LondonNeil

The one at £650? Probably a fair price with the extra bits but hard for me to tell, or tell which of those extras I'd use. The 200p I missed on eBay yesterday went at £170, and I can see bend new skywatcher 250 flextube dobs for £720, all I know it's that's probably an upper and lower end to aim inside!

Thanks Peter, that's great ideas 👍

Oh yes, thanks for the reminder, short spells and don't get disheartened by the '5 mins or less of focus'!! Yes frustrating the light pollution, if only the milky way and gorgeous galaxys and nebulae could be seen more clearly, oh well. Still, an 8 or even 10" dob would fit in the car (kids on the roof 🤣) so visits to relatives in slightly more remote places might become mini star parties.

Bearing in mind their age, while I may be reading. Tl@o, they will be watching cbeebies 'maddie, space and you'. Actually I'll watch with them.... Any dad's of young kids will know why 😉

Kids still pretty young so I might be too early... Or rather must not get disheartened if there is no 'wow!' initially.... Try again in another 6 months! Eldest is 6, then a 4 year old. Youngest at 15 months....too young for now! Mr thinking is there is no rush but would be great to have the kit and enough practice to be able to enjoy a future 'event' ....a comet or a lunar eclipse or such. Maybe a planetary transit, but then my first book just got delivered, I opened a random page and... Mercury doesn't transit again for nearly 100 years, Oh well! Cool. Yes I've been hunting on eBay and was outbid in the last minute on a 200p skywatcher yesterday and missed out on a 250 skywatcher (on manual equatorial mount) too, that was over twice as much but I'd probably stretch to a 250 Dobson if one comes up.

Hi there, I'm thinking of launching out on an exploration across the cosmos.... By telescope, not rocket, obviously! I've been studying a few bits on YouTube and have ordered some books including turn left at Orion but I'd appreciate a bit of a check on my logic so far. I have been looking mainly at reflectors and probably Dobson because the main reason for trying this is to show my young kids some space stuff and hopefully amaze and inspire them. Saturn's rings, spiral galaxies and vast nebulae will be great, but it will be the look on their faces that I hope to enjoy most. If they enjoy it then it's something we can do and learn together. So my primary objective is to show them stuff that makes them go 'wow!' Predicting that is impossible but I reckon looking at a computer screen of a processed image won't do it, looking at a bright dot and then the same target through a scope and seeing stuff in more detail could. So Saturn, Jupiter, the moon, some stars that become visible doubles. Targets that hopefully are a nice bright image and with some detail/something that is very different to the naked eye. I'm thinking a dob, as it's affordable, and should give a nice bright image. Personally I am inspired by the incredible images of DSOs so if we enjoy observing, then I might build a equatorial platform (I'm ok with DIY/woodwork so pretty sure I could manage one), and buy a cheap camera, learn a bit about photography trying to image the planets and then think about what next. How does my logic sound? Thanks Neil

@AMcD. AHH it was just the way you phrased your post, 'i get lots of help from...'. 😀

@AMcD. Are you astrobiscuit? , If so I'd like to say I've thoroughly enjoyed several of your videos, excellent and inspiring. I hope you are able to do more. I have an idea for a video, how about a help a newbie/ newbie with astrobiscuit mentor Vs a pro? I know a newbie in need of help🤣 Yes I get all the variables so to say a newbie could be as good, or Rory is in the top X is silly, it was just a style of question to get an idea. I suspect I'd fall into the archetypal stargazer but who knows, if one of my kids gets inspired it would be fun to do together. I've ordered TL@O, and a couple of other cheap beginner books to read through. Missed out on the 8" dobsonian. Skyliner with 5 EPs across London and I was the only bidder at £155 until the last minute, outbid by one person. The search goes on. I've been considering a 10" skywatcher on a manual eq mount in Chiswick, and the guy a few questions and he seems very genuine and helpful. 2.5 times the price though so I'm unsure, might, but might wait for another bargain dobie.

No just observing. I'd like to take some photos as you can get so much more detail and I love the DSOs but the extra cost, and the extra time needed (with 3 young kids time is singing I don't have in abundance!) So observing really, and see if I can excite the kids.

Not quite, it's evident he's very good and evident he 'makes it look easy' so only a fool would think they could replicate him being fresh into the hobby. I guess my question is more like, how many amateur astronomers are at our above his level? 30%? 3%? 0.3%? Could a newbie get similar results in a year of practice? 3 years?10?

I can see he is doing a lot of stacking, image processing is I guess as much a part of astro photography as the rest, probably far more than the 'pointing a telescope' bit these days. Actually that begs a question, he hasn't costed his computer or any software in his '£600' or '£700' set ups, if the requirements there are costly then that is misleading.

Thanks, if I get the telescope I'm sure to have many many questions! And many many others if I don't

It's he? I guess the amateur astronomers world is small (yet massive and expanding?) No not a plug, although first post from a new member i can see it looks possible. I'm just a potential newbie.... If an eBay auction goes my way today I'll have a 8" dobie to play with. My main interest is in showing my kids assume stuff and seeing their faces 😊

As a potential newbie doing a bit of research I stumbled across Rory on YouTube. He's a fabulous YouTuber, well crafted content that entertains and educates, but I am interested in your views on his astronomy skills. To me, he seems to have a phenomenal skill set no doubt gathered through many many years/decades experience, but. Am I wrong?