jacobingonzo

Even with a dumb elephant of a 12" dob I have managed to get the set up and manoeuvring down to a reasonably quick fine art now- I made a DIY trolly arrangement so I can wheel the big bug er about - so tonight I managed a couple of shortish sessions , between the clouds-even managed to pull it inside sharpish during a sharp shower- a little rain on the primary but it dried off by the time it was hauled out an hour later. But the seeing was the best it has been up here in Cumbria for some time- managed a pleasant half hour observing Mars. Im just glad I plumbed for the big dob, hoping it will last me some time. J

I fourth the bresser- good allrounder for different tastes- nice and easy for a quick Knock and nash outside- cut your collective teeth on it and see where you want to go from there J

Brendan out in the field I can check collimating using the Cheshire and a small torch - shine it in the indent in the Cheshire and you can make any adjustments necessary j

+1 for the Skywatcher Heritage 130p- do some research on the First Light Optics beginners scopes page as noted above and you could always order for delivery on his birthday- would also suggest contacting FLO as they are first class giving lots of good advice and very customer friendly-rushing to get any available scope for xmas would likely result in a disappointing experience for your dad. J

Yeah Craig I understand the laser is easier but as the posters above are discussing the prevalence of the lower end of the market to be off cue I feel that I can live with a little hassle of the back and forth, rather that than spend an arm and a leg and next doors cat on a Hotech etc lol- anyway horses for courses we each love what works for us Thats exactly what I mean Louis, use whatever system works best for you J

Don't understand the lack of love for a cheshire- Doesn't need collimated, Spot on during daylight and at night shine a small torch in the indent and your scope is collimated as quick as you like J

Glad you got loads of advice- I have clear skies here tonight and moon was marvellous but Mars was a mushy fuzzy and thats with a 12 inch scope!! keep at it and keep learning J

no techie but Ive heard reports from others unable to get decent focus- I think the seeing just now is plain and simple crap!!! we persevere as we must

No probs Jilly - yes getting to darker skies will always improve your seeing but depending on what your circumstances are you may not be able to up and drive at the drop of a hat - look at this light pollution map https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=2.71&lat=30.2068&lon=11.7949&layers=B0FFFFFTFFFFFFFFFF it will show what your current Bortle is (the seeing quality- the lower the bortle the better) and where the closest darker sky sites are- but if you live near a mountain then you are one lucky lady!!! Yes I would think at this point a 3x barlow and 6mm eyepiece wouldn't improve the fuzziness until the atmospherics are improved- not saying they won't ever improve your experience but again I would advise restraint until you gain more experience with what you have-otherwise you could spend £100/$150 plus if not much more and still be disappointed. Just remember how much closer your eyeball is to the moon than the other planets!!! lol Oh god yes the books!! Im in wonder reading about black holes and supernovi- there is lots of astronomy stuff on the internet -after all it what we have to do when the skies are cloudy and you just have to scratch that astronomy itch J

As dave says you will be at the whim of the atmospherics gods - keep at it, The 150 is a good scope but even under perfect conditions jupiter saturn and mars will be quite small. Keep an eye out for better seeing conditions in the forecasts http://clearoutside.com/forecast/54.89/-2.93 or https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/outdoorsports/seeing/london_united-kingdom_2643743 this will give you a better idea of how the atmospherics are. How are the light pollution conditions where you are observing? Unwanted stray light will play havoc with the quality of your view- I have a flexitube too and I made a light shroud for the open centre section from a fitness mat and some velcro- it keeps out the stray light and any body heat that interferes with the view quality- Keep at it dont give up , if the collimation is spot on you should notice that the quality of the view will vary- I find using the higher maginification of the barlow just washes everything out on less than optimum seeing conditions. Try doing a star test, this will confirm wether the collimation is spot on and to what extent atmospherics are affecting the seeing You may improve the quality of your view by upgrading the bog standard eyepieces but as always its more money- I would be inclined to get experience of using and getting the most of what you have , learning the sky and brushing up your astronomy skills and knowledge- Theres some good youtube videos If the bug is still biting hard you may wish to consider spending more to improve your experience-as always make extensive use of this site , ask more questions Let us know how you go J

Its ignorance plain and simple- the last thing we want is for the site owners to withdraw the hosting of the event due to a few numpties- you book -you arrive- you pay- you enjoy the stay , clear skies or not- there's plenty of marvellous Galloway walking, cycling or sightseeing if the sky gods dont play ball!! J

I second Terrys comments I live in Carlisle and am a stones throw from decent dark skies in the lakes- I decided to plum for a wide arpeture Flexitube dob to take advantage of our darker skies up here in not so sunny Cumbria-Im happy to develop my skills through DSO before considering imagery. Its a big beast at 300 but a 200 would give the best bang per buck and more manageable unless you drive a small car. For your budget any goto system would restrict your arpeture -Yes goto is nice to have but you may need to decide now on wether to pursue planetary and DSO or imaging. For the former a dob would seem to meet those needs, the later a Newtonian. Ease of set up definitely the dob, as mentioned the 200 Newtonian can be somewhat of a sail and a in my opinion overkill on the mount is necessary, and more money Kerching!! Let us know which way you decide to go and how you get on J

Gosh the tumbleweed is indeed evident on this Club site which is a shame- maybe all the astronomers in northern cumbria have been hunted to near extinction- never fear once this perfidious lockdown has ended I will sally forth to seek out and explore strange new sites and boldy go where no newbie astronomer has gone before (obviously in Cumbria)........que the music!! I know I know I have issues lol J

Hey Fellow Cumbrians 2 new members in a week- can this group survive the excitement? lol- Hello guys/gals and those who are not so sure.... new to this game and thought I would poke my nose in and stir the silt... Obviously with the nasty C we are not able to actually gather in geeky groups , let alone look in one another's finders. So where do the faithful go to ply their secret pastime locally other than behind closed doors or gardens? I find we are luckier than most with fairly low bortle skies within striking distance - so come on spill the beans suggest where I can go within 1/2 hours drive of Carlisle to point my scope ??? with tongue firmly in cheek....cheers fellow enthusiasts Paul

all good comments from the other posters- 8 inch Dob the sweet spot for Planetary, Lunar and DSO but not so hot for Imaging. Also very easy resale if you find you want to move onto something else. As requested give us some more information and let us know what you are interested in and we can guide you further

As usual lots of sound advice here- I’m all for getting as much arpeture as you can afford for purely planetary and dso usage - goto are fine and dandy but you will have your budget gobbled up with the goto bit and I’m sure as eggs are eggs you will soon wish you had plumbed for more arpeture. Manual is a pain at first but you will soon learn the heavens and you always have the opportunity to upgrade to goto at a later date as you evolve. So for me I’d say dobsonian for stability and for 500 an 8” is within your grasp - views will be good and should you wish to move on it will easily sell on the used market - just my 2p and as they say other scopes are available- good luck and let us know how you get on J

Hi VaderAG Yes it can be a minefield knowing what to choose- unfortunately Covid has hit the availability of telescopes and accessories very hard- as soon as stock comes in it seems to rush off the shelf. It may be worth keeping an eye on the for sale section of the Astronomy buy and sell on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/1849691625242921/ UK Astronomy buy and sell https://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/browse.php or maybe send an email to first light optics asking when they might have your chosen scope in stock, they sponsor this site and you could ask their advice on your requirements- they are very good? J

In case you havnt found this yet have a browse through https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/43-primers-and-tutorials/ J

Welcome Ozzy to SGL Yes the "we want it all now and hang the expense" is a common symptom of a budding astronomer- to be fair when the bug catches that feeling never goes away its just that we learn to deal with it better- "Hi my name is Alan and I just want a bigger scope, better eyepiece etc etc" Imaging can become very expensive- you will be amazed what you can achieve with a simple mount and a smartphone just now. Best advice I could give is spend time on the forum , look at the primers suggested earlier ask questions and go out and use your scope. Don't get too disappointed if your first light experiences do not measure up to Hubble'esque expectations. Time and patience is required here- look in your scope , report back , ask your questions... hopefully the bug will bite and you will be lost forever keep us informed how your quest is going J

If you buy a non goto scope you can see how you fare moving it manually and if you want to buy a motorised upgrade later you can do that. Alternatively you may wish to upgrade to a bigger scope with or without motor depending on your budget-Buying a cheaper scope as an absolute beginner would seem to be the way to go- you are correct put your money into the scope first then if you like it you can start looking at all the fancy gadgetry -all the people on the forum are really patient and will be willing to add their two pennarth". just dont be hasty -read the forum-ask the questions-listen to the pros and cons and then buy- whatever happens then you will feel that you spent enough consideration and didn't rush in half cock.

Welcome to SGL Webby I know the feeling of the ever increasing budget as your eyes get bigger at all the loverly astronomy stuff!!- In my humble opinion spend a little time on this site (other sites are available) soaking up the knowledge and finding out what you might want. Ask questions about stuff, the people on here are sound and very helpful. I started out wanting a motorised scope on a mount and the budget went somewhere past Andromeda. Then the sensible voice said slow down. Its so easy to start off buying a scope on impulse , spending lots on what you think you might want. Then finding that the things you see are nowhere like what you see in the glossy mags or on T'internet. The poor scope gets left in the garage and never sees the light of day (or night lol) again. So the stuff the guys and gals above have suggested is good. Basically you want to know what you want to do- photos or just observing. Imaging or DSO(deep sky observing) in the geek speak. Imaging can get very expensive you really need a scope on a mount with sysncan or goto system with an appropriate camera. For Observing or DSO you can go from binoculars to a Dobsonian scope. This is obviously much less expensive. Both systems have pros and cons- look through this forum there is lots of information on each. Theres a lot to commend just buying a small tabletop dob like the 130 and see where that takes you- look on youtube there's oodles of reviews and helpful info. Then if Astronomy is not for you then you won't have a sour taste in the mouth having spent £500 plus. However if you do get this marvellous bug well Im afraid the sky really is the limit (did you see what I did there ?) The SW150 will be marginally better than the 130- search on the forum for each scope and read peoples expriences. Im a relative newbie- Ive spent lots of time on forums and have decided I want to do DSO just now- The scarcity of scopes at the moment allowed me time to think long and hard about where I wanted to start. Eventually Ive ordered a Skywatcher 300p flexitube Dob. Using a manual dob allows you to find you way around the cosmos. There are smaller and much less expensive dobs depending on your budget. I chose that because in DSO arperture is king (the size of the main mirror-bigger the mirror the more light gathering-the more you see) Its a big beast and the Dob doesn't look as sexy as the scopes on mounts but the dob is normally moved in 2 bits the tube and the mount. But the flex tube allows the tube to be shortened when storing or carrying. Lots of people have good things to say about this scope but there are plenty of good cheaper ones too. Listen to what the good people on here say! Its important to make sure you know the dimensions of the scope you want to buy, for storage and carrying. I reckon the 300 is big enough to keep me satisfied for some time but Ive seen some of the big 'uns some of the people do gravitate to. Its common to buy a scope and then you just want more- look how many scopes some of the posters on here have!! I hope with the help of the forum you do manage to make up your mind and the bug does bite you. Keep us informed of how you get on J

Hey Climbingmagnet Welcome to SGL 1- the most accurate way of following targets that you will find move quite fast across your field of view at higher magnifications ,is to buy a computerised goto system that will move to track your target- these can be quite an expensive upgrade- failing this you will need to manually track the object as you have already started doing- the more you practice the better you will get 2- Using a barlow , like the one you highlighted , in conjunction with your eyepieces will increase your magnification and should give you better results-you should try to use the resources tab at the head of the forum and hit the Astronomy tools then FOV calculator- you can input your scope details along with different eyepieces and barlows and give you an idea of how changing different eyepieces etc will affect your view- and yes that baader barlow will work with your skyliner. Speaking to the guys at FLO will always be happy to give you lots of advice on prospective purchases there are lots of things that affect your viewing, whilst the right equipment certainly helps, all manner of things will vary the quality of your viewing- read up on here about atmospheric conditions, collimation, light pollution, dark sky sites, cooling your scope before viewing, avoiding viewing over warm buildings etc- getting a handle on these things and what you can do to improve each of your sessions- spend time browsing this forum, you will get lots of ideas and knowledge and there are many people happy to assist and advise dont make hasty purchases, you will find that time researching on here will pay dividends and save you wasted money- dont be afraid to ask questions on here J