Puchase advice for newbie

[syfi]

Hi All, I am sure that the seasoned members have been asked this soooo many times, so apologies and thanks in advance!

I am after purchasing a telescope with certain needs! Due to limited space it needs to be a small as can be but at the same time as powerful as possible(obviously) on a budget of around £200. I would like it to be easy to set up, put away, due to the nature of my job and time I would like to be star gazing rather than spending the evening building. I am looking at using this hobby as a way of relaxing not getting stressed out!! I know I am not going to be able to see DSO (hope I got that right?) but the rings/moon etc would be brilliant with some clarity.

Oh, and after this I need some water that needs turning into wine and a rabbit pulling out of a hat!

Thanks

Scott

[Gino Arcari]

hi, if you're not interested in DSO's but instead planets and the moon, i would recommend this type of scope: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html

[inedible_hulk]

Hi Scott,

I'd suggest either of these:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

But if you can find the space, this would be excellent:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

It's worth going for the biggest aperture scope you can afford/accommodate, as you'll see more stuff [emoji4]. However, there's a lot of different types of scope, some more suitable planets, some DSOs etc and personal preference also plays a big part. I'd suggest hanging on to your cash and finding a local astro group. That way you can hopefully try out a few scopes and compare sizes before you buy. Good luck [emoji4]

[Dave In Vermont]

From your description of your needs and wants, I'd second that nice little Maksutov telescope. Very nice package! And easy to upgrade the mount to GoTo? Sweet!

Clear Skies,

Dave

[nicoscy]

The Heritage 130 recommended byinedible_hulk is the best proposition in terms of aperture and ease of use in a small package.

And you can see some DSO even from a light polluted area and a whole lot of them if you drive to a dark location.

[syfi]

hi, if you're not interested in DSO's but instead planets and the moon, i would recommend this type of scope: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-90-virtuoso.html

Thanks for the advice, I would love to see DSO's if possible for my money, the more the better, but is their a sacrifice anywhere? would I be better walking before I can run and stick with panets and quality viewing in my package? It seems like buying a phone, the choice is boggling and so desperate get the right one first. I keep thinking just plump for one, then read an awful review about it! the turntable types look a good size but baffled by the difference in price? what are the most important aspects for viewing? The skywatcher 150 looks lovely but a little big unfortunately.

On another note, my little boy, who loives with his mum, is following his dads love of science and at 9 years old I was thinking of getting him the Orion funscope http://www.amazon.co.uk/FunScope-76mm-TableTop-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B00FM4A108/ref=sr_1_19?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1414045150&sr=1-19&keywords=orion+beginners  any good?

Thank you all

[nicoscy]

The funscope is perfect for a little one. Easily great views of the moon and sufficient detail on Jupiter and Saturn to "attract" him to the eyepiece.

[ronin]

Somehow I don't think you will read a "bad" review, everything I see says how good they are, I can look at many and think I would touch with a barge pole.

Whatever you get is at least a scope and as long as it doen't fall apart then it should allow some viewing, hopefully such that it is a positive experience not a negative one.

You as: "what are the most important aspects for viewing?"

To me the answer is something that you will pick up, take outside and use.

A 300P sat in a corner shows less then a 70mm outside.

Unless you are intending to get something with tracking motors then you need a scope that has a fairly wide field of view, otherwise things drift out and you have to refind then. Spending 80% of the time finding things leaves little time to look at them.

Not sure of a club near you, try a look through Cheshire clubs here: http://www.astronomyclubs.co.uk/

Having a look at the scopes in use can be helpful.

DSO's will depend a lot of light pollution from whereever you view.

A dark sky and a small scope will show DSO's farily reasonable, but dark means dark.

Size is the problem, a 150P dobsonian is stored sort of tube up and so the area is simply the base size.

Anything else will be on a tripod and they take up space also, especially as any cope on one has to come off - so 2 bits.

You could look at ones like the Skywatcher Evostar 90 on an Alt/Az mount, Rother Valley @£130.

Could get brave and get one on an EQ3-2 mount @ £230, the EQ3-2 mount can have motors added to it later if wanted.

Will say I have left out the Startravel scopes as I am not a big fan of them, short but fast and in an achro that means chromatic aberration.

Bresser do a range of achromatic scopes, you will have to look up their site and look at the costs ( http://www.bresser.de/en/home.html )

Bresser do an AR90 that looks good however you would need a mount as well, but an Alt.Az mount is not costly so should come under £200. The scope that sounds the same on the Alt/Az mount advertised by Bresser looks externally different(?).

Be aware that as said you would store in 2 bits, the 90mm scopes mentioned will have a length of about 750mm.

Opticstar do a few 80mm refractors (they are closer to you) that may be worth considering and will be easy to use and are short, they will show CA on bright objects. They are also scope only and you will need to get additional bits (diagonal, eyepieces, mount) so could come to over £200 eventually.

The Opticstar 80mm f/7.5 would be good but the scope alone is over £200.

[Dave In Vermont]

I'd have to say that what you should look at is what you are most interested in. There is no cut & dried method. If you are interested in planets - get a scope that leans toward planets. If you like deep-sky objects, go for something more suited for this. If you are unsure - get something that is suited for both. You can always "weed your garden" later on. For planets - aperture is secondary in importance as most solar-system objects can be seen with relatively small scopes. You want good optics and the ability to crank up the magnification. Deep-sky objects want the most light-gathering ability (aperture) to find in detail.

Undecided? Get a scope that can handle both. Knowing you can always get another scope down the road.

Clear Skies,

Dave

[syfi]

@ Ronin, your right, I worded that wrong, what I meant to say was, just when I think I am sold, especially on the video reviews, they mention a shortfall on quality, innapropriate eye pieces, too advanced for me or not good enough for what I want to see,which would be clear views of the planets first and foremost, hence me looking for professional guidance from you guys to save the frustration of trawling through, what I admit, is a lot of jargon I do not yet undesrstand!!. But taking on board what others have said so far, finding my way around the sky is my priority, locating objects etc

on a side note, is it possible to see any moons of any of our planets? would that be feasible with a scope around the £200 mark? I get very intrigued and excited when reading about some of the moons, recently watched on netflix a short presentation by a lecturer about the landing of a probe on Titan, absolutely amazing! How come we laern about celebrities and their mundane lives everyday in news, but something like this is not shouted from the roof tops? Same with the Siding Spring Comet, just passing news.

Sorry, went off topic then. I am close to this shop http://www.telescopes-binoculars.co.uk/ is there anything that would suit my needs here I could go look at?

Thanks very much.

[happy-kat]

The funscope you mention above is much better than the Infinity product the shop you link has. The infinity does not take standard eyepeices so quite limiting.

I would try to keep a bit of your budget for one better quality eyepeice, if you were to get the Heritage 130p I use my mid range eyepeice the most it is a 16mm. Though that can be bought/considered later as two eyepeices usually come with a scope to get you going.

If going to the shop why not look at the two suggested further up.

Heritage 130p

Heritage 100p

I use my heritage sitting on a garden chair and stick the telescope on an upturned bucket to raise it up a bit.

Whilst you might find them a bit cheaper elsewhere if you are not paying for postage that helps.

Looking at the other scopes there in your price range I would be wary of some of the tripods in the bundles, at the least the tripod I would not go less than the Skywatcher AZ3 Deluxe. I have not ever used an EQ1 aso can not comment on that but I would avoid such as a AZ1.

I can't comment on the Skywatcher 130p other than I have the same mirror etc. in the Heritage but this version comes on an EQ2 mount.

Have you thought about the type of mount you are interested in.

Moons I have seen on Jupier are a pin [removed word] but I saw the 4 main one in my 130p, and one moon of Saturn again a pin [removed word]. It is the power of your imagination knowing what it is you are seeing.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Heritage 130 flexitube will certainly get you planets and some of their moons as well as DSO's. A good price and a scope with good reviews. Best of luck with your choice.

[Charic]

I have  really spectacular closeup  views of the Moon that will blow you away, I can just about get M31 Andromeda in my 32mm eyepiece from a very dark sky (no light pollution) Its just a tiny grey smudge  viewed from my  garden, and I've seen a perfect shadow of the Moon Io ( Eye-Oh!) transit across the Planet Jupiter, and Jupiter itself  was no bigger than the Google Chrome Icon on my  windows 7 taskbar  on a 23 inch monitor at  1920x1080 resolution. I dont expect Hubble type images, only black  grey & white? I`m glad I don't have anything less, otherwise I would not be seeing the things I can see now. I have a very restricted skyline at home, plenty of street lighting, and the worst weather (cloud formation just about every night this year) to prevent me from observing?

A good pair of Binoculars in the range of 10x50 AND BELOW for hands free, widefield, and almost shake free observations of the starry nights is a good move, moving on up to  higher magnifications that need tripod assistance to keep them steady. 

I would then consider a MINIMUM of 6" (150mm)  Aperture, and to keep everything simple to use, a Newtonian telescope on a Dobsonian base.  Like a musical Instrument, some telescopes require a little tuning now and again to maintain peak performance. Studying Collimation, will show how to tune the Newtonian. Study the Heavens using your Books, the Internet or the FREEWARE program Stellarium, point the telescope at your target, view and follow  the target by gently moving the telescope. No special setup required, no electrics or wires, just point and view.

For visual observations, the bigger the aperture, the fainter the objects you can see (under the right conditions). remember your own eyes cannot / will not produce the same colourful images as depicted in  the astronomy books! but an 8" 200mm telescope has a surface area of over a thousand times more then my eye pupil allowing me to see better in the dark.

[inedible_hulk]

I am close to this shop http://www.telescopes-binoculars.co.uk/ is there anything that would suit my needs here I could go look at?

I bought my first scope from them, seemed like nice people. I'm sure they'll be happy to talk you through the options [emoji4]

[syfi]

Wow, thanks, I might just pop in and see what they say. I was just lloking at this one http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=130p%20explorer&PN=EXPLORER-130P--130mm--5.1---f-650-Parabolic-Newtonian-Reflector-Telescope----1437.html#SID=294  any good? sometimes it is hard get a feel for the size without nothing to compare it to in the background. Thank you so much for the help and advice. I am on a big learning curve and appreciate all the help that I receive.

[happy-kat]

Sometimes it is not just size but weight as well.

Having a shop so close is a bonus.

With a reflector you will need to occasionally collimate it but you can go with the cheaper collimation cap to start with especially as having a shop close if very badly out could get them to sort it.

[Hootsitabernacle]

You could go 2nd hand, you can get a better scope for less a lot of the time..try these two for size..near you I think

http://www.gumtree.com/p/binoculars-scopes/celestron-102mm-refractor-telescope/1084959581

or a reflector

http://www.gumtree.com/p/telescopes/skywatcher-explorer-130p-f-650-newton-telescope-with-parabolic-mirror-5.1-inches-silver/1084806819

 

[Naplesnut]

A second hand refractor on an altitude/azimuth mount would enable you to do astro & terrestrial viewing. This is important as a 9 yr old would be very interested in both and would be tall enough to use a refractor & hopefully be sensible enough. You can go to any second hand site like astrobuysell or gumtree. Dont do ebay as it is always worth trying to see the scope before you buy it. A skywatcher type short tube refractor of about 4"/102mm would be good and should only cost about £100 inc mount. You can always get your money back by selling it on these sites. DONT BUY NEW.

[Naplesnut]

Forgot to add that refractors are maintenance free with respect to ensuring alignment of the optics so thats a bonus & they give better contrast

[inedible_hulk]

Wow, thanks, I might just pop in and see what they say. I was just lloking at this one http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=130p%20explorer&PN=EXPLORER-130P--130mm--5.1---f-650-Parabolic-Newtonian-Reflector-Telescope----1437.html#SID=294 any good? sometimes it is hard get a feel for the size without nothing to compare it to in the background. Thank you so much for the help and advice. I am on a big learning curve and appreciate all the help that I receive.

Sorry the link isn't working for me, but is that the Skywatcher Explorer 130p?

[syfi]

Hi, the link was http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=130p%20explorer&PN=EXPLORER-130P--130mm--5.1---f-650-Parabolic-Newtonian-Reflector-Telescope----1437.html#SID=294 hope it works now, as I liked the look of this. If not it was the EXPLORER-130P 130mm (5.1") f/650 Parabolic Newtonian Reflector Telescope

also I went into that same local shop and Rick (lovely guy)  said this would suit me http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/STARTER_TELESCOPES.html but after watching a you tube video review ( lethal I know!) it said the sky hawk 1145p has a parabolic mirror which is better than the 114 version BUT reduces the magnification by half! so I would have to spend more on my eye pieces to bring that back up. Sorry if I am confusing here. Advice very welcome.

Thanks

[happy-kat]

Having just done a search the parabolic mirror one is miles better.

The one with a longer focal length 1000m is not real there is a lense that gives it a fake increase in the focuser unit that cannot be removed and makes trying to get a higher magnification a poor image and wont respond so well to better eyepieces on reading. See here as an example.

If you use the search on here whilst waiting for replies you will find lots on the skyhawk 1145p with parabolic mirror.

At f5 you can't get away with very cheap eyepeices. But you wont need an eyepeice up front as two come in the box to get you started.

[spanglysparkly]

Hi Syfi, just wanted to say the guys at Opticstar are ace and no pressure in buying. I bought my telescope from there, they are shutting down the display area soon though - details are on their website. My hubby popped into the shop in Stockport and I spoke to a gent on the phone andalthough they were very good, when I looked they were a bit more expensive.

Happy shopping  and clear skies

[syfi]

Thank you both very much, Spangly, I will look into Opticstar and see if any cheaper,cheers and Happy-Kat, thanks for the research and effort, real kind of you. Much clearer now.

[inedible_hulk]

I have the Explorer 130P and I like it very much. The EQ mount is pretty much at its limit with this scope, but if you don't extend the tripod legs and take time to balance the scope, it's ok. There's more you can do, like putting a weight on the accessory tray, but I never felt the need. It all packs up quite small too. I like EQ mounts and find them quite intuitive, but some people don't like them. Personal choice as I said previously. When you feel the need to upgrade or add to you eyepiece collection, the BST Explorer/Starguider eyepieces work well and aren't too hard on the wallet. However, as I understand it, the Heritage 130 uses the same optics, has the easy to use Dobsonian mount and takes up even less space.

I've also used Opticstar and they were nice helpful chaps too, as are SGLs sponsors FLO [emoji4]