What telescope should I get?

As a beginner, what telescope lenses/eyepieces should I get? My scope's specs in the description...?

• Specs: Achromatic Coated Lens, F=700mm, D=60mm, Manufacturer is UNKNOWN; these specs were found on the (end where you place an eyepiece :) ) of the telescope. I have a trip to go stargazing soon, so I found an old telescope in my basement, but it came with no eyepieces ;( . Help please? It would be much appreciated!

• Answer:

  Those specs do not sound overly promising to me. It sounds like a department store or general retailer scope rather that a real scientific instrument. First things first is to find out the size of the focuser barrel, where the eyepieces go. Measure the diameter of the hole - if is 1.25" you are in luck because that is the standard size. If it is the smaller 0.965" standard I would forget it now because those eyepieces are difficult to get and in any case the size is a good indication of a very poor scope. If you do decide to get some eyepieces I would start with a 15mm Plossl which will give you 47x - I would not try goign to high since it sounds like a fairly humble scope. After that I would probably go for a 2x Barlow lens to give you 93x. I would not go for a shorter focal length eyepiece to get magnification since you will find the eye relief gets too short. In any case keep a sense of perspective - this is a cheap scope (probably worth very little) and so it does not make sense to buy premium optics for it that the scope will not be able to show off to good effect in any case.