I'm searching for a telescope...

[viper37]

Father's Day this week-end.

My father always wanted a telescope, so I decided to go against my better judgement and buy him one.  I'll bolt it to his floor so he can't point it toward my house (it's a family tradition started by my grandma to spy on your kids, it would seem ).

Anyway, I need a telescope primarly for land based observation.  He wants to watch the St-Lawrence river, check the boats, check the other side of the shore, stuff like that.  Ocasionally, watch the sky.  The river is a few km from his house, downhill, so unless someone decides to build a skycraper, we should always get a clearview ahead.

I chose the Astromaster 70az, but someone told me it wasn't appropriate for land based observation, even though it says so in the specs.  Canadian Tire was supposed to have it in stock, but in my home town and the nearest city, but their inventory seems wrong as they couldn't find it in stores.  Back to square 1.

So, does anybody has any ideas what kind of telescope I should buy?  Was this one (70az) a good model?

Budget is 200-250$ + taxes.

[Grey Fox]

Whats the budget?

[viper37]

200-250$+Taxes is the budget.

[Ed Anger]

http://languish.org/forums/index.php?topic=2173.0

There might be something there. 

[Grey Fox]

http://www.khanscope.com/productdetails.cfm?productID=2685

That one looks pretty awesome.

[viper37]

thanks guys

@GF: this one seems a bit overkill...

[HisMajestyBOB]

Binoculars might be better. You can get a good pair (8x50) for not too much.

[mongers]

Binoculars might be better. You can get a good pair (8x50) for not too much.

Big bins on a tripod would be a good idea, plus you've still got the option of taking them into the field for other sorts of view, say an air show.

[Grey Fox]

thanks guys

@GF: this one seems a bit overkill...

Yes but it's freaking awesome!

[Tonitrus]

Binoculars might be better. You can get a good pair (8x50) for not too much.

Even better, and within budget....

http://www.telescope.com/Binoculars/Big-Binoculars/Orion-20x80-Astronomy-Binoculars/pc/-1/c/5/sc/68/p/99638.uts

And they have a superior mount for a tripod.

Also, most "astronomy" telescopes use pull-out eyepieces (to adjust the magnification), or have upside-down/mirror image lenses that make them impractical for land-viewing (with some exceptions).

What you're probably looking more for is binoculars, or maybe better, are spotting scopes, which are kinda like a mini-telescope, but with adjustable zoom/magnification...like this for example...

http://www.telescope.com/Binoculars/Spotting-Scopes-Monoculars/Orion-TrailHead-WP-15-45x65mm-Zoom-Spotting-Scope/pc/-1/c/5/sc/73/p/9520.uts