Skywatcher 150p- What else do I need?

[madkinggeorge]

Hi all!

You will be pleased to hear I will be entering the astronomy community as of tomorrow (so I think that means we should all expect cloud for the next month or so!).

I have bought my first scope - Skywatcher 150p EQ 3-2 with standard accesories (10mm, 25mm, barlow etc) and as I got a very good deal, £239.99 with 24hour delivery free! I have a little extra cash to spend on accessories.

I would like to hear reccommendations of what I should buy first, what will improve my experience most as a beginner and what will be the best value for money.

So far I am thinking maybe a Cheshire collimator eyepiece, Plossl 4mm or 5mm, solar filter, moon filter, light pollution filter etc?

Obviously not all of the above I don't have that much to spare! So what would be best? What will I get the most out of? Are there any alternative suggestions of a first thing to buy?

Oh! and I have ordered 'Turn Left at Orion'.

Thanks in advance!

George.

[NGC404]

With your 10mm + barlow you,ve got plenty of power

I,d go for a 32mm plossl and a Moon filter

[ismangil]

I would wait until you have done one or two observing session. Then you'll know better what is missing from your observing kit.

For me it was light, so I sourced red led headlight, got some red filter gel to convert existing camping lanterns to redlight lanterns.

[JKB]

I would wait until you have done one or two observing session. Then you'll know better what is missing from your observing kit.

For me it was light, so I sourced red led headlight, got some red filter gel to convert existing camping lanterns to redlight lanterns.

Totally agree. Good scope you've got. I only needed a red head-torch and many hours of observing........

....that was until the photography bug kicked in as well

Good luck with new scope and enjoy

[pvaz]

Get out there and use it!

A cheap red torch will help reading charts, maybe a moon filter and a nice zero mag finder such as the telrad to help locating objects.

Other filters are not very useful, in my experience, so I would pass that up for now. LP ones may be ok if you really need them, colored ones show you false color on planets (I really don't like them) and OIII/UHC are only good for nebulae and sometimes the unfiltered view is actually better.

[Ad Astra]

With your 10mm + barlow you,ve got plenty of power

I,d go for a 32mm plossl and a Moon filter

Exactly! These are the perfect accessories to start out with.

Also, if you haven't put Stellarium on your computer, click the link <HERE> to get it - this is a free planetarium software program that is just brilliant - it will help you plan your observing, and know what's up before you go out.

Dan

[bish]

I wouldn't even think of buying anything else until you've had chance to use it for a while. You really wont know what's best for you until spend some time with it.

[tomw28]

Get a cheshire and a red light, perhaps a moon filter, and NOTHING else! Then give a few weeks, maybe even months, before you get anything else like EP's and filters.

You may however, feel that you need to get a polarscope for the mount, which will make observing easier and more enjoyable.

Good Luck!

[Astro Imp]

Hi George,

As several posters have said hold off buying anything until you've had a few observing sessions.

I'm sure you won't be disappointed with your scope - I wasn't

After a few sessions I found I couldn't get on with the supplied finder scope and went for a telrad and love it, it's so easy to use. But try the finder first you might get on with it OK.

Look forward to hearing how you get on.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Venus_is_my_friend]

1. Buy yourself a cheap red torch, a pen and pad of paper.

2. Wait for clear skies (at night would be best)

3. Enjoy the night's sky and take notes of what you see and what you don't see. The when's, where's, how's and why's are helpful later on.

4. In time you will know what you need to enchance your hobby.

Be warm and safe,

Neil

[tbird]

As a fellow 150p owner I can only repeat what's already been said, get used to your scope first there's plenty of time to spend lots later !

[cotterless45]

Telrad finder annd print off these;

MSAS: Messier Finder Charts

[madkinggeorge]

Incredible feedback everyone! I didn't expect to get so many replies in such a short time! I am not in any rush to buy anything just wondered if there were any 'must haves'. I am usually a very careful buyer (it took me almost 6 months to decide on my scope and even then I struggled to click 'confirm payment').

I have a red light, it is just and LED, but really bright, will that do for the time being? I have downloaded stellarium. Turns out I din't need a telescope, I could have just used that!

I am glad you all seem to think my choice of telescope was a good one, I have been interested in astronomy and have read a LOT about it, watched documentaries and youtube videos etc and looked at tons of photos but I have never in my life looked through a telescope.

I am so excited, but will have to wait until at least tuesday as I am in my final 6 days of university and have a lot to do.

Thanks again, I will right a first light review (from the perspective of someone who has no idea how to use a telescope!) as soon as I can.

George

[chemtom24]

I am so excited, but will have to wait until at least tuesday as I am in my final 6 days of university and have a lot to do.

Thanks again, I will right a first light review (from the perspective of someone who has no idea how to use a telescope!) as soon as I can.

George

Thats Portsmouth Uni for ya!!

[pvaz]

Thats Portsmouth Uni for ya!!

Ouch! You gotta love British humor! (the food sucks though!)

Have fun with the scope when you can and good luck on those tests.

[rowan46]

don't forget this it's free

Stellarium

[madkinggeorge]

Thats Portsmouth Uni for ya!!

Touché. I deserved that one!

[Weebz]

If you have an Android phone, Google Skymap is very helpful.

[ismangil]

So you got a red led that should be enough. You'll know if it's bright enough or not once you started observing.

For Android I recommend Astro Tool, much more configurable than other planetarium app.

[Parus major]

You may however, feel that you need to get a polarscope for the mount, which will make observing easier and more enjoyable.

Good Luck!

I think this one is a priority above spending money on anything else.

[Astro Imp]

I think this one is a priority above spending money on anything else.

If you are doing only visual observing IMO a polarscope is completely unnecessary, a good enough polar alignment can be obtained by getting polaris in the centre of your FOV. See Astro-Baby's guide Here

[tomw28]

If you are doing only visual observing IMO a polarscope is completely unnecessary

I found it very frustrating without the polar scope, even a "good" alignment without the scope was only good enough for 5 minutes or so. I would definately get the polar scope from the start if I was buying the mount again.

[Parus major]

I agree with Tom, I struggled against losing what I was looking at off the top and bottom for ages. A lot of faffing about was required and constant adjustment of the slow mo's and the mount itself, then I got a polar scope and no more faffing.

[Astro Imp]

I don't want to get into an argument but can only relate my own experiences.

First I should point out that I don't have drive motors on either axis.

When I have found a target apart from using the slow mo for RA I find that that my target keeps in view for 20 minutes or so. This I find quite exceptable. Just my view of course.

[madkinggeorge]

I won't be doing photography, at least for some time. I will probably try it out without the scope and see how it goes. If I do buy one is there a specific one I should be looking for, or will they all fit my mount?

Thanks again for all of the advice!