the museums and observatories in your area to see if they know of any star parties. Many clubs have them monthly. Members will set their telescopes up and you can look through them. This is a good way to try out different sizes and types before you buy one.

^^^ agree with above.
Your original post was 'mainly looking at the planets and moon'. The planets you'd be looking at are Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The 8" would not provide better views of them. The other planets of Venus, Uranus, and Neptune have nothing to see.
An 8" would be bigger but not better. You'd really have to go larger than 8" for the planets to get to see detail, so NO for spending more on the 8", the 6" will be good.
You'll be looking at galaxies and nebula after getting bored by the planets and the higher potential power of a larger scope is not the best for those.

Pittsburgh club
Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh – Your Bridge to the Stars

I haven’t pulled the trigger on a scope yet, as I’m still deciding what to buy.
I did run across this. That looks cool.
Seestar | Smart Telescope | S50
Not a large objective but will track for long exposures of deep space objects.

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I have a vintage Bushnell space master with a 15x45 eyepiece and some additional eyepieces like a 20x wide angle. I bought it from an older gentleman who used it for bird watching. $100 off Craigslist. Came in a nice carrying case with a table top tripod. Bought to use as a spotting scope but found it was awesome for looking at moon etc. Astronomer friend gave me the extra eyepieces. Can’t say enough good about it and it’s a fantastic spotting scope. Exactly like this one which has the paperwork and a soft case.

Bushnell Spacemaster 2 II Telescope w/ tripod Hard And Soft Case | eBay

I have done business with Astronomics in Norman, OK for decades. I have recommended them to friends and they have been satisfied too. They will talk to you, answer questions and give good advice.

The more I search, the more confused I get.
I was set on the Celestron Explorer DX150 tabletop Dobsonian, but now I’m likin the Sky Watcher Virtuoso GTi150.
The specs are pretty much the same, 150mm, F5, 750mm focal length.
The weak points of the Virtuoso are the focuser and light infiltration of the truss tube design.
The pros for it are a slightly lower cost, a Goto mount, once it’s aligned, you punch in what you want to see, and the scope automatically finds it.
It also tracks your target. Although the jury is out on the accuracy of longer length tracking, I’ve found some pretty nice DSO pics shot through these, if I ever decide to fiddle with EAA.
The DX150 is just a 150mm Push-to Dobsonian which the Star Sense app. Anything I’m missing?
The price difference is only a few bucks a month spread out over 12 months on Amazon.

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There's mo rush/hurry, the sky won't be changing.
As in post #14, the Pittsburgh astronomy club should be helpful.

I get concerned that after a few trips out of town to find dark skies, and seeing Jupiter, Saturn's moons and a few other object, I will end up putting a telescope into the back of the closet never to be taken out again. Maybe if I some nice looking neighbors that left their curtains open I might have regular use for a telescope. Maybe the right solution is a pair of high power binoculars that can be mounted on a solid equatorial mount. Then I can use the binoculars by hand.

The first part, very true.
The second part, high power binoculars are useless by hand, too 'jittery'.

When you say "entry level" what is your budget? An equatorial mount worth having (meaning it is solid enough to support the scope and have smooth movement on the axes) will cost you at least $400-$500 by itself. If you want a "go-to" mount, one that is computer controlled and can find the object for you, they start at $750-$900.

Refractors come in several types; the singlet has a single lens at the front and is as basic as it gets. You get chromatic aberration with these, meaning a red and/or green halo or border. Light frequencies focus at different distances, so better scopes are doublets (achromatic) with two lenses up front and the best ones are triplets (apochromatic) with a three lens group to eliminate or at least minimize CA. If you buy a cheap scope, your image may not meet your expectations and it will end up unused in a closet. Best to buy a better one. Google local astronomy clubs and see if they offer public viewing nights, and go to one. Most clubs will have many telescopes and you can view through several different sizes and types to see what you'd like to have. Many clubs will also have something for sale, members trade, buy and sell stuff all the time and finding a nice used one will save you a lot of money.

You want something with enough aperture (diameter of objective lens) and focal length to allow for viewing the Moon and at least Jupiter and Saturn. It doesn't matter how much "magnification" you use, stars don't get bigger, but they do get brighter. Field of view gets smaller with magnification. Something in the f/7 to f/9 focal lengths will give sufficient object size, and I'd recommend at least 2.5" of aperture. Prices go up quickly with aperture or with a doublet or triplet scope.

Your best bet is to find a used system in good shape to get something worth having for a low (relative) price. Celestron and Skywatcher, Orion and Meade are all good brands with a wide range of products to choose from.

My two telescopes, an 8" Celestron Edge HD (a Schmidt-Cassegrain with two mirrors, the large one being 8" diameter). It has a focal length of 2000 mm and is f/10, great for small and distant objects. The other is a 81mm (3.2") apochromatic refractor, with a 478mm focal length and f/5.6. It is primarily used for astrophotography.

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You need to try a pair of Canon Image Stabilization Binoculars

We live in an area that has LOTS of wildlife,, and we are constantly looking at the animals,,

I have never tried pointing them "UP",, maybe I will try that..

Look at something,, its a "blur",, then push the button,, instant stable image,,,

We have had them over a decade,, maybe closer to two decades,,
I have only changed the batteries a couple times,,
(A pair of AA,, we use lithium disposable)

Not to beat the subject to death, but I found a Celestron 8SE locally that has a set of various Celestron eyepieces Barlows and filters along with a Celestron Power Tank for $600. I figure new it would be around $2K in total.
I’m because I don’t know the seller and I’d hate to buy a $600 boat anchor. I don’t even own a boat.
It seems to good to be true.

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That's a very good deal.... I wouldn't hesitate, as long as you can have a look through it and verify condition.

I recently sold my Celestron Nexstar 8 with the tripod, mounts, eyepieces and attachments for $1,300 plus $400 shipping of three separate containers that I had "over packed" to protect. It all arrived in one piece and he buyer was thrilled. I had payed a lot more but since my son got married and moved, I never used it anymore. I offered it to him but he was busy being married - lol.

The telescope worked very very well, I never had any issues and especially in the beginning since it was a go-to telescope, we always were able to find what we wanted to view. A very good model IMO.

I didn’t get the 8SE. Seemed too good a price for what it was, plus I think a Dob. Would suit me better.
I went with the Sky Watcher GTi150p. A 150mm Dob. With a Go To mount.
The focuser is junky but it can be modded. Also it tracks, though I’m not sure how accurately. Folks have taken pretty nice EAA pics with them, if I decide to dabble in EAA.

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Don't forget to give a report on it.

I have a pair of Nikon StabilEyes. It works great for Astronomy.

Ustabilized binoculars can be stabilized just like telescopes.

I’d look at Celestron. A good spotting scope can work too. I use a Nikkor 600mm f4 w/1.5x teleconverter and 14mm ultra wide angle lenses for astrophotography.

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