Pryce

Yeah thats what I'm thinking as well. A dual purpose setup(at least mount) that can work for both if I do decide to go down the AP rabbithole. But I'm thinking one thing at a time. My camera isnt the best either, so if photography was my intended direction, I'd have to leap i to yet another moneypit. But thats why I'm weighing the EQ5/EQ6 options agaibst eachother here. If I do eventually decide to take that leap, I'll already have the mount I need. And from what I see. The mount is more expencive and (almost)more important than the tube itself

Hey lads and ladinas! As I said in my introduction post, I started out with a 70/500mm refractor and I just ordered a 150P 750mm newtonian on a EQ3-2 unguided mount. I ordered from a Norwegian site, where the prices are.. Well. A lot higher(like 30-50% higher) But I did so because of the extended warranty and service agreements that norwegian shops and consumer laws protect me with. I was looking at FLO, before purchasing in Norway, but since I'm completely new, I went for consumer safety over cost. So, for now I'll only be using the telescope for observing with no concrete plans to upgrade for astrophoto purposes, though I own a EOS 1000D and I might give it a shot here and there. But that's not what I'm aiming for. Anyways, I'm inexperienced, but I love research. I can sit around reading about stuff for hours on end. I've found a lot of information about what's good for this or that, but I'd like some tips in terms of what I should save up for. I'd like to upgrade to a 200mm or higher some time in the future. And I don't have a problem dropping 2k(After having saved up of course) on something like this, as long as it serves my purpose. So my question is basically this. Since I don't have specific plans for astrophotography, should I still spring for a EQ6 mount? Would a EQ5 be enough(even with future plans of upgrading to a bigger apeture)? I'm guessing that the EQ5 or EQ6 would work just fine with my 150P until such time I invest in a bigger tube. If I do decide to go for a mount like the EQ6, I won't have to upgrade for some time, no matter what I'm using it for, right? Or, should I just save up some more and get one of these kits(like this one) right away? Would a P-DS apeture work well for visual astronomy or should I focus on something that's meant for visual astronomy (like this one)? (Yes I know my first link was 300P and the second one is 200P and that's obviously a big difference. I'm mainly talking about the apeture type and not the diameter) Edit: I realize that this should probably have been in the "Getting Started Equipment Help and Advice" section, so if a moderator could move it for me I would be glad. Sorry about the mistake.

That said, I did jump blindfolded into this thing with my first purchase. Not really knowing what I could realistically expect with a refractor of that size(They really oversold it) but after hours of research I think I have a clearer picture of what I can expect to see with a 150P

Thanks for the replies guys! Though I understand that the 150P is still a very small telescope, I hope that the optical quality and increased light gathering will increase the viewing pleasure considerably as there was a lot of optical issues with the smaller refractor that I inisitally bought. Plus, the only DSO I could even attempt to see was M31 and even that was barely equal to a grease stain on my glasses. And I do understand that I'll never(at least with scopes in this price range) see those colorful clouds I've seen in pictures. As far as I understand those have been post-processed to oblivion and beyond. And I realize that beefy magnification isn't the way to go for a new astronomer so the 2,5mm might be overkill, but I figured, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it 😆

Hey yall! I recently bought a Sky-Watcher Mercurt 705(70/500mm) and I was able to observe the moon and some other objects in our solar system, but unfortunately I was disappointed. Of course, I am new to this, so viewing conditions were probably horrible the first few days. Tonight I drove as far out into the woods as I could without leaving the county, and although conditions were better(light and heat) I was still disappointed. I wasnt able to observe any DSOs and the planets in our solar system were just some small dots, even with a 10mm eye piece and a 2x barlow. Of course, I understand that these standard eye pieces and the barlow are most likely super low grade and a experienced stargazer probably wouldn't touch them with a 10foot pole. However, observing the moon was spectacular. Absolutely amazing! Even got a few decent photos! Not to bad for my first go if I do say so myself! So, when I got home I ordered myself a Sky-Watcher Explorer 150P (150mm/750mm). I also threw in a decent quality 2.5mm eye piece to avoid using the barlow at all. Hopefully thats going to increase my viewing pleasure considerably. On that note, just a quick question. Should I spring for 2" eye pieces instead of the 1,25" versions? I'll spring for a motor and high grade eye peieces in the future, but for now, this will have to do. But anyways, just wanted to introduce myself and to say that I'm here to stay!