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sw89

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  1. So scope was unwrapped on Monday 22nd November (along with star related chocolate bars...), and it went down a right treat, since then we've had it out in the garden a few times - weather hasn't been all to great to take it to the darker sites around here, clouds and what not, so just using whatever breaks we've had, managed to observe the moon a few nights, Jupiter and Venus. Scope is easy to use, red dot needed a slight line up but was easy enough to do following provided instructions. Scope is fantastic, came collimated, has a small footprint for the size of scope to is relatively easy to store, if anyone stumbles across this post you'll see i debated many scopes to begin with for my partner, the heritage 150p is fantastic and i can clearly see why it was being recommended now. I see my partner getting alot of use out of this scope, each time there's been a clear night on pulling up back home, it has been taken straight out into the garden and observing within minutes! once again, thanks to everyone who helped with this decision!
  2. Don't know what happened, had the 90/660 in the basket all details filled out....went to hit buy....ended up navigating back and getting a heritage 150p @Tiny Clanger should be happy about that I think lol, think it was finding spare tripods and heads and doing further research into it....will get a frac further down the line! Figures this would be a nice visual scope for my partner to use, and she can join me with it if I further venture into the astrophotography. Once again thanks for everyone's help, we got there in the end, Stephen.
  3. Buying the 90/660 tonight, been up the loft and fished out monopod and older tripods for using binoculars also - day of receiving the gift is a week away so will let you all know how it went down :), thanks again everyone for your help!
  4. Will be committing to the purchase this weekend, would of bought today but then remembered i'm out tomorrow day so no one home for delivery Choice is still the evostar 90/660 or the starquest 102, once again so easy to see how you all end up with so much telescopes! @Tiny Clanger if my partner enjoys one these i'll treat her to the heritage 130/150 for another gift for more at home use.... so i'm not completely ignoring that suggestion - I feel one these would suit more for use at home anyways , needing to put it on a table and what not. Thanks for those links ill be sure to check them out over the weekend!
  5. @Tiny Clanger That sounds great to me, I've got two spare tripods hanging about and a monopod somewhere....attic I'm thinking there. Just in from a walk with the dogs and we managed to see what appeared the Be a fireball on our walk !? Made this telescope idea even better haha, my partner was ecstatic at seeing it. Little bit of googling makes me think it may of been part of the north taurid meteor shower, could also see the pladies ever two faintly ( unless my apps were completely wrong !) All marched up however
  6. Night sky is usually quite clear where i am, not tonight though! thick cloud it seems, Bortle 4 I believe but a twenty minute drive from almost a Bortle 3. Perhaps this is on me however, i am set on a telescope as i feel this has a bit more a impact as a astronomy present (feel we all fall into that trap at some point!)- we have access to many Bino's which i'm sure we're now going to dig out and be taking out with us, perhaps we should turn our hand to these for hiking and get a more dedicated telescope for stargazing as a whole, couple hundred yards from the car or in the garden etc, definitely will need to turn the binos skyward though and see what we can get with them! so again, thanks to this forum for that suggestion. I'll look at the maksutov's again, i do keep going back to the Skymax 102 - if you could see all the tabs i have open in my web browser with telescopes you'd think i've become obsessed! - ifeel i am settled on a frac however. @Tiny Clanger Thanks for explaining the longer tube thing! i have been wondering why on earth these things come in so many different shapes, makes perfect sense!, similar to a lens i guess - more glass, more weight - recently purchased a sigma 105 1.4, that thing is heavy for such a small lens!, i can hand hold the 70-200 all day at work, the sigma 105 can get a bit arm achy though!
  7. @Tiny Clanger You're a wealth of knowledge on here! I don't mind the weight all that much so long as we're not talking 30 kgs or so, i'm used to lugging my photo gear about. I know i said hiking however I'd rather sacrifice on weight if it means better viewing when we get to the location - i'm comfortable hauling photo kit about, my studio tripod pushes 7 kg without a camera attached and have hauled this to many locations, along with strobe lights etc. From what ive read and understand then a 102 (4"?) is an ideal frac then? - may pull the trigger on that starquest 102. @Stu1smartcookie unfortunately i cant see the used gear here yet. - the ED glass reduces the CA ? This hobby really is a black hole, having places like this is a god send!, i can see how people get more than one scope - i've not even got one yet for my partner and already considering buying multiple! 😂
  8. I've now narrowed it down even more! @wibblefish's suggestion - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-evostar-90-660-az-pronto.html this is f 7.3 - would this give better viewing? or the https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-starquest-102r-f49-achromatic-refractor-telescope.html @Stu1smartcookie gives this a thumbs up! f4.9 i'm guessing the viewing differences between these 2 scopes will be negligible, just have to pull the trigger now on one! i've ruled out astrophotography all together as i've seen the ED80 - would quite like this for myself - maybe i can convince my partner that'd be a good birthday present for me which is also quickly coming around! we can observe and then shoot at the same time with 2 scopes Plus one these 2 get us into it cheaper. St80's look great but i feel we'd be wanting more from it. Once again you've all be so helpful, hopefully one day i can return the help to someone here! goes over my original budget but not by to much. Thanks, Stephen.
  9. new one has entered the options now: anyone experience with this: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-starquest-102r-f49-achromatic-refractor-telescope.html? Looks simialr to the startravel 102- id assume cheaper made as its almost 2x less? cheers
  10. @powerlord Do already have a pair of Binoculars that we take - never thought of using them for looking upwards to be honest, shall have to give them a brief go, I know i keep saying hiking however it wouldn't be just used for that, again i know finding an all rounder may be difficult, am leaning towards the ST80, ST102's just to dip the feet then maybe invest further should we use it more, be nice if she could just take it out into the garden and observe from there also - where we live there isn't that much light pollution thankfully. @bomberbaz Looks a decent way to go, however i feel she may see this a present bought for myself!, that's proving part the difficulty of buying for someone else, i look at it as what i'd like and i'd want all the bells and whistles - my partner not so much ha. Stephen
  11. @powerlord Cheers for the link i'll be sure to give it a watch! I'm still on the deciding phase - just need to really pull the trigger on one now, I love the idea of the 130/150 Heritage still a great suggestion from @Tiny Clanger and just weighing up whether they'd still be suitable for hiking with though, when taking into consideration other things we take with us, we tend to take one backpack - guess who gets the pleasure of carrying that about! - decided however i am gonna stretch the budget a bit further than originally stated, feel a Refractor better suits my needs of needing to haul it about. Looking into this has opened a whole can of "what if i get this one instead", thankfully i'm spoilt for choice with photography equipment else i'd never get any work done! I can see how this hobby easily becomes a rabbit hole of "if i spend another £100 here i can get this instead..." before you know it. Again, thanks for your help everyone! Will update once i make my purchase, Stephen.
  12. Hello All! Wow! you've all gave me so much to think about! sorry for the late reply!, you've all be so incredibly helpful! - glad i found this place and im sure ill be using it alot more! Been looking over suggestions and from what i can ascertain is the below: Great budget / starter scope : Heritage 130 as suggested by @Tiny Clanger @KP82 Suggestion of : Evostar 72Ed : https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html has got my interest - i'm aware this will need further expense however it seems this will be a bit more future proof ? i'm willing to spread the budget a bit further to future proof. Suggestions of the ST80 ( https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-ota.html ) and Skymax 102 (https://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-102-ota.html) also seem viable. Thanks for @ONIKKINEN Honest review of the astromaster lines as i had almost pulled the trigger on those! @powerlord really given me to loads to think of there! https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-startravel-102-az-gte.html - i assume this is similar to what you was talking about? Suggestions of secondhand although appreciated is correct by @Tiny Clanger, if it wasn't be bought for a gift or myself i would snap secondhand up in a heart beat. @Philip R thanks for the photo! it does help to see size of items in a location when considering transporting them all! At present it seems my choices go as follow: Evostar 72ED - will require more expense but i feel may last longer? - how does this hold up as starting out a visual only scope - this will be its main intention after all, but from further research it appears this is a decent intro to the whole astrophotography also, i'm aware ill have to purchase more additions to have this go as it isn't straight out the box useable. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/sky-watcher-evostar-72ed-ds-pro-ota.html Heritage 130 - does what it says on the tin, well for a decent entry price. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html ST80 - again appears budget friendly, i do have photo tripods i could put this onto. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-ota.html SW 102 - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-startravel-102-az-gte.html Links for my own references when coming back, apologies! Appreciate i started this question posing it to have a lower budget however, Like everything we want to start in i severely underestimated it, it seems!, although you have given me great options, now starting to feel i may need to take the budge a bit further to not have re-investment further down the line (if that makes any sense!) suppose it's a tad like photography you can spend as little or as much as you'd like, depending on your requirements etc. Would just like to thank you all once again, you've been incredibly helpful and i have alot to think about and the required information now to make a better decision. if anyone could weigh in on the capabilities of the Evostar 72ED they'd be much appreciated, first being the point above, how well does this work as a visual only to start with? i know my partner would like to be able to see the moon up close - will this similar to other scopes i've seen show craters etc in detail? I am willing to still knock the idea of astrophotography on the head and get a dedicate setup for that further down the line, however the 72ED seems a nice entry level to both visual and astro? I'll be sure to let you all know what one i purchased and how the gift was received. Many thanks, Stephen.
  13. Hi, Thanks for your replies! i felt the want of astrophotography would be at a loss with this so will purely go for a visual use only approach - that will after all be the main use of this telescope for the beginning. if she then wants photos we'll invest in more suitable kit, i'll be sure to check out and reply more in depth tonight (currently on a break and typing this up quickly!) As long as i can get a scope and my partner can see the objects closer up i'll be happy and put the photography on the back burner! (I have plenty of other stuff keeping me occupied there anyways!, be nice to have a new hobby that doesn't revolve around it). Many thanks again!, Stephen.
  14. Hi All, apologies in advance as i'm sure this is asked all the time! Been looking at purchasing a Telescope recently, this is going to be a gift for my partner to stargaze. I'm at a loss as what to get!, i know we'll be taking it around hiking and the likes - i don't mind lugging it if it means better quality images. I believe a refractor type would be good for our uses, With an EQ mount over AZ - i'm a professional photographer by trade and as such may want to use this to then venture into astrophotography also. I've been looking at the Celestron Astromaster line - more so the 90 and the 102 - i think the 102 only comes with AZ mounting however - also been considering the skywatcher 707. Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. Budget £1-200 will most likely travel with it want to be able to view the moon at good detail - planets, constellations, galaxies - i realise this is almost everything to be seen and that my expectations will have to lower - potentially purchase more telescopes should we use this one often enough! Durable, we like to hike and will no doubt go out our way to get to the best viewing locations - this is one choice that led me to refractors also, it maybe that they just look more durable? thanks in advance for any help and suggestions offered, Stephen.
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