alfabet

16 hours ago, cajen2 said:

Any ideas what scope your friend has?

An 8" reflector and an 80mm apochromatic refractor.

I thought I'd post a quick update, after all your helpful advice.

I actually decided to get some binoculars first, as a next step before buying a telescope.  I now have a pair of Celestron UpClose G2 10x50s, and have been taking advantage of the cold clear nights we've had this last week.

I saw the Orion Nebula and Andromeda galaxy for the first time (knowingly) - amazing. And got a fantastic view of the Pleiades. I tried to find the Beehive Cluster but got lost - went from Castor, past Pollox, then went awry in a sea of stars. All good fun though.

I also discovered that a friend of mine is a keen astronomer, and he's offered to let me look through his fancy telescopes. That should be very helpful.

Lots to learn!

10 hours ago, doublevodka said:

A goto mount is very handy when observing with kids, once you've done the alignment it'll track nicely so you can share the views and spend longer at the eyepiece 

Hmm, goto adds significantly to cost, and I guess technology is moving so fast in that area that things become "last year's tech" and lose value more quickly?  I read about AstroHopper, a smartphone based push-to system which I thought looked fun to try.

10 hours ago, doublevodka said:

Do you have a budget in mind? Any problem with going for used equipment? 

 

I think <=£250.  My aversion to used equipment is my inexperience and the risk of not spotting a lemon.

4 hours ago, Rallemikken said:

Be aware of focal lenght when you make your choice. The ST80 will have a field-of-view almost twice as wide as the small green (?) rascal.

Thank you, I hadn't realised this. I think our next steps beyond the moon might be planetary, so perhaps getting something with a shorter focal length isn't a great idea.

4 hours ago, Mandy D said:

Do you want a Dobsonian mounted scope or is a tripod essential?

I don't really have the space to store a large Dobsonian. Table-top would be fine but I'm not quite sure what I'd put it on on the patio that would be stable enough... Our patio table wobbles a lot!

A tripod appeals from a storage and portability point of view.. Also we are going on holiday to Lundy Island (Bortle 2) in a few months and I would like to be able to take it with us.

Or for another £50 I could get the 150p... 😆

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

Something that’s also easy to setup and use like a table top dobsonian with an aperture of 130mm to 150mm.

You mean like a Sky-Watcher Heritage P130?

1 hour ago, PeterStudz said:

Would the Maksy 60 even fit on a decent alt-az mount? 

The Maksy 60 has a standard photographic screw thread on the bottom - I think it's 1/4-20 UNC.

So if I got the AZ3 tripod I think I'd need this adapter as well?

19 minutes ago, cajen2 said:

An interesting thread on CN about this scope. Apparently, the mount can be adjusted with screws. I thought it would be slated but people are quite complimentary about it.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/703497-tiny-acuter-60mm-maksutov-cassegrain/

 

Yes, this video gives it a good review too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cVid9aXkD8

For the 85 GBP that I paid we have been very happy and it has made us want to explore more.

I bought my 7 year old daughter an Acuter Maksy 60 telescope for her birthday, and we have been having great fun viewing the moon from our back garden. I am now wondering 'what next?' as we both have an interest in the night sky.

The main frustration so far has been with the basic tabletop tripod it comes with. I have tried it on a cheap photography tripod but this is no better. Lots of wobble and difficult to track the sky.

I was thinking about buying a better alt-az mount and attaching the Maksy 60 to it. Is this a good idea? If I did buy a better mount, what would be a good recommendation, bearing in mind the low cost of the telescope?

Longer term I was wondering about getting a SkyWatcher StarTravel 80 and putting that on the new mount. Is that a good idea and would it be a noticeable upgrade over the Maksy 60?

Many thanks for your help!