ST-80 + EQ-1? Check... Now what?

[CuriousAmateur]

Howdy one and all,

Initial Blurb

First a quick introduction: I've been a wannabee amateur astronomer since high-school (now mid-30's) and finally took the plunge this week. I live in Bucks but in a rural area so I still get a bit of London glare, but nothing too serious and get some really nice dark nights too.

As I said, I took the plunge with my first telescope this week (technically second, but can we honestly count a Tasco refractor at age 8, dismantled at age 9? I think not). Having spent a month or so lurking here, reading great advice and running the numbers I finally decided on an Explorer 200 PDS on an HEQ-5 mount . Then I told my wife, who pointed out my tendency to try new things then never touch them again. All the reasoning from "I've been into this for years!" to "But it's really shiny!" would not sway her. So I reasoned that if I went for a cheaper option now, but one which would be useful later should I upgrade to the above mentioned beast, then it would prove sensible in the future. Hence, I now have a shiny new ST-80 and EQ-1 to play with.

My Actual Question

For those of you who've stayed with me on this, well done. I'll buy you a pint... honest.

My question is this. I have a small budget of approx £160 to play with for add-ons, eyepieces etc (forget the initial budget for the huge scope... and no, it hasn't gone on handbags and shoes for she who must be obeyed). As we bought the 'scope from Sherwoods Photo, I have a half price option on the Skywatcher LREP set:

Skywatcher Astronomical Telescopes and Accessories

However, having looked over at FLO, they seem to recommend Celestron X-Cell LREPs over the Skywatcher Plossl EPs for anything over a 15mm focal length for spectacle wearers (we both are). The set comes with a 2mm and 5mm EP, whereas a 5mm Celestron would set me back £65 (still within budget) and the 2x Barlow I got with the set would push that to a 2.5mm. So here's my Q:

Should I buy both, get the Celestron and get another of these EPs instead of the set, or is there a better option?

Thanks for sticking with me through my first post (essay). Any advice would be really well received.

[John]

Welcome to the forum !

My advice is to use the scope with the standard accessories for a while, then you will be equipped with experience to decide, with some advice, what accessories will help you get to where you want to get go next.

My guess is that you may quickly develop a dose of aperture fever if the hobby grabs you - you will then want to put the £160 into a larger scope ......... that's just a guess though

[CuriousAmateur]

Thanks for the welcome jahmanson :-)

I'd agree that simply playing with what I've got would be the better option, whilst saving for "the big one" but there are a couple of factors which I neglected to include:

1. The offer from sherwood only lasts for 4 months

2. At the end of next month I'm off somewhere warm and dusty for 4 months (no shiny telescope may be taken :-().

3. When I return I'll have the budget to upgrade if I should wish to.

So this £160 is really for stuff to play with pre-deployment to try and get as much out of the 'scope as I can, whilst taking advantage of the offer (if that's sensible at all).

Thanks for your reply though :-)

[John]

To be honest that offer has been running for as long as I can remember. I've tried a few of the Skywatcher LER's and I didn't think much of them.

To expand on what you have got with the scope, a 32mm plossl would be nice for low power views plus something like a 6.3mm plossl and a good quality 2x barlow lens such as the TAL that FLO sells.

These would give you a decent spread of magnification with your 80mm F/5 scope.

The ST80's forte is low to medium power viewing (up to 80x or so).

[CuriousAmateur]

Nice advice again many thanks :-)

I'm not worried about the offer being cancelled, rather that in the T&Cs you have to claim on it within 4 months of purchasing the 'scope. That said the 2mm EP in the set would push me to 200x magnification on the wee beastie, well beyond the recommended 150x max. I'm not convinced the optics on the ST80 would cope with that.

Will a TAL 2x Barlow be a significant improvement over the Skywatcher one bundled with the 'scope? Also thinking of a basic red-dot finder to make pointing it in the right direction slightly easier (could easily be transplanted onto any upgrade in future).

I really appreciate you taking the time to steer me the right way.

[John]

The ST80 is stretched beyond 100x to be honest - 150x / 200x would be pushing it far too far. There is nothing wrong with the scope but the short tube achromatic design just does not lend itself to high power viewing, in my view.

The TAL barlow lens is generally thought of as being the lowest priced decent quality barlow. Beyond that and prices rise very quickly to surpass the cost of the scope, as I'm sure you have noticed that many eyepieces do

A red dot finder is a good idea. For a small scope I reckon the Baader Skysurfer III is good value and it comes with a base which fits straight onto the finder shoe on the ST80:

First Light Optics - Baader 30mm Sky Surfer III

If you want to keep the optical finder on the scope as well you could go for a Rigel Quikfinder which uses adhesive (strong adhesive !) pads:

First Light Optics - Rigel QuikFinder Compact Reflex Sight

[CuriousAmateur]

The very two I was considering :-)

Will the Rigel fit sensibly on the 80mm scope? I note it has 2 baseplates, but the smaller, the write-up claims, is for 'scopes with 'apertures of around 5"'. If my maths is up to the job that's not too far off twice that of the ST80.

Has anybody tried this finder on an equivalent 'scope (or even the ST80 itself!)?

[John]

Good point - I've got one at the moment and, looking a them, I'd agree that the 2 supplied bases suit 5" (ish) and 10" (ish) scopes respectively - the tube of the ST80 is 90mm (3.5") in diameter I believe. There is a low cost RDF that would fit the ST80 on the Scopes N Skies Astroboot webpage 2/3rds of the way down, "Red Dot Finder on QR base":

AstroBoot

[CuriousAmateur]

Thanks again, John,

I'll probably end up going for the Skysurfer III for now and if it becomes a problem switching between the RDF and standard finderscope I'll re-evaluate my position.

Whilst the TAL barlow is the best value for money, will it offer an appreciable difference to that which came with my 'scope initially (particularly if you're not recommending high-power viewing)?

Sorry for all the questions (and apparently treating this thread like a private chat screen with you).

Does anybody else have any views on the subject?

[CuriousAmateur]

Well, the skysurfer III will be ordered before I hit the sack, and probably a 32mm plossl (still debating the 6.3mm, if only to see what too much magnification looks like). Having used the scope a couple more times I've noticed that both the wife and I tend not to use our glasses to view, just take them off and re-focus, so I'll probably hold off on the celestron EP. I'd go for the TAL Barlow too but looks like FLO are out of stock (and if you get too many toys at once then one never gets played with).

Thanks sooo much for all the advice. Looking forward to a few sleepless nights (once the heavens stop dumping on Buckinghamshire!).

Have a good weekend everyone.