etsatlo

I too found my first telescope's EQ mount a bit of a hindrance and put me off using it. Now using an alt az and far easier to live with.

Hi all, I'd like to complement my 102 Skymax Mak with a wider field scope. I also love using my binoviewer. I considered a StartTravel 80 but various reports I found said that it didn't have enough back focus without using a Barlow to work with a binoviewer so that slightly defeated the point! I found a 60 mm guide scope which, having been designed for use with a camera, may have the required focus travel to work. However I'd like to know if anyone has had any luck with something similar or experience of a guide scope as a widefield grab-and-go affair. Cheers

Wow. Just wow Firstly for the results which are stunning. And secondly for your patience! Bravo

Not wanting to rain on your parade at all but just a word of caution dropping £5k into something you've not done before. Again, not to be patronising, but the DSO views you will see even through a large scope will be closer to the common phrase of 'faint and fuzzy' than the astro images we all secretly hope to see in the eyepiece! Might it be worth picking up a second hand 8-10" Dob (very capable, plenty around) and actually find some objects from Turn Left at Orion? You'll learn a hell of a lot about the hobby in general but also how much or what parts you enjoy. I'm sure you'll be hooked and if you then decide to drop serious money into the hobby you'll be making an informed choice. All the best

I went for this one. The right angle helps save the neck and matches the view of the telescope but does mean the image is flipped vs the book. I did consider this as well but decided the right angle would be comfier (happy with that choice!)

Having only just ventured this far into the forum I missed these talks so once the new schedule is announced it may be worth having a banner on the main site to raise people's awareness as I'm sure there are a fair few who would be interested. Could also specify that it's a Zoom astro talk as the name StarGaZine didnt give too much away I'll be honest! Looking forward to catching the next one, sounds like a good concept.

I specifically chose a 6x30 with a very similar FOV for the very purpose of matching up to what is shown in the book. So far out of the half dozen or so targets I've located (early days) their description and illustration have been spot on.

I was similarly considering an illuminated crosshair finder as I couldn't quite picture how you could see it without it but I recently purchased a 6x30 right angle one with normal crosshairs and because the lines are pretty broad it shows up well against my suburban skies and also covers the star once you're centred on it so all good

I would add that, for me, the right angle finder has been essential vs something's that's nice to have such as upgraded eyepieces. Without it finding anything other than planets was pretty tough. I considered diving all the way into a motorised mount but fortunately have avoided that cost for a while!

To throw my 2 pence in I tend to agree with what others have said. Though a Newt on an EQ does offer good value for money and is often recommended, like others I've been bitten by one. Newts will eventually require collimation (no issue but a niggle to bear in mind) and EQ mounts are a pain to align or setup plus the counterweights can add additional hassle let alone weight. I recently got a Sky-Watcher Skymax 102 Mak AZ pronto from FLO for £260 so same ballpark price wise. Its compact, light, the AZ mount is small and easy to use and the tripod offers remarkably sturdy and vibration-free viewing. The views are crisp and the focusser is lovely to use. One upgrade I'd recommend highly (speaking from recent experience) is to get a proper finderscope to compliment the red dot finder. Makes it so, so much easier to find things which is the whole point! Red dot can get you in the brightest stats vicinity but from my urban site very tough to find things fainter. I got a 6x30 right angle one from FLO for £45 and worth every penny. Means I can actually follow the star hopping instructions in Turn Left at Orion which I would also highly recommend for showing realistically what you can expect to see and how to find them (picked up 2nd hand off eBay for a fiver) Wish you the best of luck!

As someone who found an EQ mount an annoying barrier to observing I highly recommend anything else! I know they are technically useful, they can just be a pain, and astronomy is meant to be fun

Ah only saw your reply after clicking submit. +1 for a Maksutov!

I was in your exact situation about a month ago. I initially went for a spotting scope after having had my fingers burnt with a rather naff Celestron FirstScope 114 Compact (of the infamous Bird-Jones family I was to later learn!). I chose it due to the reasons you listed above. However I found the fixed 45 degree viewing angle awkward and the 20-60x zoom range limiting. The moon just about filled the eyepiece at full zoom and Saturn was very tiny. Using a photo tripod was also difficult. As was finding the target. Though it could accommodate 1.25 inch eyepieces there was not enough focus travel to be able to use a 2x Barlow. Basically all of the problems that telescope designs have solved over the past few centuries! I returned that and settled on a Sky Watcher 102 Mak AZ Pronto and could not be more thrilled. With the star diagonal it produces up-down correct images though left right inversed. You could of course use an erecting prism for daytime use so it's fully orientated correctly but the star diagonal is favoured for astronomy due to better light transmission. Hope that helps. All the best

Can of worms indeed! I've found my Mak 102 to be able to show the objects I listed so no need to go full blown observatory just yet! I would argue that most people aren't quite sure what to expect from starting with binocs so potentially like me will find themselves slightly underwhelmed. However binoculars alongside a telescope are a great companion. All the best

Apologies if reviving an old thread but I found myself in exactly your situation a few years back. I might be controversial here but I would disagree with what people have said regarding binoculars over a telescope. I followed the advice and purchased some 10x50 binocs when first starting and whilst they show you more than the naked eye, all the really show you is more points of light. Now I'm not being facetious but if you take a moment and think about why you are interested in astronomy, I reckon (at least personally) it's to see things that you can't ordinarily see i.e. rings of Saturn, the bands of Jupiter, the craters and ridges of the lunar surface, split beautifully coloured double-stars. Those aren't visible through binoculars. You can see the 4 largest moons of Jupiter but not much else. I know that you can see deep sky objects like M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) in binoculars and it can be impressive, but for me, beyond that it's just isn't particularaly exciting. Now if your main interest is to learn the constellation then by all means binoculars can be great. But if I'm honest, a telescope offers the 'astronomy' most people are after. On the topic of binoculars, whilst 10x50s are useful, they can get heavy and your shoulders and neck will soon feel it. I've recently purchased a pair of lightweight 8x32 and they are far more comfortable so you'll actually spend more time observing and less time massaging the back of your neck! Hope that proves useful or informative and like I say I realise it goes against the grain! All the best.