SuperCooper Telescope Help:
The aim of this website is to make you aware of the things that you need to know to make a good telescope selection. This will enable you to avoid the many
awful telescopes with optical flaws, inappropriate magnifications and ineffective mounting designs that are out there!
If you want easy answers to which telescope would be best for your needs, without the full and detailed explanation, for instance if you are buying a present for someone else, please click this link: QUICK REFERENCE.
If you're interested in science, then, like me you'd probably want to know the 'WHY?' behind the advice. To this end, my website educates and does not ask you to blindly follow - However, I ask you to trust my experienced word.
There are all sorts of pitfalls waiting for the unwary. This site gives you clear guidance and information to allow you to get yourself a telescope that will satisfy without compromise on image quality or functionality.
I will give you all the information you'll need so you can select the right equipment and at a price you can afford. I will save you wasting your
money on something that will not perform properly. My mission is to give you the knowledge tools you need to select a good telescope for yourself, at an affordable price, that will not
disappoint.
Me with the first telescope I used on an astronomical object at age five. The half phase Moon in November, 1968.
"My first look though a telescope was at the age of five.
I have spent 55+ years looking through telescopes at the night sky.
Allow me to share my telescope knowledge with you!"
Last updated: December 2024
I update so regularly it's worth pressing f5 on each visit!
Season in the Northern hemisphere, where SuperCooper lives is WINTER (From Dec 21st 2024 until 20th March
2025)
Universal Time (UT) is equivalent to Greenwich Mean Time, because the line of longitude 0.0 degrees passes
through Greenwich observatory, in London.
Elements of this website first published by me 2008.
Me with the 30" Dobson style telescope at the AAC in 1986. I helped to construct this telescope.
Telescope information contained in this website is good the world over.
Prices and services given are examples from the United Kingdom.
SuperCooper currently lives in the English midlands, UK, at 52.65° North.
Astronomical objects described and suggested are visible at
northern temperate latitudes, including:
Europe - USA - Canada - Russia - Japan
Some objects mentioned may not be visible form the temperste latitudes of the southern hemisphere.
Me and my 127mm f11.8
SkyWatcher EQ3 Mak-Cass.
Bought from Harrison Telescopes
new for £405
Me and my 127mm f10.0
Phenix Achromatic refractor.
Bought off FaceBook Marketplace for £90
If you need help with any aspect of choosing or using a telescope for use in night-time astronomy, then look no further than these non-profit, unsponsored and free web pages.
Over the last fifty plus years I've owned, used, compared, tested and traded a huge number of fantastic telescopes, and some not-so-fantastic telescopes too!
I have traded telescopes as a hobby for a number of years, and I have handled and used over 400 telescopes on the night sky. I'm ideally placed to tell you which are good and which are to be avoided.
Whatever your telescope query, here you will find your answer, in my free and friendly telescope advice pages.
I'm not here trying to make money off you, in fact I'll probably save you quite a bit! - This website is for your information and education. Although I do trade telescopes, there are no telescope sales in this website.
There is general advice on where and how to buy, but no links to my telescope sales. This is solely an information site. I have no affiliation with any maker or supplier or selling
platform - The information and recommendations are honest advice gained through years of experience.
YOU NEED THIS INFORMATION BEFORE YOU BUY ANY TELESCOPE!
There are too many sites out there that offer to give you information at a price. Or they are sponsored to tell you how good an awful scope is and receive commission from the manufacturers!
I have been as honest as possible in this site and make no appologies for recommending scopes that are good and slating those that fall short of the demands of optical physics. This is my
opinion formed during years of use and experimentation.
SuperCooper Telescope Help information is FREE and you can get a great telescope by taking advice from this website. There is no investment required, other than your time.
This website was 'born' in 2016. I review and update very regularly.
Me and my 305mm f5
Meade Truss-tube
'LightBridge' Newtonian.
Bought off eBay for £150
Me and my 150mm f5
SkyWatcher 150P.
Bought off eBay for £75
Me and my 100mm f9
SkyWatcher 100ED-PRO
Bought from Cash-Converter for £89
Most of the pictures in this site can be clicked to enlarge.
Try it out: Click the image in the red box below, or the map above.
Note:
You may wonder why I appear in so many of my pictures. You may think I'm very vain. Actually, it's for
scale. It helps newcomers to astronomy to see how large a telescope is when seen with an average height person in the picture. (I'm 176cm tall / 5' 11"). Also, it would be very
easy for me to make these claims without proof... These pics represent a certain proof of my claims to experience.
ENJOY THE GUIDES: They're FREE...
But, the information is priceless!
Me and my 200mm f5.0
SkyWatcher 200P
Bought from Harrison Telescopes
NEW for £400
Guide Links:
Please click the links to the guides at the top, to view my
helpful astronomy and telescope guides.
The 'Woe is Me!' sections give you some idea of the mistakes I've made, or the problems I have encountered. Things that I have learned first-hand during my astro-life.
Hopefully, this will give you some idea of the value of listening to experienced experts when selecting and using optical instrumentation on the night sky.
There are few, because I'm a quick learner and realised that I didn't know better than the experts pretty quickly!
Please, save yourself a lot of anguish, read the information in this website and... take it from an expert!