MattG

1 hour ago, Epick Crom said:

Thanks Jiggy 68, yes we are lucky to have such incredible sky objects here in Oz. But I reckon you northerners have it great too, Andromeda galaxy, Polaris, Perseus, Auriga, Ursa Major etc. It's always been my dream in Astronomy to view the sky from the northern hemisphere, what a strange view it would be!

I live in the UK and with the weather I feel like I haven't viewed the sky from the northern hemisphere either recently... What a strange view it will be to have clear skies 😂

Great thanks guys. I'll order the Bresser now and then when it arrives (several months no doubt) I'll order a RACI, shoe etc etc, help spread the cost out.

Thanks you all for the great advice, really appreciated!

Matt

I think I've got to just order and then play the long waiting game. If I upgrade the shoe and RACI, is there particular RACIs that people would recommend? Looking at FLO there's a huge difference in price between the Astro Essentials for £59 and the Explore Scientific for £189, is it really necessary to pay that much for a RACI?

Thanks,

Matt

Before I take the plunge I was just waiting for some money to clear and today the Bresser has gone up by 10%. I'm guessing this is fx related or something similar. Is the Bresser still worth the extra money? The difference is now £144 which is really stretching my budget...

Thanks,

Matt

Do you store it outside with a cover or do you move it in and out of somewhere?

Haha no, definitely should have worked that one out 😂

9 minutes ago, wulfrun said:

The only problem you have there that's worth pointing out is the Hyperflex. Zooms have a narrower field of view at the longer end of their range (21.5mm end). I'd suggest a longish fixed-FL to get around that, maybe not immediately but you may find the zoom's limitation annoying. A planisphere is useful too and a red torch, neither is expensive but not sure if you can stretch the budget?

FL? Sorry but if I'm dense!

Really wish I could go visit somewhere but genuinely think it'll be months before I could do that 😞

Obviously there's a huge number of EPs and accessories I could buy but I'll need to spread them out a bit... Is there anything I'm desperately missing though?

Thank you so much everybody for the advice!

Matt

I just did a quick search to see how often they come up... 😳

Thanks all, this is really useful. You've also answered the question I didn't ask - is the Bresser worth the extra £100! 

Really appreciate all the answers. Now if only anybody has a nice second hand ones in East Anglia...

Hi,

With how long it's likely to be to wait I'm going to just bite the bullet and just order a telescope. I've spent a while lurking and reading the forum trying to work out what I want (not easy!) and have (probably) decided on an 8" Newtonian. I'm currently considering:

Skywatcher 200p dobsonian

Bresser 8" messier

Skywatcher explorer 200p EQ5

From what I understand using the EQ5 mount rather than the dobsonian can lead to some awkward viewing angles. 

Is there much difference between the SW and Bresser dobs? Am I right in thinking that the bresser mount is a bit better? 

Essentially, if you had to pick one of the dobs, which would you go for and why?

I'm an almost complete beginner. I've been out with a cheap telescope a few times, mostly just viewing the moon. At this point I'm only really interested in observing though would love to get some basic snaps, either on my phone or by attaching my partner's DSLR. I understand that the pictures I'm likely to get are not going to be world beaters, don't worry. I would initially want to be able to see Jupiter and Saturn though would like to be able to see DSOs. At this point I've only ever really viewed the moon. I suspect seeing Jupiter and Saturn would blow my mind though people on here seem to be also blown away by DSOs like pleiades. If I'm right I am hoping that these telescopes would be a great intro to these.

Thanks very much, everybody on here seems to have an infinite amount of patience for these type of questions!

Matt

Oh wow the situation is actually worse than I thought, I was going to wait to put in an order until it there was at least a vague delivery date but maybe I'll just have to order now if the queue is going to keep growing! 🤔

Hi FLO,

Out of interest have any of the manufacturers said when they expect the situation to normalise? I know everythings messed up with both manufacturing and shipping at the moment but I was just interested if anybody had given any expected dates for normality? Also, I'm not expecting you to predict the future or necessarily be able to answer this concretely, "no" and "I have no idea" are both perfectly acceptable responses! 🤣

Had my eye on either a Bresser 8" or a SW 200 for a month or so now, can't wait to get one!

Matt

There seems to be a lot of people askiong the same questions at the moment (run up to Christmas I guess), this is a really useful thread. Thanks all for the input!

Woah Nigella that's intense! 

I assume the heating is to stop condensation and then rust? Do you have a picture of what you mean by "a roll of roof shed and a dome"?

I'm assuming telescopes ideally need to be stored inside? I'm assuming that there's no such thing as a decent weather-proof cover that would protect the telescope meaning that it could be stored outside, even if not all year around?

Thanks,

Matt

Hmm OK so maybe either the 200P with GoTo or the Bresser 10" (that's not the first recommendation I had for that 'scope).... I wonder how my fiancee would react to the 10", it looks quite a beast! I have no doubt bewteen now and actually being able to buy a telepscope I'll change my mind 1,000 times....

So my potential decision is (when telescope supply catches up) the 200P Flexitube with GoTo or the 250P without GoTo... bigger aperature for cheaper but without the GoTo 🤔

Thanks Pixies and wimvb. I live in a house that is in a Bortle rating of 5 but quite close to areas of 4 and even 3 would only be a ten minute drive away. I was trying to guage last night how mad the light pollution is right outside my house and I don't think it's too bad. I have an east facing back garden and I think I could possibly use that to see some things (possible with some sort of hood). I think I will just have to experiment and see what works best. You're definitely right that a telescope I use is the best one.

I'm leaning more and more to either the 200P or the 250P without GoTo. I think either would let me see both planets and some DSOs (?) which would be incredible. From reading around I appreciate I'm not going to be seeing images like can be seen in photos but still, being able to differentiate Saturns rings or even the red spot would be amazing.

6 minutes ago, seven_legs said:

Scope is light enough to move around for me and i am a fit 53 year old. 

Sorry wrong topic😊

Thanks seven_legs. Just checking I'm not being dense (it definitely wouldn't be the first time...), i take it you mean the scope with the mount attached?

Matt

Thanks everybody for the responses. I think the 6SE is a bit out of my price range, not sure how impressed my other half would be if I dropped £1,000 on a telescope when we're about to have our first baby 🤣 I think I can probably strech the £500 budget to £800 but £1,000 seems a bit far.

The complete lack of supply at the moment I think is actually going to work in my favour as it will mean I spend more time researching before buying. On the flip side, the weather is killing me at the moment, I haven't seen a star for aaaaages!

I'm starting to doubt whether having a go-to is a priority or not. It looks like it adds a fair chunk to the cost of the telescope which I wonder if I would be better off putting into getting a bigger aperture? Any thoughts? It would also force me to learn the night sky a bit more. This would obviously be a good thing in the long run but I do wonder how much progress I will make if I can only go out a few nights a month (and probably only over winter). Would the quick wins of a go-to (assuming I can align it properly which I won't know until I've bought it...) actually mean I get more from this new hobby? Difficult to know!

I do think portability has to be a big consideration which I guess is the offset to having a better telescope. I live in a small town and I don't think I will be able to see much from my garden, I will need to be able to move things down to the park. Everything I read says that I will get more performance from a Dob but I do worry about the portability, I guess the flextube of the recommendation by wimvb would help with that. With that, it's f/6, does that mean it's a good compromise that would allow me to view both planets and some DSOs? Also, I can't seem to find the weight of it, anybody own one and able to estimate?

Long story short - at this point I'm still torn between the Meade ETX90, the Celestron NexStar 4SE and now the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P Flextube....

Matt

Hi JOC,

I am looking at getting the same telescope - how have you found using it over the last couple of years? What sort of objects have you managed to see? Did you ever get your DSLR attached? Also, how portable is it? Are you able to lift and move it on your own? I'm a reasonably fit and healthy 32yo but would possibly need to carry it a few 100m at a time, do you think that would be possible? 

Thanks!

Matt

Thanks for posting the text of the article, it's a really good read.

Thanks for the recommendations wimvb. Is there any particular reason you would suggest those (in particular the top one) over the ones I was looking at? With that one, how rugged is it? It looks quite big and I'm concerned that if I'm carrying it around it's going to get bumped about a bit. Do you know if you can get a decent carry case for it to a) help protect it and b) make it easier to move?

Also, is that first one not f6? I thought that for planetary viewing a slower focal ratio was better? Or is f6 a good compromise that would also allow some DSO viewing?