Which scope?

[lw2689]

I moved to Anglesey in March 15, i have loved Astronomy from a young age. I was given a 4" reflector telescope by a friend but the mount is not great and can not focus it at all anymore. So....i wanted to buy my own now ive got a better paid job. Can anyone help?

I want the scope to have/be: portable, go-to, capable of doing astrophotography (nothing serious) ideally not needing a battery pack! Easy to set up. Good for planetary viewing, but able to see some deep sky objects.

I have looked at the Celestron Nexstar Evolution 6, i do have an upper limit of £2,000 altogether. I have the money saved so i thought if im going to forfill a childhood dream of an awesome telescope why not go all out (as much as i can!) i have looked at the 8" evo but it might just be that little too big for me as i dont know anyone else interested in Astronomy so i'll be out on my own and it does seem that little big.

I have also read that when looking through the scope what you see is not like 'photos' that colours are not really seen (Black and white) Which leads me onto with in that budget could i get an imager to go with the scope? Or would it just be worth getting a DSLR? I know ideally an eq mount is needed for astrophotography but the azimuth mount is more portable and practical for me..plus i could get a wedge if i was going to get serious...or upgrade the mount later down the line. It would just be great to get an idea of what i am looking at looks like with colour.

Any help is welcome...and if you live in North Wales give me a shout!

Lou

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[Dom1961]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

For goto you would normally need a battery pack, however I think you can get an adapter to plug it into your car or into a normal mains plug. (however I'll let some who uses a goto give you better info!) The scope you are looking at fits your criteria for good for planets and able to see some DSOs, however the altaz mount may limit you in astrophotography. Planets like Jupiter and Saturn as well as double stars and a minute amount of nebulae(I think only M57 which you can only just see colour) can be seen with colour. Nebulae and galaxies will be in black and white. I have no idea about your question as imagers as I myself am saving up for a dslr and I'm only just foraging into the expensive world of AP. So I will learn from some responses from this. Remember you will need to keep some money aside for accessories like eyepieces, filters adapters etc. Other more experienced members will recommend scopes to you, but I thought I'd give you a few pointers:D Have fun!

[jambouk]

There is a north wales astronomy group, despite living in Nottingham I am Somehow on heir mailing list! Hunt them down. I am in North wales at the start of october and plan to bring some kit with me.

I'd suggest that if you are interested in imaging DSOs, even if down the line, just get an equatorial mount from the start - don't [removed word] around going down a convoluted path, just bite the bullet and do it.

If you want the mount to track an object so you can image it, it will need power. If you are not near a plug socket you will need a battery. Depending on the sprt of scope you go for, you will probably need a heated band around the front of the telescope anyway to prevent dew forming - this requires power too.

There is no one scope for all beanches of astronomy:

If you want to look at DSOs, you want a 16" reflector.

If you want to look at planets and the moon, you want a 180mm maksutov.

If you want to image DSOs you'd be fine with an Skywatcher ED80.

If you want to image planets you'd still be fine with the 180 mak.

If you want to capture meteors, you are best with a DSLR and a tripod.

For solar work, a solar scope.

For radioastronomy an antenna... I'm taking it too far now.

But there isn't one scope which does everything wonderfully, which is why many astronomers have different scopes depending on what they want to do that night.

Woth £2000 you could easily get an HEQ5 equatorial goto mount, a skywatcher 127 maksutov for planets and the moon and smaller brighter DSOs, and an ED80 for imaging DSOs and for observing larger DSOs. Plus a DSLR to capture it all on film.

Equatorial mounts appear daunting, but are a doddle to set up and use.

There will be astronomers on anglesea, it's just a case of tracking them down.

James

[lw2689]

My only concern is size and portability, the Equatorial mounts seem huge! Ive got one on my 4" reflector which i was given, it hadnt been taken care of very well so its no great at all! The SCT scopes seem more portable...what would i use that for?

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[jambouk]

Well if you want toninage, you need a sturdy heavy mount. No point having a flimsy thing which transmits the vibrations of every gust of wind or passing train from 20 miles away! But this is a valid consideration, which again would make me suggest you attend a star party to get an idea of weight and portability. There is an telescope and camera shop on the north wales coast, must be in the phone book. They have a limited range of kit, but they have some stuff, bit not sure how knowledgeable the staff are to be able to give you unbiased advice.

An SCt is a bit like a mak; long focal length with relatively slow (f/10) optics, so best suited for solar sustem work, but lots of great stuff with them on DSOs.

James

[lw2689]

Im very new.... Star party?

How about this? http://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-eq3-2.html the mount is still go-to just smaller?

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[jambouk]

Contact these guys:

http://northwalesastro.co.uk

They are meeting up

For an observing session next week - go along, take a friend or relative if you don't want to go alone. Make some local contacts and get some hands on experience with various bits of kit before clicking "buy now".

That mount you have linked to is nice, but is a reasonable size, so you need to see what it is like in the flesh. It is at the cheaper end of goto equatorial mounts so will limit how useful it will be for DSO imaging.

James

[lw2689]

I'll get in contact with them, thanks :-)

I'll keep reading up before i do any buying too

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[algady]

Hi,

What is about this VX10 orion optics with heq5 pro mount?

Orion optics telescopes has very good optics and they are light weight.

http://www.orionoptics.co.uk/VX/vx10-10l.html

[lw2689]

Size and portability are my enemies as such (partly because of storage too). Ive gone full circle on my scope i thought i wanted now thanks to everyones advice, i could of purchased something that was no good for my needs.

I would like to get a scope that is good for planetary and some brighter DSO. An equatorial mount, with go-to feature. The scope/mount needs to be relatively simple to set up as i will be on my own most likely. I want to progress onto imagining, so any basic camera and lens combination recommendation would be grateful.

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[happy-kat]

If imaging using a telescope then no camera lens is needed the telescope works as the camera lens.

Portable, if there are stairs or distance between storage and intended area of use that might be a hindrance to how big or heavy you go for.

Imaging if you know how serious you want to go or how not serious you want to go.

Then you might consider the telescope you first found and use it for visual.

And for imaging perhaps a skywatcher star adventurer with a DSLR and either a lens or a nice small refractor.

Imaging can be simple as a webcam for the Moon or full blown serious equipment. The more you read and consider what you want to achieve will help you know what is the level of equipment you need to pitch at.

If the equipment stops you bothering to get out there it doesn't matter how good it is.