Hi All,
Wanted - I am looking for a decent telescope for sale (either new or 2nd hand) - and advice or ideas?
Do you have experience with telescopes? Would you prefer a dobsonian (manual) or a more goto scope, like the one Qui linked to?
A very good way to start is to grab hold of some decent binoculars, which will allow you to see some incredible things already: like Jupiter and its moons, some globular clusters, a few nebulae, open clusters, asterisms, etc. This will also allow you to learn about the constellations. Here is a cool PDF, Concards, created by Auke Slotegraaf which will help you get started with the constellations:
An even better option would be to join your local centre of the ASSA:
ASSA
Go to a dark sky event and look through some of the telescopes of the members. This will give you a great idea of what you like and what you don't like. Be aware that good telescopes are bloody expensive and then you still need to buy decent eyepieces which can range from R1000 to R5000+ per eyepiece.
A cheap/crap telescope is a hobby killer. The eyepieces are more likely plastic, you will have terrible chromatic aberration, etc.
Here is the 2nd hand goodies of the ASSA to give you an idea:
Second-hand equipment for sale