Quote:
Originally Posted by masraum
...A lot of times astronomy clubs have "outreach" nights where a bunch of folks setup scopes in more accessible areas and let the public come look through things. You may want to reach out to a local club so you can see what you'd see before you buy.
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+1 (I know in the OP's case the toys were free anyway so this for others)
Check if you're local to some clubs - we had one where I grew up in Grand Rapids MI that even had a fixed location with far nicer equipment than I was/am ever going to have. Lots of light pollution, too, but you can't win them all.
Lacking that, the above mentioned "dark sky nights" might scratch your itch and are basically free. Also, those people are gear-heads and usually have stuff to sell for a steal.
Frankly, spending the money on a trip to a truly dark sky location (bortle 1 or 2) like Death Valley or central Nebraska, a blanket and some basic 7x50 binos may be far more rewarding than a small scope. Skies like that don't even seem "normal" to me - so many stars that it takes a few moments to get your bearings, and I live in the NM mountains where you can easily see the milky way while driving down the highway.