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Hi Guys & Gals

I have been interested for years in astronomy, but never actually got around to doing anything about it, and it wasn't until my 9 year old son found my old binoculars the other day and i caught him looking at the moon, (long after he was supposed to be in bed,,the little monkey) and he asked the inevitable question, how can i see the moon better dad ?

that it got me thinking that this might be something we can both do together.

Anyway, without this reading like War and Peace i need some serious advice as to what type of telescope to buy.

some of the telescopes you see advertised on Amazon and the like seem like all singing and dancing and seem half sensible money at about £100 but then thought .....hang on a minute,, i know absolutely nothing about this subject, and before i go off half cocked lets ask some people who do and that's why i registered on this site to get info from people who know what the hell they are talking about.

Fortunately for me i read some of the comments made by your members about the Newtonian telescopes and such and didn't see any good reviews about them, thanks in advance for saving me a small fortune.

Anyway the upshot is that i would like to buy a telescope that gives good images, don't need a degree in rocket science to operate

(although my son will probably show me how...lol)

I have been saving odd monies here and there in a large jar for no particular reason and find that there is a little over £300, a little more could be added if the need was favourable.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks for taking the time to read this novel ,lol

Kind Regards

Crimson_pirate (Mark)

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Steer clear of brands like Seben that you see on Ebay like a rash, I would stick with Skywatcher, Celestron or Meade brands, although Skywatcher seem often to be the best for value for money and their quality is most acceptable.

could not agree more seben especially are very poor

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Another vote for the 200P Dobsonian. Intuitive to use and big enough to get some seriously fine views. I'd go to a serious astro retailer, not Ebay, not camera shops, not Dept. stores.

Download Stellarium for finding things, get a red head torch and a guide book like Turn Left at Orion and you're off!

Olly

ollypenrice's Photos

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Hi Mark and welcome to the forum.

Newtonian scopes are probably the best value for money scopes you can buy but its buying from a reputable manufacturer that makes all the difference. Manfacturers like Seben etc you see on Ebay are the ones to stay away from as they are generally poorly made. Listed below would be my choice of scopes starting off. I have stayed close to your £300 budget as any extra you may wish to spend can go towards little extras later on.

a) Skywatcher: Skyliner 200P Newtonian on dobsonian mount £279.00

Straight out the box ready to use, just need to construct the simple box that the scope is supported in which helps you point it in the direction you want. The 'biggest' aperture you can but that will help resolve detail in deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies, planetary nebula etc. Only downside (given your sons age) is that the scope will need to be 'nudged' along to keep up with the moving stars. Not a problem with a low powered eyepiece but as you magnify the image with a more powerful eyepiece say on a planet, the image will move very quickly across the eyepiece whilst you may also be attempting to fine tune your focuser to tease out that extra detail. No motors can be bought for this scope to address tracking but the views make this a great scope. Remember, the view will inverted and back to front which is irrelevant when observing the object itself but a little confusing when attempting to find stuff. In the longer term you will need to collimate (calibrate) the scope to ensure accurate focusing.

;) Skywatcher: Evostar 102 (4") Refractor on equatorial mount £325

The length of the tube (F9.8) means that there will be little if any false colour, particular on bright objects like the moon which can make finding focus a little tricky. Again, straight out the box ready to use but unlike the newtonian above, it will not need collimating. You will need to put together the mount which is an equatorial type which effectively is just a tilted tripod that is tilted to compensate for the earths own tilt. Will come with slow motion controls which means that when it is set up correctly (polar aligned) and once you have found your target, you only need to turn one control to keep pace with the object. To this end, one of the extras to think of might be to add a motor to help with tracking which ultimately makes focusing an easier process. A refractor scope not only looks like a 'real' scope but it presents the eyepiece in an accessible position which is not always true of the newtonian type. It will not resolve quite the same detail on DSO's as the first scope above but will present an image that has better contrast with dark night skies and pin sharp stars.

Hope the above helps. Other will no doubt have different views but on your budget you want to make sure that as much of the budget goes into the scope which is where the 'action' will be and is why I have listed them in the above order for your consideration.

James

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If you're happy that you can learn to find things in the sky quickly then I think the 8" dob is a good bet. If you'd like a scope that finds things for you then I'd be tempted to suggest the Skywatcher Explorer 130 on the Synscan AZ mount: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html

My son (who is eight and a half) probably wouldn't have the patience to wait for me to spend half an hour finding a DSO, say, and it does take a bit of practice.

James

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Hi Mark,

Welcome to SGL.

Can't add a lot to the advice already given.

One thing to consider is to go along to your local astro society and chat to members there, likely that now the darker evenings are coming there will be viewing nights where you can see some scopes in use and probably try out.

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Hi,

I hope your son enjoys and gets into astronomy, it's a truly wonderful hobby. I'm only 15, and I'm loving every part (mostly buying new kit ;)).

I'd make my own suggestion:

With your son only being nine, as mentioned above, his patience may be limited. A GoTo scope would mean less time waiting, and more time looking.

Skywatcher Skymax 102 SynScan AZ GoTo

The Skymax telescopes are great for viewing double stars, the Moon, the Sun (only with an appropriate filter!!!!), and the Planets. As the telescope has GoTo, it will also locate many Deep Sky Objects for you and your son to look at.

I'd look at a dobsonian only when your son gets older.

Have fun and clear skies to you!

Luke

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hi and welcome, my advice for a good starter scope, the skywatcher 127mm auto track (see my pic top left) with a 1500mm focal length it gives fantastic views of the moon (see my the moon tonight pics on the lunar image section) the tripod is variable and it has dual axis motors with a hand held key pad, which i am sure your son would love to push the buttons to turn the scope. the down side is without power the scope will not move, but for me personally its the scope of choice, the cost around £370 - £400.

wishing you clear skys

peter.

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"Ye gods"

I didn't expect so many replies in such a short time.

thanks everyone for your enthusiasm in answering me.

Just one other small thing,

i see that the skywatcher 200p has direct connection for an SLR camera,

but can this one or any others be connected directly to a Seriously high end computer?, or would it be possible to connect an SLR camera, lock the shutter open and use a usb or fibre optic cable, or is there a special adapter solely for this purpose the general specs for the scope don't tell you.

These may appear to be daft questions to you guys, but i am a complete novice, please be patient with me

Again thanks for your help

Crimson_Pirate (Mark)

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Can I suggest you put a location in your signature.

You may be close to someone that can help ( I have 4 scopes of varying size) or a club with a public viewing evening. There are 2 clubs relatively close to me that have upcoming nights for people to go along and take a look through scopes.

P.S. Suggest you avoid astrophotography at first. That tends to be the expensive end of this hobby. Cheap AP could be £3000, you don't want to consider the expensive end.

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Imaging with a DSLR camera on a dobsonian isn't going to work. Instead you will need to use a webcam so as to obtain a large number of frames (to combat blurred images caused by earth's atmosphere) from which you stack the best frames on top of each using a free program called Registax in order to construct a composite image. Dobsoinians cannot track Deep Sky Objects (galaxies nebula etc) which require longer exposures. The webcam option will only be useful for moon and planetary shots as they are bright enough not to warrant those long exposures.

James

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another vote for the 200p but make sure you have the space to store it. i have the size down from it and im more than happy so far with the results. id also have to agree with not diving straight into photography. get to know the sky and scope first. although serious astro photography is expensive you could look into webcam imaging of palnets and the moon which would be possible with a dobsonian mount. Nice to see that your son has an interest. my 10 year old is also interested. Just waiting for the earlier dark nights to return now.

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The 200P dob is a smashing scope if you don't mind manually finding objects and manually pointing/tracking the object with it. This can be a problem for many starters, but remember the more money you put into electronics and "goto", the less you're spending on the all important optics.

With your budget I would divide the purchase into 3 parts (optics, motors, mount) and buy second hand. You can get a nice eq5 or cg5 mount for around £100-£120 in good condition, and 150P/150PL optical tube assemblies (ota's) I've seen sell for around the same price.

You'd then have a fair amount left towards a Right Ascension motor which can be easilly fitted - s/h they tend to fetch around £70-£80 (sometimes including a Declination motor as well). Or you can get a dual set brand new for £95.

This would give you a good solid equatorial mount/tripod, a decent sized, good quality, driven OTA, and an all round good beginners setup. I'd choose equatorial rather than dobsonian (which is essentially alt/az), because you get a much better feel for the movement of Earth relative to the heavens. You'd also have a great startup scope for some elementary imaging which can be done with a webcam for £30-£40 'ish. All my personal opinion of course but hope it helps ;)

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Mark,

Support the GoTo camp, preferably SkyWatcher, as Celestrons are reputed to be noisy.

Your son will be able to find things on his own. Don't let him out with it in daylight and keep an eye on him. Basically a pavement astronomer in a Croydon Sheltered Housing Unit, well you can't live for ever and find that the grandsons and daughters are thrilled by the moon and being allowed to park the scope and turn it off. What damage can they do, although the parents seem quite pleased as long as they can afford a 'scope. ;)

Whatever you decide, enjoy.

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Welcome to SGL Crimson Pirate. It certainly is a minefield, getting into this astronomy, and you've made the right move coming here. Too many have fallen at that first hurdle and been disappointed with trash 'scopes' from ye olde baye des fleases.

There's plenty of advice here, as you have already dicovered, to suit whatever path you decide to follow.

Good hunting, clear skies and most of all, enjoy.

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The best thing I ever done was get a dob,I found it much easier to use and like everyone else said you get more mirror for your money so that means you'll see more so my advice for what its worth would be get the biggest dob you can afford(and have room for) good luck in whatever you decide ;)

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I'd also recommend the First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skymax 102 SynScan AZ GOTO scope. Although the view from an 8" Dob would be breath-taking I think locating anything other than the Moon is tricky for beginners. You'd be able to look at the planets, deep sky objects as well as the moon through the goto automation without worrying about finding the object. In my mind you and your child want to enjoy the observation more than the 'treasure hunt' and for that you wouldn’t go far wrong with a goto scope.

I have seen a lot of positive feedback on Skywatcher as a quality, value for money, manufacturer so I'd recommend them also.

I have a Celestron, which I find an equally sound brand. I'd steer clear of the ebay seben brands though.

It's always worth thinking of the re-sale value if you ever want to upgrade and the Skywatcher Goto's are perfect for that as they appeal to a wide audience.

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Welcome to SGL, I can only reiterate what others have said in that a 8" reflector on a dobsonian is a great place to start. The downside is that the user will have to get to know the sky quite well but that is not impossible and with applications like Stellarium and Cdc it can be quite easy to learn the sky bit by bit. I found it quite easy to learn the sky and to find objects but the first upgrade I did was to an EQ mount so that the telescope could "track" the sky, this meant than when I was observing Saturn, for example, it would stay in the field of view rather than me having to nudge the scope every few seconds.

I still have my original 8" dobsonian and I'm thinking of setting it up on the old base for my son (who's nearly 8) to use. He's quite keen and has the patience to learn the sky. Good luck on finding the right scope, you'll certainly get a lot of great advice from SGL so don't be afraid to ask whatever you need to know.;)

Sam

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