All suggestions welcome!

[marcosa666]

Hi guys,

First of probably many posts on here! I own a small reflecting telescope which I was given when I was about 13. I used it quite a lot but being young and distracted by everything that came along I never gave it proper use and unfortunately didn't look after it as well as I could have! Since then I have gotten much more into astronomy and astrophysics. I've been doing a fair amount of research on what telescope I should get but I'm still not 100% since there are hundreds of 'scopes out there! I would like to be able to view planets and the moon with some detail (although DSO's are slightly more important to me). However I would like to get into astrophotography with my dSLR. My budget is £600/£700. I've been looking at a Meade LX90 GPS (on ebay... bad idea??) and a skywatcher skyliner 250px flextube dobsonian with GoTo. I understand the skywatcher isn't great for photography but is it still doable? Any other suggestions would be most appreciated! Thanks

[Digz]

Hi and welcome

I think either scope will do you well.

If you are keen to get into Astrophotography I would suggest getting the book Making Every Photon Count (First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards) there will be a lot of useful information in there for getting into astrophotography. There are lots of facets which this book will begin to uncover.

Astrophotography is achievable with a dob but it will have its limitations.

Im sure others will chip in with their views.

[marcosa666]

Hi and welcome

I think either scope will do you well.

If you are keen to get into Astrophotography I would suggest getting the book Making Every Photon Count (First Light Optics - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards) there will be a lot of useful information in there for getting into astrophotography. There are lots of facets which this book will begin to uncover.

Astrophotography is achievable with a dob but it will have its limitations.

Im sure others will chip in with their views.

Thanks very much! I've seen that book mentioned a few times! Ill be paying amazon a visit soon I think!

[Digz]

Definitely worth it as it will save you money in the long run My copy is well thumbed and I keep going back to it for more despite reading it cover to cover several times!

[obscura]

Book is only available from FLO I think, or it was.

I believe that a dob or SCT aren't really the scopes for DSOs.

The Meade would require at least an equatorial wedge for good polar align and star drift align to accommodate field rotation. Thus, as I understand it, an 8 or 10" reflector or an 80mm-ish refractor would be better suited providing, and most importantly, a good substantial mount vis-a-vis EQ5 or EQ6 - which depends on loading. The reflectors of 8"+ including cameras guiders etc infer the EQ6. The smaller refractors, or fracs, would be fine on the HEQ5.

The book expains this far better than I. So best advice, get the book, read it through before embarking buying.

Good luck

[obscura]

One other thing, just about all the s/w you may need is free on line.

You can download Cartes du Ciel, Ascom, Eqmod, Gimp, PHD and a few more. With the first three, you can run in simulator mode and run them without a scope - that is, enter, longs and lats, park, unpark, go to a DSO, track it etc. This gets you familiar with these packages before you ever get a scope and mount. The three work together with Ascom in background mode.

With Eqmod, you can dispose of the hand controller tho' this I find is still very useful for lunar and solar viewing - the latter with a Baader filter over the objective lens hood.

Hope this helps.

[marcosa666]

Awesome thanks very much! Great help, I'll be sure to check those out, definitely a good idea to get used to it first!

[Capricorn]

You need an equitorial mount that is driven by motors. Both the scopes you mention are Alt/Az mounts and not really suitable for astrophotography.

After that you need a "fast" scope, basically a low F number. The LX90 is I think an SCT so the F number will be about f/10, you really want f/5 or f/6.

The LX90 will be good for planetary viewing and most visual work.

The realm of visual and astrophotography are close but unless you like the idea of a grab and go scope for visual and therefore a smallish ED doublet or Triplet, 80mm or thereabouts, which can then double up for AP I would say that that is the end of the overlap.

In the "small" refractor line WO have just brought out a 81mm triplet, it is £680 (good price for a triplet) and you would need a flattener at about £200+ when they are available. I give this as an example scope and cost.

A decent mount for astrophotography will cover most of the budget you give. Astrophotography tends to be expensive. Think as a start an HEQ5 with motors, if you are thinking of putting a reasonable reflector, 200mm, on as the scope then upgrade to EQ6.