Tiny Clanger

Actually, if you go to the FLO gift voucher page and click the V by the £5 box, the drop down menu has lots of options up to £200

Hi Kevin, welcome. I bought the 150p as my first proper telescope, it's great if you can find one in stock, buy it ! The Moon, Jupiter & Saturn will just be the start ... Heather

Two more resources which I've found very useful as a newbie : the binocular sky monthly guide (see the binocular section on here ) and the really well written and illustrated monthly online guide from a local astro soc here http://www.whitby-astronomers.com/sky-notes/sky-notes-december-2020 I'm slightly irritated that before lockdown #1, way back in March, my sole trip away from home this year was a few days near Whitby, and it was only after that I got into the astronomy thing again. It would have been great to go to one of their meetings ...

The Moore W.M. is 50 objects in total , the first 25 are listed as best see with binoculars (or the naked eye) , but that doesn't stop you pointing a 'scope that way. For anyone who hasn't found it, here are links straight to the first 25 PDF http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/skyatnight/moore-winter-marathon-guide-1-25.pdf and the second 25 http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/tv/skyatnight/moore-winter-marathon-guide-26-50.pdf Good printable to give us beginners some easy starter targets of various types , and to tell us what we are seeing. The only thing that is outdated as far as I know (it's a few years old) is the information on where & when to view a planet (I think it was Jupiter ? ) which is specific to the year. The date/time option on the main Moore W.M . page is an online sky map. Heather PS, is it there yet ?!

I saw a 'planes contrail streaming right across the sky more or less horizontally expand and disperse incredibly slowly over the course of a couple of hours (it still hung there at 2am when I gave up and bought my telescope in) The light from the nearly full Moon above it lit the water droplets (actually more likely to have been ice crystals up there last night) beautifully, making it really stand out, and the length of time it sat there without being broken up showed how still the atmosphere was. Might something similar be what you saw ? You're bound to have more flights and therefore contrails nearby than I do !

Your starquest 130 has a 650mm focal length, very similar to the heritage 150 which is 750mm, so your magnification with the bundled eyepieces should be very similar, and what I've seen, you can (clouds permitting ) The eyepieces are tolerable to start with, sensible to wait and see how you get on with them, as lots of folk say, the 25mm is not bad, but you might find the 10mm the first thing you decide to replace. I'd done my research and wanted a BST starguider 12mm, but guess what ? They were out of stock . I managed to track down an 8mm at 'The Sky's The Limit' and bought that instead, it is an enormous improvement but too expensive for me to think about buying more new BSTs. If you can get hold of some closed cell foam (cheap camping mat is what I used initially) make a dew shield out of it and some string or tape to stick out in front of the 'scope like a lens hood on a camera lens, its a cheap easy addition. I've found loads of free printable stuff (mostly in PDF form) on the internet , a whole book about the Moon, star maps , Messier lists with diagrams, star atlases ... perhaps the best thing for me, wanting to see some of everything but needing it to be easy, is the Moore Winter Marathon , if you've not seen that I'll find the link . I think I may have read something to that effect .... One sleep to Telescopemas ! 🔭 Heather

I like the simplicity and solidity of the dob base, it takes a bit of getting used to making fine adjustments though. Chasing Mars across the sky with an 8mm EP you learn to shift it in tiny increments: I find it easier to hold the circular base rather than the tube itself to do this, and there can be a skip when you overcome the initial stiction (I think that's a word! ) and the turntable bit then moves more freely . I read somewhere of folk taking the thing apart to improve the bearing surfaces with teflon, but I manage OK as it is. The 'scope is easy to carry outside, I made a low but sturdy triangular 3 legged table from some scrap wood (recycled IKEA sofa actually, I knew the bits would come in handy ... ) to stand it on, as my garden table has cast iron sides and is too heavy to shift around. When I want the tube up higher and more horizontal to view lower things without the fences trees etc getting in the way so much, I drag the old knock-off pseudo B&D workmate type bench from the shed, it's heavy enough to be a stable platform. I've done the well documented easy and cheap upgrades of PFTE tape on the focuser and a 'shroud' to keep stray light out, both work well. What highlights ? Well, the day I got it, I home too late to be able to sort the RDF aim in daylight, but unpacked the 'scope and (gasp!) actually read the instructions, then took the packaging upstairs out of the way. I happened to glance out of the back bedroom window, and there was Saturn, so dashed downstairs , grabbed the 'scope, took it up, plonked it on the box it had come in, lined it up by eye and had my first ever view of Saturns rings : tiny, but distinct. Given I was doing everything wrong (indoors, scope perched on wobbly box, through never washed window ... ) it gave me great hope for what I'd see when I used it properly ! Since then (and using it properly!) I've been stunned by the Pleiades ... so many stars ! Spent hours looking at Jupiter and Saturn , and in good moments managed to make out bands of colour , although my timing has been all wrong to see the Great Red Spot, something I hope to manage. On Mars after a lot of time spent looking, the scope has shown me brief steady glimpses of features I was able to identify here https://britastro.org/node/23843 Earlier in the summer I saw the southern polar ice cap on Mars too, altho' that seems to have shrunk beyond my power to see it at the moment. The planets at the start all seemed just too bright to me, the light overwhelmed any detail , I tried parking the (removable) lens from some cheap cycling glasses atop the eyepieces and found it helped , so bought a Celestron 'moon filter' for £5 from Amazon, it's not wonderful, I'd probably have done better to get one of the two rotatable polarizer ones which allow you to adjust how much light gets through, but they were out of stock ... I've also bought a set of ultra cheap coloured filters from China to play with, and the orange & yellow have been good for bringing out Martian detail. Uranus showed as a tiny bluish disc , when I eventually managed to find the blighter, but I've still not managed Neptune , it is in an inconvenient part of the sky for me, at the moment, everything there apart from the brightest planets is drowned out by street lights I've seen a dozen or so Messier objects too, and the Moon shows just amazing detail : craters within craters, rills, and the fascinating way the view changes night to night with the angle of light skimming the terminator and showing the relief, But while they are in the sky to see, the planets have been where I've spent most of my time. And I've only just begun ...

Have you seen one has very recently popped up in buy/sell on here?

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/367362-sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-dobsonian-telescope/?tab=comments#comment-3994722 Customer return bargain, I've got one you know ...

😀😀 You out newbie me, but not by long you know ! In every reply to a desperate 'what should I buy for £200 ' plea, I struggle to not reply " I got a heritage 150, I love it, everyone should get a heritage 150, it's great. I've got one you know ..." Enthusiasm is great. Cool just looks brain dead to me. Something I really enjoyed when teaching 7-11 year olds was their unembarrassed enthusiasm, and the way they responded to my slightly bonkers teaching, especially when we got to do some science, It's just a shame so many people suppress their excitement. Oh, and I'm even older than both of you ... but often refer to myself as theoretically adult !

And he's not excited about the imminent delivery, no siree, totally calm, utterly zen ...

😀😀 I know ! My thought processes (such as they are) went like this : Clanger would be a good user name , especially as a friend made me my very own crochet clanger last year, and it stands proudly on the bookcase, above where the heritage 150 sleeps during the day. Curses, 'Clanger' is taken as a username already ! Major Clanger fits my general demeanour (in a humorous wordplay kind of way) but sounds like a leader, and male, and I'm neither, so better go for a more androgynous and modest space mouse ... Tiny will do. Account set up , hooray. Now, an avatar ... too lazy to spend time making a good image of my own clanger at my 'scope, (something I may get round to one day) I trawled the web looking for a good image, and found some of Tiny plus telescope as you have , but they were too complex as images to make a good, er, tiny Tiny avatar . The simple 'Major pointing' image did crop nicely to a square though, whilst still being recognizable, and I like the way that having flipped it in photoshop, he is pointing to the post above mine . I doubted anyone would notice ... should 'a known better ! Sorry for triggering your OCD, I hope my explanation helps damp down the reflex reaction to the dissonance I've made. 😀 Heather

Just double checked to make sure shotcut can deal with a sequence of timed still frames (I only used a couple as titles ) and found this : https://forum.shotcut.org/t/how-to-assemble-jpegs-into-a-movie-and-set-image-duration/16728/6 so it definitely can .

I've used shotcut https://www.shotcut.org/ in the past , but I was editing video from an action cam with a waterproof housing ( film from a boating adventure) so had no sound to edit and didn't add any, so I don't know how easy that is . I'm sure you can do it though What I liked about shotcut, was it had good reviews , is open source and from a .org, and, of course, it is the ideal price : free. There may be newer, better offerings out there but if I had a similar task to do I'd use shotcut again.

Easy to compare the two spec.s on vendor's websites like https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html or the manufacturer's own site here : https://skywatcher.com/series/dobsonians/ I believe the mirrors are the same in the two, but don't take that as gospel ...

If the 'seeing' is poor, any planet will appear fuzzy whatever your focus , I've found that for me, the best way to try to get focus and find out if the view will still be fuzzy anyway is to concentrate not on expecting the planet to snap into sharp detail (as you might expect in a camera lens) but to concentrate on the apparent size of the fuzzy ball : that apparent size is smallest when in focus, so watch the size decrease , and then as you pass the point of focus it begins to increase again, so stop and slowly & gently reverse your turning direction. Repeat , making finer and finer adjustments until you find the spot where the apparent size is least, and then decide if it seems atmospheric conditions make it worth continuing. One of the surprising * things to me as a beginner in this hobby has been finding that as well as how to use the bought equipment , I've had to start to learn how to get eyes and brain trained to make sense of what I'm seeing. For me, this sort of learning is fascinating and rewarding, well worth the time and persistence, I hope you keep at it, the rewards are great. *Surprising to me, but I imagine every experienced visual astronomer knows it, but has forgotten they had to learn it for themselves. A bit like how difficult it is to recall back before you learned to read, seeing those black squiggles on the page, but not understanding that each in some mysterious way sort of represents a sound .

My first scope is a 150 heritage,and I can assure you that it will give you images similar to the simulations John has posted above. It's not a problem with the optics or your fucussing if you can see the Moon looking really sharp , so although checking the collimation , sorting a 'shroud' for the open part of the 'scope , and adding some PFTE tape to smooth the action of the somewhat industrial focusser (I got 2 rolls of PFTE for under £2 P&P included from an amazon 3rd party seller, its something plumbers use loads of , so it's easy to get ) are all good ideas, However, I think your problem is the atmosphere . Jupiter and Saturn are both very low in the sky now, compared with back in the summer, which means the light from them to our telescopes has to travel through a greater thickness of air , and the image is therefore less steady. Even worse if you have to view above houses where warm air will be rising adding extra turbulence. Plus over the last couple of weeks for me here in Leicestershire the night sky has not been steady, or clear of cloud and mist very often, and when it has it's been so windy the telescope has been battered around . You don't say where you are, but it seems much of the UK has had only short periods of good 'seeing' recently. I bookmarked this page https://medium.com/@phpdevster/help-i-cant-see-detail-on-the-planets-ac27ee82800 as having a good clear explanation of the problems we are facing.. Have you tried looking at Mars ? It is higher in the sky, so should in theory be less affected by atmospheric factors, and it is visible for hours after Saturn and Jupiter have both set, so you have a greater window of opportunity. Some evenings I've gone out to spend time looking at Mars, seen it bouncing around like a little orange ball in the eyepiece, and given up . Other times when it appeared a bit less lively I've spent two hours just looking , and caught some steady views for a few minutes . It seems like a long time for a short glimpse of surface features, but when you do get to see some detail it feels worth it. Don't give in, be patient, let the 'scope cool down outside before you use it for at least 15 minutes to avoid swirling air currents inside the tube adding to the problem, and have some alternative targets in mind to look at if the planets are not working out: for instance, a free enormously detailed PDF book about the Moon can be downloaded here http://alanchuhk.com/

The seller who lists the Meade 82mm on amazon has the scope on their own website too. It's no cheaper than via amazon (once you factor in the extra delivery which is free from amazon) and it does say it's a time limited offer until Monday ... 'while stocks last'. There's more info on their own site though, including a downloadable instruction manual. https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/meade-dobson-telescope-n-82-300-lightbridge-mini-82-dob/p,54294#tab_bar_0_select

The 82 means 82mm, which would make it slightly better than the 76 as far as mirror size goes. https://www.meade.com/lightbridge-mini-82.html suggests it may be discontinued, which would explain the reduced price. From that it appears to come with a couple of eyepieces , you can see it has a red dot finder,. There's an old mention of it in a thread on here : https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/260219-have-anyone-tries-this-scope/ To be honest, the way things are with availability at the moment, I'd have it in my Amazon basket immediately, then check out any reviews ...

A good starting point : https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html But ... whilst your budget would get you a telescope, it would not be one well suited to astro photography , which is an expensive pursuit. And (as you can see from many recent threads asking for similar advice on here) telescopes are difficult to buy at the moment, deliveries have been badly affected by the current situation, and it may be difficult to buy any worthwhile instrument (i.e. one which is not a toy) before Christmas. Maybe think about https://www.firstlightoptics.com/first-light-optics-gift-vouchers/first-light-optics-gift-voucher.html

After the thread has been silent for 2 years, I don't think anyone would see a new post is a rude interruption 😀 I was in a similar position, £200 to spend, back in the summer, and I went for the heritage150 (which had only just arrived as a new addition to the range, so could't have been mentioned in the discussion above.). I've found it very good, I like basic, simple, robust and faff free things, and enjoy the learning process of finding out how to best use them, and amateurish tinkering to improve things, so the dob is ideal for me. I can't compare it directly with the 130, I've never used one, but the 150 is an appreciable step up from a 114 eq, which I have.

My thoughts would be that any binoculars (as long as they can be adjusted so the distance between the eyes is small enough for a child) will give at least a somewhat enhanced view : you probably know the first number (the 8 in 8x42s) is the magnification .Apart from showing a bit more detail when looking at the Moon, the main thing increased magnification is going to do is increase the jiggling around of the view when held by an excited small person, so low magnification is no bad thing. Greater magnification for handheld binoculars won't affect views of planets (which will always be little featureless blobs whatever the mag.) and stars (which will be bright points) . The advantage binoculars give for stargazing are to do with the size of the front lens, the 42 in the 8x42, a 42mm diameter lens. It is bigger than your eye pupil, so improves your view of faint stars etc.However, as those front lenses get bigger, the whole instrument gets heavier. I have a pair of the opticron 10x50s , and they weigh just over 800g, whilst the 8x30s I inherited from my dad come in at 510g. The 8x30s are less good for looking at the night sky than the 10x50s, but they are significantly better than the naked eye ! I think that putting heavier binoculars on the meade tripod would be a faff, awkward for you to set up at a height where junior can see through ... you'd have to be sat or kneeling or on all fours . I suppose you could get the binoculars lined up at adult height (if the tripod is tall enough, I have no idea !) then have the little one stand on a box or something to see through it, but that sounds a dodgy dangerous thing to do in the dark ... My suggestion : lightweight cheap binoculars for junior to feel he owns, light enough for independent use (including taking along on daytime walks to the park to spy on squirrels , ducks etc) .Don't worry too much about high quality, think about practicalities of holding, eye spacing and weight, discard any that boast about high magnification then consider what would most please him as far as colour and design go . Then either hang on to the 'scope you already have ( Alan64 is obviously your best source of information on if that's a good idea) or think about one of the tabletop dob.s , where instead of the cost being spread between a 'looks the part' metal tripod and a complicated mount (head) and a telescope , most of your cash goes just to the telescope, with just a simple wood base. The firstscope you linked to has the drawback of no aiming device , so I'd be more inclined to go for one of the 'Heritage'series. which do have finders on them. Whatever you do, make sure you can get an in stock telescope before you return the one you have : old Chinese proverb (which I've just made up) Confucius he say, a telescope in the hand on Christmas day is superior to a better telescope on a container ship on its way from China ...

Wise words, and a realistic approach.. I taught the 7-11 year old age range for many years, and would absolutely go down the cheap kid's binos route , children generally like to own and control something themselves. Imagine being given an Xmas gift, then told don't touch it, someone else must do all the setting up for you, and you can just look through it without having any input ... Having their own instrument to role play with while someone gets a 'scope set up though, that would be less frustrating. I have a relative whose first words were 'Mine !' (directed at his older sister who was about to try and play with the toy which was the subject of his second word 'tractor' !)

Will be giddy ? 😀 You sound so excited already I think you may explode ! Fingers crossed for you to get some nice clear skies for that first light ! Heather

I think amazon pack stuff they dispatch from their own warehouses. I've had things (small ) inside boxes ( large) with twists of brown paper filling the spaces. My cat likes those. She is less keen on the little plastic pillows of air . Amazon delivery around here seems to be done by self employed folk in white vans one guy (Romanian I think) who has delivered my orders a few times actually runs from van to door, rings the bell and once he sees movement through the glass of my door, runs off, but still manages a cheery wave when I shout 'thank you' at his receding figure ... He looked so stressed in the height of summer that I gave him a bottle of chilled water , they must be under terrific time pressure to fulfill the round amazon gives them for the day. I've had many small items (both breakable and not) dispatched from China through the post, they inevitably come in a grey plastic bag, occasionally with a single layer of bubble wrap inside, and if you're lucky a flimsy white card box or plastic bag inside that. Remarkably nothing has ever arrived broken .