Dakuwaqa

What do you do with these when like myself you view outside in a park.

A small one would be so low on the ground to view and I’m old and stiff. 
 

Is an expensive tripod required?

Thanks!

On 01/12/2021 at 16:33, Carbon Brush said:

Another welcome to SGL.

With up to £500 to spend, you have a lot of choices.

First of all avoid the online general sellers, department stores, PC world, etc. Buy from an astronomy retailer.
That will ensure you get meaningful and relevant after sales support if you need it.

Now the questions so we can make some recommendations......

Will you be observing from your garden mainly? Off in the car to the open sapces?
Are you in a bright town or city? Lots of light pollution.
Where will you store a telescope? If you live on the 3rd floor, you want something easy to carry.
Do you have the storage space? Does it have to go in a broom cupboard?

We can recommend small refractor scopes, large reflector scopes and all sorts between.
The best scope is the one that gets used the most.

David.
 

Great post!!

You seem to be extremely knowledgeable. I’m thinking to get my partner a telescope. Are there anyone models under £200 you’d recommend?

I live in a city so light pollution is an issue. My partner hates anything fiddly so easy to set and use is paramount.

Last question are there any online astronomy retailers you would recommend?

Thanks a million !!!

For my first scope.

I was wondering if there are any accessories that improve the performance (eyepieces etc) of the telescope?

Many thanks!!

23 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

See here: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

or get my first serious and GoTo outfit, the 127mm Celestron Nexstar Mak SLT.  The Nexstar system is IMHO easier to operate than the Sky-watcher Synscan.  If you get a handset GoTo rather than a WiFi Goto, that's one less thing to set up and one less thing to go wrong.

The 4SE has not been discontinued as far as I know, but there may be supply problems.  The 4SE probably has a more stable mount than some of the other entry level GoTos.

I don't know anything about the Starsense smartphone system, but the original Starsense is affected by twilight or poor quality sky conditions; something to bear in mind.

It looks like you’re right about the 4SE! I’ve just looked at the 127mmCelestron Nexstar Mak SLT. Its priced about the same as the 4SE which is interesting. Would no what the main differences would be ?

11 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

A model with the starsense guider system would probably be the easiest, since that'll use an on-board camera to plate solve the area of sky in view to determine where it is. No need then for you go have to go thru a star alignment and the need to be able to pick out alignment stars etc. Just turn it on and let it do its bit then you're good to start. I've no experience of that setup as the starsense I have if the cheaper bolt-on phone-app type on a low end scope which works pretty well, but I'm sure others will be along to advise.

 

welcome aboard by the way 🙂 

Thanks for the reply!! I’ve never heard of starsense guider system but it sounds absolutely perfect! Just need to get some recommendations on which ones are good.

Which telescope do you have out of interest?

I’m sure this is the millionth thread about this so I’ll keep it short. Want to get into astronomy as love the stars and I need as telescope.

less than £500 computerised and as easy to work as possible. I get terribly frustrated with anything fiddly so the easier to get going the better.

A couple of years ago I had a look at the 4se but I think that’s been discontinued? The Celestron Astro FI 5 SCHMIDT has decent reviews but I’ve read there can be WiFi issues.

thanks for you help!