bemak187

I have these on as visual backs on all my SCTs and even have one of their clicklock diagonals. Never had an issue with any of them myself and used in both cold and hot weather. I do I have quite an expensive EP sitting in the diagonal right now, I am off to check I can get it out 😁

I think his wife wants it out of the house so he may take you up on that. I have a feeling I am going to end up listing it on the for sale section in the not too distant future.

An 8inch dobsonian will give one of the best bangs per buck. The downside (or upside) is they are manual so you have to know where to aim it but that helps you learn the sky. I would recommend a phone app or similar as I have seen people give up as they just cant find anything. Size and more importantly weight are key considerations. If the scope is not manageable it will never get used. I have a friend who bought a CPC1100 even after seeing mine multiple times hence fully aware of the size and he has never used it, just too heavy for him to lug outside.

If it is the basic Celestron Star pointer red dot that came with your rig then these are pretty poor. They have a well documented reputation for having limited adjustment and just generally being poor quality. There are workarounds of making a shim etc but on the whole it is just not a great finder.

I do prefer observing from either my own garden or somewhere I am not going to bump into anyone. Not so much a safety thing but I find if anyone sees you observing it ends up with a million questions about what you are doing and generally draws unwanted attention etc.

Another for the Celestron dongle. Use it with my CPC1100 and works perfectly. You can set it to create its own Wi-Fi network and then connect your phone to that or you can set it to connect to your router. Gives options if you are observing from home or at a dark site etc.

That is a nice, neat dual scope setup.

Cable management is always a good shout. Tripped over or pulled out too many cables myself.

With regards to upgrades to equipment the post above is good in that making better use of what you already have is one of the main ideals behind EEA.

Key thing as others have said is to avoid the "kids" type scope as this will be little more than a toy and could actually put a kid off astronomy. Proper astro gear retailer is where you want to buy.

Do this as a first step.

I am really a visual guy and as mentioned AP can be a total money pit. However on a larger SCT you need a dew shield and also dew heater bands (or the celestron heater ring which is a neat solution).

As others mention this will be fine, no issues I can see.

Yes I would say it is worth the extra £50 for the additional light gathering.

There is good and bad about it but it is quite resource hungry and also as mentioned there will be a lot of people trying to access it. Overall I would agree it is not the most slick implementation.

Nice set up. Bad weather is a given when new astro gear arrives.

Depends why you ask. Is this for yourself just starting our or is it for a gift etc?

Binos are a good way to start out however just remember to factor in the cost of a good tripod as even light bions can become tiresome to hold for long period or keep fully steady. For a one off trip etc ok to go without the tripod but longer term you will need one. Also is harder to get in to the best position to observe with binos, you will need a chair and tripod to get "underneath" them or your neck will get sore fairly quickly. You are looking straight through them rather than at a right angle as you would with most scopes.

I am not a reflector guy but I do prefer solid tube vs collapsible too. I know when you get into bigger apertures the storage/weight becomes an issue but both of these are compact and easy to move around.

Telescopes range from small table top dobsonian models through to massive reflectors which you need to get on a set of step ladders to look through, there is a massive range with respect to size. With regards to binoculars another one for the Celestron Skymaster. I have owed the large 25x100 model (these are VERY heavy) but if you take a look on their website you can look at the range and prices. Just keep in mind for anything but the smallest binoculars you likely do need to factor in a tripod to the cost/size.

Baader plus the matching barlow is probably my most used setup. Field of view a little tight on the lower power but very convenient and quality very good.

Has she looked through a telescope before? I often find that kids (and adults) who haven't either fall into the camp of it is awesome or they are underwhelmed, expecting to see something much more like what Hubble would see. I would reach out to a local astronomy club, most will be very helpful and see if she could get a look through a couple of scopes. If she is interested in space etc it would be good activity for her and you would find out which camp she falls into before spending any money.

For me not much. Planets basically is when I would bring out higher power conditions permitting. I'm running an 11 inch SCT so usually trying to dial the power and mag down 😀.

Binoculars are a good option to start out with (that is what I did) as the learning curve is low, lets you sweep across the sky fairly easily with a wide view and they can be used for other things too if he doesn't really get into observing. However if you go down that route I found quickly that I personally needed a tripod to hold them still which adds to the cost and you can then be better off with something like a small dobsonian scope. But you are correct he will have to go outside.

This is good advice. Also gives you some experience actually observing to see how much you enjoy it.