Yet another first scope thread

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Hi guys, I've been reading these forums for the last couple of days. reading guides and other such things for a few weeks now so i have a rough idea of whats what, but i wanted advice from people with hands on experience before i splashed out on my first scope.

I live in the Bournemouth area, my house is pretty unsuitable as a viewing area despite having a relatively shadowy back garden. But i do have access to pretty decent skies just 15minutes or so away in the new forest area. Looking at THIS, i can get to a cyan area within 5 minutes, and a blue area in around 15-20minutes, so I'l be needing a relatively portable scope. Incidentally, how do reflector scopes fare in a car? do you need squidgy suspension and to drive carefully? Or are you generally ok so long as you aren't aiming for speed bumps or speeding down gravel tracks?

My budget is a little low, around £150 or so for now, but i don't mind buying second hand. I don't intend on doing any imaging, and if i do decide to in the future, i'l upgrade the scope anyway. So now the question is - reflector or refractor? I expect to be mainly viewing planets, and maybe some of the more prominent DSOs like M42 etc. From what i've read it seems a refractor is best for planets etc, but i can't help but feel the smaller aperture size would be a drawback since I'l probably be pushing the magnification more than most would, don't mind a slightly fuzzy image if it's that little bit bigger: I'd rather see this, than this.

I know i'm limiting my results with the small budget, i'm just after something that won't be a complete disappointment like that superawesomereflectorscope i got from toys'r'us as a kid.

It seems most people adopt a 5-8" dob for an all rounder. I quite like the look of a celestron powerseeker 127eq or skywatcher 130p, but i hear it can be difficult to track planets etc at higher magnifications due to the narrow FOV.

Anyway this is turning into a ramble, I realise i probably won't see what i want to see for such a small price, so i guess i'm simply asking -

With no need for imaging, what is the best beginner scope for ~£150 for decent planetary viewing (some brighter DSOs would be nice) in fairly decent skies?

If you've got this far, thanks for reading

[fatwoul]

Haha according to that map I am well within a magenta region. Thanks for ruining my evening!

In answer to your question, if you're definitely positively sure you don't want to image, then I'd have thought your hunch of a modest sized Dobsonian is a sound one.

It will keep things very simple, have you up and running in as long as it takes to get the scope out of your car, and will also help you familiarise yourself with the night sky, as you will learn to "star-hop" around the sky to find objects.

If you equip yourself with a copy of Stellarium (free and straightforward to use), then you can either plan your sessions before you head out, or if you have a laptop you can take it with you and navigate with that. Alternatively, a copy of "Turn Left at Orion" and a Philips Planisphere (or one of these from FLO) would be worth considering if you wish to keep everything as simple as possible.

Hope that's of some help. I'm sure some of the experienced visual guys will be around to advise you soon.

Welcome to SGL

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum

This is just a quick response (as it's late ) to something in your post:

... I'l probably be pushing the magnification more than most would, don't mind a slightly fuzzy image if it's that little bit bigger: I'd rather see this, than this.

As a newcomer to the hobby I think I can understand why you might think this but I have to be honest and say that most of us would feel entirely the opposite about this. The smaller image shows more detail and contrast which is exactly what you are looking for if you are going to tease out the finer and more subtle details that you will see people posting about.

My scope is currently outside, pointed at Jupiter and the conditions allow good detail to be seen at 150x but not so much at 225x, even though the actual disk of the planet is larger in the eyepiece.

I guess I'm saying this just in the interests of expectation management, as it were

For £150 you will be able to get a scope that will be capable of showing some nice details but max power is rarely the way to do that.

[umadog]

If you push the magnification too much you will see less apart from the very short (seconds) periods of good seeing. You'll figure this out as you go along, though. On Jupiter, for example, you will find there's a pretty clear transition from good image to bad image as you crank up the power.

With your budget, a second hand Dob could be a good idea. See if you can get a local club to help.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Thanks for the advice guys, i'l start looking around for a Dob. Haven't had much joy finding local clubs, though a few are within traveling distance at a push. I'l get my post count up and check out the sell and buy section here too. As much as i want a scope RIGHT NOW DAMMIT, i'm gonna fight the urge to rush, and wait for a wicked deal

[onesmallstep]

Hello and welcome

Have you seen this primer?

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/37998-primer-choosing-telescope.html

Good luck and happy stargazing!

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Hello and welcome

Have you seen this primer?

http://stargazerslounge.com/primers-tutorials/37998-primer-choosing-telescope.html

Good luck and happy stargazing!

Thanks, I have indeed read it, along with most of the others too (i have a lot of spare time lol). The wealth of knowledge on this site is amazing, but it's also the cause of my hesitation. I just assumed i would go Dob and go as large as feasibly possible to cram into my car, but then i saw about refractors being somewhat better for planetary viewing/contrast. I guess the Dobs lesser contrast would only be an issue in less than average viewing due to light pollution, which isn't too much of a worry for me luckily, so perhaps the Dob is still the better option.

Can filters help reflectors reach similar contrasts to refractors when viewing planets?

[onesmallstep]

Filters will certainly help with planetary viewing. The 6" and 8" Dobs are certainly popular with SGL members.

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