DMoon

Thanks all for the replies and I'll certainly look at the event in Liverpool on the 10th.

Hi All I'm close to Wigan if there are any fellow pie-eaters on here 🙂 I've already posted in the beginners forum but thought I would say hello here. I'm an absaloute novice in this area. My son showed an interest in astronomy and suggested a scope for Christmas, buying a scope has been on my radar for some time so its probably going to be a joint gift! There is so much information about when choosing a scope, I must have decided on around 5 scopes before changing my mind... the price seemed to go up each time I changed my mind too! Decided on a Skywatcher 200P Dob, we won't travel much with it and we are only interested in visual astronomy for now. In time it would also be good to attend a club meeting, I see there are lots of them locally, Bolton and Salford in particular. I'll stop rambling now, looking forward to the steep learning curve ahead! Thanks

Thanks again all, this forum seems like its going to be a gold-mine of information and help..... and I will probably need it!

Thanks wulfrun, I have read these guides a few times, I agree the one at garyseronik.com is very good.... https://garyseronik.com/a-beginners-guide-to-collimation/ https://www.astro-baby.com/astrobaby/help/collimation-guide-newtonian-reflector/ I also watched a few videos on the Small Optics YouTube channel. Just like when researching the scope, it can be information overload!

Thanks for the replies, I'll hold off getting the eyepiece for now. I'm based near Manchester UK so there are a few local clubs. Once I get some experience with the scope I'll certainly be looking at going to one of their meetings.

Hello everyone, I'm new to this hobby, zero experience with telescopes but willing to learn. After a weekend of researching what scope to buy I finally made a decision and ordered a Skywatcher dob 200p, it was well over my budget but hopefully I've made the right choice! I'm at the top of my budget but have ordered the scope with chart, moon filter and collimation cap. After going over budget, I wanted to know if spending further money on a Cheshire eyepiece is necessary at this time? And if it is, would you spend the extra on something like the StellaLyra eyepiece. I'd hate to get the scope and then realise I needed this extra bit of kit. I have watched video's and read tutorials (small optics on youtube is great), but without having any first hand experience I can't decide if its needed. Thanks