Like everyone who writes about backyard astronomy, I get my share of letters. Some of them are generated by things I’ve written in magazines, and others come from my own website. One message that comes through loud and clear is that telescope ownership is fraught with all kinds of potential complications. Even the basics of aiming and focusing a scope can cause confusion if you’re new enough to the hobby. In fact, some of the most common questions are the “easy” ones that often don’t get answered in the owner’s manual — and these days some scopes don’t even come with a manual!

So gathered together here are the 10 questions I hear most often — along with my answers. If you’re new to using a telescope (or even if you’ve been around the block a few times), you’ll probably find some issues here that you’ve wondered about.

10. How do I figure out the magnification of my telescope?

9. Can you help me collimate my telescope?

8. What’s an equatorial mount, and do I need one?

7. How come the objects in my telescope look so small/dim/featureless?

6. My mirror/lens/eyepiece is dirty. Should I clean it, and with what?

5. What’s a “Telrad,” and why do I need one if my tele-scope already has a finder?

4. Help! The Moon looks upside down in my telescope!

3. Which is better: a refractor or a reflector?

2. I have $500 to spend. Should I get a small, computer-controlled telescope, or a big telescope with no electronics at all?

1. I bought a 675× telescope at my local X-Mart for $69. I can’t get it to work. Can you help?

Ed Ting’s first telescope was a 6-inch reflector that he saved for by working at Burger King. Find lots more of his advice and opinions at his scopereviews.com website.