Dominic

Thanks everyone for your advice. Very much appreciated. It seems majority view is that BST Starguiders are the way to go. Cheers!

Hi all. Glasses/contact wearer new to Astronomy, so would appreciate some advice in respect of best (initial) Barlow and lens combos. I know this is a confusing topic for most starting out, so hopefully the feedback to this post will help others as well as myself. I have an Evostar short tube 90/660 refractor F7.3 with a max mag of x180. It comes with the usual cheap 25mm and 10mm lenses. Having looked through some articles, it seems the 25mm is not worth replacing (initially), but 10mm needs swapping out asap. So my initial upgrade involves getting a Plossl 10mm, a 15mm and a x2 Barlow. This will give me (if I have worked this out right) in lenses and mags: 5mm (x132); 7.5mm (x88); 10mm (x66); 12.5mm (x52); 15mm (x44); 25mm (x26). Is this a good combo for mixed viewing, so deep sky, moon and planets? I was considering a 7.5mm (which with Barlow would get me to max mag, but I felt that would be too close to scope limits). I also toyed with getting a 17mm rather than a 15mm, to give me 8.5mm. Hopefully what I’ve settled on is a good choice??? Confirmation/other recommendations needed! 🙂 Cheers!

Thanks everyone for all the advice and suggestions. I’ve gone with the Evostar, and will find out soon enough if the CA is an issue or not for me. Fingers crossed! I haven’t gone with a Dob as I need something that has a tripod due to where I will be viewing (out in the wilds).

Thanks @Cosmic Geoff and @Spile for your helpful replies. Really appreciated.

Hi All Just joined and looking for some advice. I have received a gift in the form of a shop voucher (Lamberts of Lancaster - now Staveley based), and as I want an Alt/Az mount with a max budget of £300, they have advised two scopes as a good 1st choice. Both are Skywatcher as this is who they stock, links to models below. http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/az-pronto-alt-azimuth-telescopes/evostar-90660-az-pronto.html http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/az-pronto-alt-azimuth-telescopes/skymax-102s-az-pronto.html Myself and my wife want to do some mixed viewing, so a bit of moon, planets and some deep sky. I have some Plossl eyepieces lined up as I know replacing the ones included is a good idea, and I will get a Barlow as well. But, I can’t decide which scope will be best of the two available. Shop advice is to go with the Evostar, as it is easier to use and has a wider field. But, I am concerned about lens quality and CA issues. I know the Maksutov needs a bit more effort to use, and has a narrower field, but would this be a better quality scope. Help and advice appreciated. Cheers