deThalion

From my Latvian space forum colleagues someone recommended this one. And to be honest, DSO looks like just too big. Maybe it's not a bad idea to start with this one? Surely, I will not get as good hunts as with DSO but at least I could more easily gaze into sky from my window. 

https://www.gpspro.lv/products/lv/462/13324/sort/1/filter/0_0_0_0/BRESSER-MESSIER-AR-90-900-NANO-AZ-20x-180x-teleskops.html

DSO is still a choice and I just need to make a decision. 

1 hour ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Dobsonians are great, rather than trying to produce a package of tripod, mount, and telescope at a price point , and making compromises with a flimsy tripod and cheaply made but complicated mount, a dobsonian design puts the telescope on a cheap, heavy, sturdy wooden cradle. So most of your money goes to the telescope itself, and you get a bigger mirror. They are also simple to set up and get used to using.

The downsides are the size of the thing , be sure you appreciate just how tall the telescope is , the size of its base, and the weight. As long as you are confident it won't get in the way indoors, and will be easy for you to carry outside to use, it's a great choice. Collimation is not the nightmare some accounts suggest, as long as you are cautious and careful .

I bought a 150 dob as my first proper telescope 6 months ago, I don't have the space to store a full sized one, so bought a SkyWatcher heritage 150 which closes down to half length, and has a tabletop dobsonian mount. It works very well for me, I'm glad I chose it.

Another point for DSO then. 

I have room for it in my flat. The only thing what would be a little problematic is to watch something out of my window (4th floor) but I think I can manage something to have it at the needed height to gaze outside my window. 

Thanks a lot for the info! Really appreciate it. 

I will wait if there will be some other replies but it looks like dobsonian it is

2 hours ago, Ricochet said:

This is by far the best option that you have shared. You are right that for DSOs, aperture is key and so unless you have very deep pockets, a Newtonian is the best option. However, in my opinion, a Newtonian is best used on an Alt-Az rather than EQ mount as an EQ mount spins the telescope as it pans across the sky. This means that the focuser and finderscope end up in all sorts of positions and you have to either do contortions to use them, or stop and rotate the tube in its rings for each new object (or both). Of the different Alt-A mounts, the Dobsonian design is both the cheapest and most stable, which makes it a no-brainer to use for large Newtonians. However, there are two things that you should note:

1. This is a long scope and so you may have issues transporting it to your dark site. It will require use of a car (this also applies to all the EQ-mounted options you have found as well).
2. Despite the size, it is still quite low to the ground. You will need some sort of height-adjustable chair to sit at to observe. I use a drum stool with my (8") dob.

 

I do not own a car but my friends does and we would go on a sky hunt together. Not worried so much about transportation. It would even have a nice interior spot in my flat

And collimation for DSO should be a no brainer, right? There's probably a lot of video tutorials. 

2 hours ago, Ricochet said:

The integrated barlow lens means that the primary is a fast spherical mirror and the lens is included in a desperate attempt to get a useable image out of it. This is commonly referred to as a Jones-Bird design. You should avoid this telescope at all costs. 

Roger that. 

2 hours ago, Ricochet said:

This differs from telescope 1 in your original post, which is not a Jones-Bird design, as has been previously suggested. The original choice has a real long focal length (indicated by the very long tube) and at high focal ratios, a spherical mirror is acceptable. At low (fast) focal ratios, a parabolic mirror must be used. You should note that despite the fact that the Skywatcher dobsonian you have selected has a slow focal ratio, which could allow use of a spherical mirror, it actually is fitted with a better and more expensive parabolic mirror. 

So my picked dobsonian have better and more expensive mirror. Good to know. 

So given any other telescopes on the Latvian market this one looks like a keeper. 

This probably is better but the cost is little too much:

https://www.gpspro.lv/products/lv/462/13774/sort/1/filter/0_0_0_0/OMEGON-Reflektora-teleskops-X-N-203-1200-400x-teleskops.html

2 hours ago, Ricochet said:

Edit: I should also add that the 6" f8 newtonian is often referred to as an "APO killer". It is not only good on DSOs, but also on the moon and planets. For your budget you won't get a better telescope, the only consideration I would have would be whether you want to increase your budget and go for the 8" or even 10" version. 

Could you enlighten me what is "APO killer"? 

At the moment I should not spend more money since this is my first telescope and I want to get used how to work with a telescope. If curiosity will only grow I'm sure that in the future I could buy 10" version. 

Thanks guys for the reply!

The main reason I want to buy telescope from Latvian sites is that they are offering to pay monthly for the product (and shipping for free). 

There's no rush, so I would like to have common understanding of what's best from telescopes they are offering.

Question: Aperture is one of the most important factors to see deep sky objects? So therefore, Newtonian would be a better choice, right?

I have 4 other candidates. 

1) https://www.gpspro.lv/products/lv/462/13790/sort/1/filter/0_0_0_0/OMEGON-Reflektora-teleskops-N-130-920-EQ-3-260x-teleskops.html

https://www.gpspro.lv/products/lv/462/13778/sort/1/filter/0_0_0_0/OMEGON-Reflektora-teleskops-N-130-920-EQ-2-260x-teleskops.html

The main difference for these looks like mount. EQ-2 and EQ-3.

2) https://www.gpspro.lv/products/lv/462/14686/sort/1/filter/0_0_0_0/SKY-WATCHER-Dobson-Reflektora-teleskops-N-150-1200-Skyliner-Classic-DOB-300X-teleskops.html

Dobsonian 

3) https://www.skyhunters.lv/teleskopi/Ņūtona-Reflektora-Teleskops-Bresser-Pollux-SKY-150-1400-ar-EQ3-Montējumu/

This one looks really promising. Good discount and I even get smart phone adapter! Although there is "catadioptic system (integrated barlow lens)" and not sure if that makes calibration harder. 

Dear all,

There's probably lots of good information in other topics but I should ask your advice anyways. When I was a youngster I attended astronomy gatherings and from that time I have been somehow in love with astronomy. So I made a decision to get my first telescope. My budget would be somewhere around 250-300EUR tops. My interest is to search for planets and also some good Messier catalog objects (when I am out of town in perfect pitch darkness). In Riga I would hope to see the Moon perfectly. I did some research on telescope types and their pros/cons. I will share with you links of possible purchases (they are Latvian sites so hope you can navigate):

1) https://www.skyhunters.lv/teleskopi/?product_id=23377 

This is Newtonian telescope so I am a little afraid of calibration process but it may be not so bad and easy. If I am correct that this kind of type has better price performance compared to refractors. Meaning, I can see more for cheaper price. 

2)https://www.skyhunters.lv/teleskopi/?product_id=24746

Refractor. No calibration required. But I don't know if this is powerful enough compared to the first one. 

3)https://www.gpspro.lv/products/lv/462/13790/sort/1/filter/0_0_0_0/OMEGON-Reflektora-teleskops-N-130-920-EQ-3-260x-teleskops.html

Another Newtonian. 

I would greatly appreciate any info on which to better choose. I'm not good in telescope parameters so maybe you guys could give me some insight between those 3 telescopes. 

Thanks a lot!