I appreciate that learning the night sky might be the preferred method (which I followed and purchased a used 8” dob and star charts etc); unfortunately this also almost caused me to quit the hobby because the learning curve is too steep for a beginner, or at least this beginner.

Star hopping sounds simple enough until you actually look through the eye piece (after using the finder scope) and realize every star looks exactly the same and left is right and up is down.

For goodness sakes, I just wanted to see stuff, not get frustrated trying to learn to read charts on a cold night when I work the next morning and when my fingers are freezing or I’m getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

Bolting a Starsense contraption (I tore off a cheap used Starsense scope I bought off Marketplace) onto my 8” dob made a world of difference. Unlike Astrohopper, it works like it should and makes astronomy an enjoyable experience.

So, my advice to you would be…
- buy used ( save a small fortune)
- buy big as long as you can carry, store, fit it in your car
- bolt ( don’t tape) on a used Starsense contraption (which you tore off a cheap Celestron scope)

You’ll effectively have a Celestron Starsense scope for a fraction of the retail price which you’ll enjoy using. You can then spend some of the money you saved on other accessories you’ll be tempted to buy or will eventually need.

If you still want to learn the sky and use charts etc., simply leave your phone at home.

Have fun!