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Looking for a scope for a beginer

Chunkyscotsman

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Chunkyscotsman

Chunkyscotsman

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Hi am new and looking for a scope. Where I live it's not a city but it's not exactly dark. I have a caravan in the Lake District which is fantastic for star gazing. I've watched them with the naked eye and used binoculars there not cheap crappy ones but Half decent feel I need to take the next step. See more detail of the wonder that are the skies. I will have about 200-250 to spend. I was thinking scope,stand,lense's,maybe light filters for the moon and light pollution for where I live. Maybe one with a motor that if I see something and want to show the missus I can leave it and go back and don't need to try find it again. Help!!!

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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Hi chunky, you wont get any thing with motors in that price range, and if you did the optics would not be much good, or of a small size, i would suggest a skywatcher skyliner 150p dosonian

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

and you would have a little left over for a nice eyepiece or 2 

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Kriss Craik

Kriss Craik

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Hi chunky, I'd pluck for a dob, you should be able to acquire a second hand skywatcher 200 for around that price. Would not worry about eyepieces or filters just yet. Really no need. I started off with a celestron astromaster 130 with the motor drive on an Equatorial mount. This in allows you to track the turn of the earth. But requires setting up initially, balancing the scope, polar aligning the scope and even then you will still need to make small adjustments to keep the object in sight. Now don't get me wrong i learned an awful lot by starting this way but in the end I realised my needs. 1, plonk scope down. 2, find object and watch and the dobsonian set up coupled with the larger aperture just works for me. And I think that's my point. Everyone's needs are slightly different. I would not worry too much about finding objects again as that's part of the fun (frustration). Hope this helps

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Charic

Charic

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.......could'nt agree further, with Kriss.

My 1st telescope was the Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ, Just too much too continually adjust, whereas my present setup just requires placing on the ground, selecting a comfortable seat, select an eyepiece, and aim the scope, effortlessly into position.

The 8" (200P) Skyliner is more capable than a 6" ( 150P ) and both will take up the back seat of a car when transporting to darker skies.

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Knighty2112

Knighty2112

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For that price range I think you'll struggle to get a decent GoTo scope that will work as you want it too. I had a quite expensive GoTo scope about 6 years ago that never worked as well as I thought it should do for the quite hefty price I paid for it back then. You may be able to find a decent scope with an Alt AZ mount with slow motion controls, with a decent finderscope or red dot finder to get the objects in view better. With 20mm or 25mm eyepiece you should have a wide enough view to find planets quite easily, along with some deep sky objects too (M31, M42, M13 etc). Skywatcher do some great refractors with an Alt AZ 3 mount, which is very sturdy, which will easily enable you to upgrade any scope later on when you want more light gathering power, and just be able to buy the a telescope as an optical tube assembly (OTA) to fit to the Alt AZ 3 mount. If you have an astronomy store near to you got to look at some refractors and Newtonians to give you an idea of the pro and cons of both types of scope. Personally I love refractors, and am not mad about reflectors, but that is just my personal taste only.

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John

John

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Hello and welcome to the forum :smiley:

For your budget I'd try and avoid the tempations of a GOTO mount if possible because most of your budget will go on the mount leaving a rather small scope on top of it which is not capable of giving impressive views of most of the objects in the GOTO systems memory :rolleyes2:

I really think that a 6" or 8" dobsonian telescope would give you longer term enjoyment and will definitely provide much better views than a GOTO mounted scope at the same budget point.

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cjdawson

cjdawson

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I'd agree with the others and for that buget, don't be tempted with electrics - it'll add alot of complication.  If your budget was more like £500 then it would be in, However, as you are talking £200 for a scope and other bits, my suggestion would be to take a look at the SkyWatcher Heratige range.  As you've been using Bino's, I'd also suggest going for one of the larger scopes - 100 or 130mm.  The 100 is about £95 and the 130 is about £130 from flo.   you'll get 10mm and 25mm eyepieces, as well as a barlow.  Those will get you started, and you'll have some money left over for a ND moon filter, and possibly another eyepiece too.

I'd not get hung up on trying to get much more than that at the beginning.  It'll make a great starter scope (either the 100 or 130) and over time, I'm sure that you'll accumulate a few more bits.   Once you've had it for a while, and if you still want goto, you'll have seen the quality of the optics and will understand why it's better to have good optics over goto.  Then, if you are still wanting goto, you'll have time no pressure and can save up for a good well thought out setup rather than trying to get a budget goto and end up disappointed.

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Chunkyscotsman

Chunkyscotsman

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First question is about location.  Irvine.  Irvine California, USA?  $200 to $300 US?   Or   Irvine, North Ayshire?  $200-$300 Euros?

My first scope was the Meade ETX 80.   This was my step up from my binoculars.  I use it often. This is a full Goto scope.  Gives wide views and will track targets.   It is light and very portable.

60 day review  - Stargazers Lounge

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/256716-meade-etx-80-60-day-review/

irvine north ayrshire

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ronin

ronin

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I see it says £125 but also the top of the page says Prices Excl VAT so that would make it £150 in reality.

It is on the FLO site at £129 and that is with VAT.

Don't want you to get a nasty surprise at the checkout or later on the card bill. :eek: :eek: :eek:

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Knighty2112

Knighty2112

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I have this scope and a couple of things to note with it are that the Starfinder used to locate objects in the telescope is absolutely dire. Apart from maybe getting the moon in view, it is hopeless for anything else really. So the first thing I did after getting the scope was replace it with a decent finderscope that I could actually use. This meant some DIY on the scope tube to mount the finderscope.

Also, the Equatorial mount that comes with it is very heavy, so moving it about is not the easiest thing to do, so if you want something quite portable then this mount is maybe not the best for that. Along with the fact that when moving the scope around on the mount you have to constantly move the scope around in the scope rings that hold it to the mount to enable you to view the eyepiece correctly. I tended after a while to not set up the mount in Equatorial mode, but use it just in alt AZ mode instead, which is much more intuitive to use.

Would I recommend this scope? To be honest no, as I think there are better ones around to start off with. Especially one with a decent finderscope or red dot finder at a minimum.

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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I have no experience of the mount but it is the same mirror as in my heritage 130p.

In budget and tracks but still easy altaz mount. Don't know if it can be moved manually though rather than only through the handset which could be limiting.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-supatrak-auto.html

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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Just to through a spanner the other way. ;-)

Heritage Virtuoso 114p tracking mount that can be upgraded to Go To. Very portable as table top design and telescope can be moved manually or through the motors, under £200.00.

Most telescopes you can find videos for on YouTube.

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cjdawson

cjdawson

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Just to through a spanner the other way. ;-)

Heritage Virtuoso 114p tracking mount that can be upgraded to Go To. Very portable as table top design and telescope can be moved manually or through the motors, under £200.00.

Most telescopes you can find videos for on YouTube.

Very true, but it's more expensive than the 130p, and has smaller optics so less light gathering ability.

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barkis

barkis

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 Welcome to SGL Chunky. I envy your site for observing. 

Not too far from where I live

Look in Astro equipment  Classified forums for a used 200mm f5 Dobsonian.

Some good bargains to be had when someone with aperture  fever  want to up[grade to a larger

scope. 

Keep looking here for example.

Ron.

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

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Chandan Manghnani

Chandan Manghnani

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Hi guys, I joined SGL today. I have celestron astromaster 114eq and I am agree with KNIGHTY, the star pointer on this telescope is of not much use. And if you live at a place free from light and air pollution then you don't need to worry about moving your scope. But don't buy that Astromaster 130eq.

I am agree with

And I agree with Stub Mandrel http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-eq3-2.htmlis a good option.

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Chunkyscotsman

Chunkyscotsman

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Hi guys back I'm opting for a cheap one to start from Aldi. I know! Am hoping that it will help me choose a beta on in 6 month to a year. I know that sounds silly but I'm getting someone else to get it for crimbo for me and I'll still have the cash I got and more.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Stub Mandrel

Stub Mandrel

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Hi guys back I'm opting for a cheap one to start from Aldi. I know! Am hoping that it will help me choose a beta on in 6 month to a year. I know that sounds silly but I'm getting someone else to get it for crimbo for me and I'll still have the cash I got and more.

I've got one of these. Replace the eyepieces and barlow when you can, and you will find it pretty usable. One nice touch is the mount will let you use it as in EQ (aligned with the pole star) or alt-az (folded down) modes so you can see what you get on with best.

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