mikeyjm26

11 minutes ago, fiestazetecmk2 said:

I'm the conservatory always. 

How much does that weigh?

2 hours ago, johninderby said:

Have you considered a small shed just big enough to hold the dob and a chair.The plastic type are quite cheap and easy to assemble and being a dob no setup time when you move it out of the shed.

Yes it is a good idea, it would need to a reasonable height for an 8"??? Although I would still like to keep costs down. I have budget which is kinda getting eaten up with the telescope already and not much wiggle room for a separate shed unfortunately.

1 minute ago, johninderby said:

As you live in a flat is there anywhere secure outside you can leave it  or is it a public space? If living in a house with a private back garden that is a different matter. 

I have my own decent sized back garden that I could leave it in.

6 hours ago, Geoff Barnes said:

  Hi Mikey and welcome!

Have a read through this thread to get some ideas about Dob storage..

 

6 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Mikey

I have a 10" flex Dob, and keep it inside all the time when not in use

Storing outside with a cover, depending on the material of the cover, can get condensation under the cover, which could lead to mold build up on the mirrors

Hope been of assistance

John  

5 hours ago, Louis D said:

If you can keep it inside, especially in a climate controlled house as we have here in Texas, that would be ideal.  Humidity can cause degradation of the mirror coatings, corrosion in the electronics, rust on the fasteners, and expansion of wood products.  Of course, if you live in a desert climate as in Arizona, outside storage is a much safer bet.  There's it's just a matter of keeping critters out of it and ensuring temperatures don't get too hot.  Winters in cold climates can wreak their own havoc on telescopes stored outdoors, but I have less experience in this area.

19 minutes ago, Jiggy 67 said:

This is a topic that constantly raises it’s head and usually results in two opposing views, those that leave their equipment out and those that don’t. Personally I leave mine out because that means I’m more likely to use it.

Several years ago I gave this hobby up and the biggest single reason for that was the constant hassle of moving equipment in and out of the house, setting up and all the issues that arise from the process. As someone that has to work the following day it became a pain and it became easy to say “I can’t be bothered I’ll just watch a film”

This is an outdoor activity and I would rather be using the equipment than keeping it nice and shiny in the house so when I took the hobby up again I decided that I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I bought a telegizmos 365 cover and now I leave everything outside set up (apart from electronics). Now, I no longer have to polar align or star align, synscan enables me to start from a saved position, and I’m observing in 10 minutes.

I left my equipment out throughout this winter with no ill effects. If it’s gonna rain heavy I put a Green Witch cover on followed by the tg, if it’s gonna be sustained and torrential I’ll bring everything in.

I would rather have a few cosmetic marks and use the equipment than have it shiny and new in the house 

So I wouldn’t worry too much about leaving it outside, as long as you invest in a good cover, using it is more important than polishing it 

Many thanks for the replies. Really appreciated. It is giving me food for thought. I am thinking the same in that if I have to take it outside all the time I am less likely to use it. I only have one exit from my flat so with no back door it means having to carry it about 20m before getting started. It's no big deal but I know it will start to bug me then I will not use it.

Hi guys,

Where do you store you telescope? Can you leave it in the garden under a cover or would that affect it?

The reason I ask is that I am looking at a Dobsonian and I was wondering if I would have to bring inside or put it in the shed afterwards every night?

Tia

Mikey

36 minutes ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

It's possible to get a good view of several DSOs including open and globular clusters, nebulae and brighter galaxies with the smaller end of scopes. For instance my 120mm refractor has given me wow moments from a camp site and whereas at my urban home, I can find several DSOs but they're often of the grey smudge variety.

A lot depends on your sky quality. Are you living in a city/town, urban, suburban, suburban/rural border or rural?

I stay on the outskirts of a small town and relatively quite close to the countryside.

34 minutes ago, FLO said:

I see you first started your conversation with my colleague, Ian, saying you wanted something portable that doesn't take long to set up. His suggestions were based on that and your budget, which you later doubled. I don't think you mentioned your preference for deep-sky until only this evening. After we had closed. I will let Ian know when we reopen. 

HTH, 

Steve 

Hi Steve, yes that is correct. Ian has been great and yes I probably was not clear on what I wanted to hopefully achieve since I was unsure as to what some telescopes are capable of. Apologies for that.

4 hours ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Mikey, a warm welcome to the forum.  Two things to add to what others have said.

1) Make sure you buy your scope from a dedicated astronomy supplier such as the forum sponsors, FLO, delivery is quick and efficient and the support incomparable.  Click on their header above.

2) If you have astrophotography in your sights further down the line, then this will seriously affect your purchase now.  If you need further advice on this invest in a copy of a book called 'Making Every Photon Count' by Steve Richards, it will save you loads of money and heartache, found here: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

Good luck and clear skies!

My bad. I agree with buying from a known source especially since it is a lot of money. I have been in talks with FLO about a telescope and they have suggested a AZ Gti, Astro Fi and a refractor. However from my limited knowledge I don't think any of them will be great for DSO's but I could be wrong.

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

Yes it does. It’s common practice to use a non magnifying finder such as a Rigel Quikfinder or Telrad along with a right angle optical finder. The non magnifying  finder or reflex finder often incorrectly referred to as a red dot finder although it actualy has circles not a dot is usefull to get you in the area of what you are looking for then the RACI finder is used to zero in on the target.

4 hours ago, John said:

Yes - an optical 9x50mm right angle, correct image finder and a zero magnification Rigel Quikfinder. A very effective combination

 

I understand the principal but not how you would put it into practise. My eye is not bad but even seeing stars in the sky with the naked eye is tough. How do you know where to point it with the Rigel? I am probably asking this in the wrong thread and sub forum. Sorry.

14 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Yes there is a 8% off eBay coupon that could be applied to a Bresser dob that would save a bit.

Yes it from BresserUK who are the official UK dealers??

On 02/05/2020 at 10:34, johninderby said:

Just replaced the finder bracket with a low profile one (as I had a spare one) and found a 1.25” eyepiece extenstion in the spares box gto replace the big extension provided with the scope.

I use an adjustable height drummers throne (stool) for most of my observing.

Newbie question, does this have 2 finders?

I found a 8" Bresser on eBay that is brand new for just less than £370, it seems like a good deal.

2 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

No the focuser works very well, and is a really nice focuser just as it comes, though the upgrade allows much finer control, making it easier to focus on different objects and to a more pinpoint accuracy, though it's perfectly achievable to do this with the default one. I got a Barlow and a moon filter as a first purchase like you're considering, the Barlow is definitely nice as it gives you some good flexibility magnification wise, though I haven't used the moon filter much even on the full moon lol. First time I tried looking at the moon it was so bright and hard to see at first, though as my eyes adapted to how bright it was it made for a nice viewing experience. I think the moon filter generally makes it more comfortable, though I'm sure the more experienced guys can give you some more in depth details about the moon filter and how exactly to use it/where its useful. I'm actually considering getting a UHC filter now for nebula viewing. Personally for me I think getting a UHC instead of moon filter would have been beneficial. Again all depends on what you're looking to observe

Are all Barlow's the same essentially or are some of them not so good?

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

Did someone mention smartphone holder? 😁

BTW re: moon filters some seem to need them and others don’t. Depends on how sensitive to light your eyes are. Some are supersensative to light and really need a filter. Would recommend getting a variable polarising filter though as it can be adjusted to suit your eyes better and also comes in handy for viewing Venus.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/moon-neutral-density-filters/astro-essentials-variable-polarising-moon-filter.html

Favourite filter for viewing the moon is the Baader Neodynium filter as it gives the moon a nice neutral tone and increases contrast a bit.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction/baader-neodymium-filter.html

 

The second filter is now cheap!!! I suppose the best thing to do is see how me and the family feel without one first.

Thanks for all the help and advice, it is greatly appreciated.

52 minutes ago, merlin100 said:

Here's an observing report with images captured using the supplied eyepieces, as well as a Meade 4000 15mm Super Plossl eyepiece.  This report was written before I got my new BST StarGuider eyepieces...

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/351309-first-lunar-report-with-the-big-gun/

👍 really good pictures.

2 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

8" Dob's are easy to store upright in a corner. They take up very little floor space, much less than a tripod. Storing it in a shed is a bit dodgy due to damp over time. There's those here that do so, there's good advice available on how to protect it.

Keeping an object in view is with a telescope on a dobson mount isn't any harder than using manual slomo knobs.

Binocular shakes can be dampened by simply leaning on or against something, by mounting them on a tripod, or probably most popular for binocular astronomy buffs, a monopod.

'...how good can they be?', have a look at the binocular section of the forum. Loads of people either only use binoculars, or have at least one pair to compliment their other gear.

It's a hard decision to make, maybe list all the pros and cons on paper then just go for it.

You did say you were looking for "something portable and easy to setup" and goto...

The Skymax 127 on an AZ-GTI comes in below your budget, including buying a power supply which is bought separately. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

 

You've opened a can of worms with binoculars now lol

I have 4 telescopes to choose from, Skymax 127, Celestron 4SE, Bresser 8" and the 200P. I hate making decisions!!! Especially if there are similar items the same.

2 hours ago, merlin100 said:

I've got the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P and can thoroughly recommend it.  You could buy that, plus some good eyepieces for a lot less than your £500.  Just my tuppence worth. 

They are pretty decent images from 200P. Is that using the standard eyepiece?

9 hours ago, ScouseSpaceCadet said:

There are more, rather mundane variables to consider. For instance, will you travel with your chosen instrument? If so, do you have a car? Where will it be stored? Are there stairs to climb etc? Do you have any physical impairments which may prevent moving the telescope around or staying comfortable at the eyepiece? 

Will you get on with manually tracking an object which is a little tricky at higher magnifications? Would you prefer the mount to do it for you?

Are you interested in astrophotography? Or visual at first and see how things go?

Dobsonians are far from 'technically advanced'. They're the simplest telescope and mount to use and aperture per buck there's no contest but those other considerations above to consider. 'The best telescope is the one you use the most' really is true.

Have you considered binoculars? A good pair of 10x50 binoculars, an astronomy for beginners book or two and planisphere will set you back less than £100. My binoculars are used more than my two telescopes. I wish I'd followed Sir Patrick Moore's advce and bought them first!

 

Hi ScouseSpaceCadet, I have thought about the issues of larger manual telescope and it does concern me. Moving is and tracking an object does not look as easy as using one the other mounts that has the fine movement knobs, sorry for my lack of terminology. Storing it will probably have to be in my shed for a Dob, the Celestron I might get away with keeping it indoors. I do really like the idea of astrophotography but a mount alone would cost as much as a telescope to get me up and running. Then I would need a camera or eyepiece camera. Not cheap unfortunately.

I did consider binoculars, I still have a look but my issue with them is how good can they be? I have difficulty trying to hold my phone steady to take a picture of the moon so using binoculars it going to be equally as hard!!!

9 hours ago, cletrac1922 said:

Mikey

First of all welcome from Land Down Under

First of all you have to work out what you want to use the scope for

Just purely visual, then cannot go far wrong with a Dob

If want to do AP, then you will need a scope which tracks, with SynScan controller

Then go for a Skywatcher ED100 on a HEQ5 mount, or a Celestron 4E, 6E or 8E depending on your budget

Have attached pics of my SW 10" flex Dob, and my ED80 on EQ5pro mount

The ED80 was taken a club solar day late last year

John 

Hi John, the 10" in certainly quite big!!! Part of my issue is that I like the idea of both visual and astrophotography. Of course astrophotography is not cheap to get into initially so until I see if the hobby hooks me the visual will need to do just now. As mentioned above the Bresser comes with a phone mount so that could be interesting. It would be good to see what the difference in images are like between both telescopes.

Using a Dob and manually having to move it to track the object does slightly concern me, in fact finding the object first does lol This is part of the reason I like the idea of the Celestron 4E as I think for what it offers at that price point is pretty good compared to the others but I could be wrong.

10 hours ago, johninderby said:

The Skywatcher dob is an excellent basic dob. The Bresser is a better equipped dob with a number of advantages such as a great high quality focuser and proper large alt bearings and is monuted using tube rings which means it can be balanced by moving the tube up or down. The focuser on the Bresser is worth more than the price difference on it’s own.

So basicly if on a tight budget the Skywatcher will serve you well but the Bresser is simply a step up. 

Thanks for confirming that, I think the Bresser will be one to go for.

10 hours ago, Cuto100200 said:

I got a Bresser Messier 8" very recently, just a couple of things to bare in mind, mine actually also came with a Solar filter, Planisphere, and smart phone holder. This isn't listed in the "whats in the box" section on FLO website listing, I believe its around £70 in extra stuff. Also bare in mind it only comes with a 25mm eyepiece, unlike the skywatcher dobsonian that comes with both 10mm and 25mm eyepieces.

The finderscopes are also different, I ended up getting a red dot as I find them a little more useful as you can see exactly where in the sky (relevant to what you can see) your scope is pointing. Red dot wise, a lot of people seem to give the Telrad and Rigel good reviews, personally i got the telrad, though its a little heavier than rigel and can lead to balance issues at lower angles if put too far forward. 

I believe the focuser on the Bresser is a little better, along with the way the mounting system works, though i'm sure the more experienced guys can give you a better opinion on these as I haven't owned a skywatcher 200p. 

Another thing to think about is that there are a lot more people who own skywatcher 200p's as the scopes been around longer and are very popular, therefore there is more modification advice, and information about it available. Someone said the Bresser has a lot of upgrade potential, i've noticed it has fan mounts at the back, and has a gear set upgrade that bresser sells, and apparently is easily fitted to an equatorial mount, though i'm not sure how this compares to the skywatcher.

Other than these things I haven't had the scope long enough to give a comprehensive review or report on it, but just message me if you'd like to know anything.

 

Links:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-8-dobsonian-telescope.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/rigel-quikfinder-compact-reflex-sight.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/telrad-finder-astronomy.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-1-10-gear-set-for-hex-focuser.html

Many thanks for the info. Those are certainly upgrades I will look at getting. Does it require the gear set initially or is fine to begin with? I was considering getting a moon filter and barlow for a first purchase?

19 minutes ago, John said:

Dobsonians are very popular starter scopes. You do get the most aperture per £ spent and therefore better views of deep sky objects. They are quite bulky scopes however. While some dobsonians do have motor drives and even GOTO computer systems to find targets, these add to the price and weight so most folks are content to "drive" their dobsonians themselves and to find objects themselves. So you do need to be prepared to navigate your scope around the sky to find targets using a star chart, mobile phone based app or similar tool.

 

 

 

Thanks for that. I was looking at an 8" Dobsonian, the Sky-watcher Skyliner 200P seem very reasonable but the Bresser equivalent is £100 more expensive. It is better? Is a dew shield still required? If I go down the Dobsonian route I will need a laser collimator as well.

Ok so would I be correct in saying that a bigger aperture will allow me to see fainter objects as it lets in more light? Therefore would I better off with a Dobsonian or would that be too technically advanced for a beginner? Ideally I would like to view more nebulas etc than planets.

Thanks for the replies. What I find confusing is that you have telescopes for specific purposes. How much of a difference is there in what you can view when looking at planet from a telescope that is designed for it and one not, also when looking at nebula. Can the one that is able to view DSO not focus as well on say the moon or any other planet?

Thanks for any comments, really appreciated.

Hi guys,

I've been researching telescopes and trying to find a decent beginner's one but I don't know which one to choose. I live in the UK and I am looking to spend around £500. I am looking for something portable and easy to setup. Are there certain brands I should be looking at or avoiding?

I was looking at the Bresser and Celestron scopes. I like the idea of the Celestron 4E as it is pretty much fully automatic. I also read that the quality and what you get for the money with a Bresser is very good.

If anyone can recommend one or tell me what I should be looking out for it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Mikey