Where to now?

[Andeee]

Hi there all! So I got the astronomy bug after watching Wonders of the Solar System, and made a few hasty decisions. Namely a kids refractor I saw at the flea market before I had any idea (70/700 I think) and a Bressor Junior (or Venus) Newtonian (76/700) from Ebay.

The mounts for both are terrible, the Bressor mount being marginally better. The eyepieces which came with the refractor are pretty much unusable and the bloke who sold me the Bressor could only find the 12.5mm.

I have had some fun with the Bressor, looking at Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon but only having the one eyepiece and a fairly poor spotter scope is obviously limiting.

So my question is then, is it worth my investing in a set of eyepieces (such as the Celestron set on Amazon) or am I better off getting a new scope entirety with a better mount.

I've also heard about people mounting scopes on camera tripods. I have a Manfrotto at home. Do I need some kind of adapter?

Thanks!

PS. I've managed to post a very similar post in the Primers & Tutorials section by mistake. Can some kind OP please remove it?

[tuxzek]

I am new to this myself but I can give some advice. Do not use a camera tripod unless you know for sure it is super stable. I have a collection of tripods for my SLR work and they are wobbly as jelly when it came to putting my spotting scope on them. I recently bought a cheap Argos Newtonian which came with its own tripod and I have to say that this mount is far better than the ones I have. Speaking to other amateur astro chaps at a recent meetup they also had misgivings on camera tripods. So I would recommend a proper mount if you are not happy with what you have so far. Or try to use some weight to stop is moving around which is a cheaper option.

Also having replaced the standard EPs that came with my telescope with some nice Skywatcher Plossls I would say the investment is well worth it.

[Andeee]

Thanks. I was thinking that the EPs would be a worthwhile investment either way.

My camera tripod is rock solid. It's worth more than my Scopes!

[cantab]

Obviously there's the chance yours are exceptions, but often the objective lens/mirror in a cheap scope is actually decent. While both yours are small, with a better mount and EPs you may get some good views.

Eyepiece kits divide opinion; some seem to be "padded" with fancy cases and colour filters (the utility of which again divides opinions).

Also, naturally you can try the 12.5mm you have in the refractor. It'll give the same magnification in both, so you can compare the views given by each scope.

[Andeee]

Thanks Cantab. I have tried the 12.5 in the refractor and it seems decent enough. Not brilliant, but ok.

I had also thought the same things about the EP kit. I figured that they must be better than what i've got , although better EPs would be an investment for the future.

If i'm going to buy individual EPs, what sizes, makes etc are recommended?

[Andeee]

My only concern with a replacement mount was that if I later get a larger scope it'll no longer fit, or is it possible to separately purchase the fitting for the scope?

The mount I have is not only wobbly, but the fine adjustment is next to unusable.

[Andeee]

So to be clearer, the problem I have with the mount is more to do with the bit the holds the telescope (which I don't know the name for) than for the tripod itself. The screw bolts for holding it in place shift the position of the scope when tightening them. The fine control is a rather wobbly threaded bar running through a metal eye, held in place by a thumb screw, which doesn't really hold in place.

[tuxzek]

Thanks. I was thinking that the EPs would be a worthwhile investment either way.

My camera tripod is rock solid. It's worth more than my Scopes!

I heard Manfrotto are good, and if its solid then go with it. A spotting scope will mount on it easily using the same screw thread as an SLR, for a telescope I don't know.

With regard to advice on size of EPs that depends on the focal length of your scope and the aperture. See Warthogs excellent write-up

http://stargazerslounge.com/beginners-help-advice/80772-eyepieces-very-least-you-need.html

With my 700mm x 76mm I worked out that for high power I would need a 7.5mm and for low to medium 20mm would work. Incidentally I got a 20mm with the telescope so wanted to replace it with a better after market EP. Have a read of Warthog's post and it should give you an idea of what you need.

[tuxzek]

So to be clearer, the problem I have with the mount is more to do with the bit the holds the telescope (which I don't know the name for) than for the tripod itself. The screw bolts for holding it in place shift the position of the scope when tightening them. The fine control is a rather wobbly threaded bar running through a metal eye, held in place by a thumb screw, which doesn't really hold in place.

Sounds like the same scope I have. You said its from ebay was it via Argos clearance?

[Andeee]

No. I live in Berlin, Germany. I got it for €15 from a bloke who had only used it once.

[Peter Drew]

"I got it from a bloke who only used it once", says it all really! My advice is to buy alow power eyepice for the wide fields your scope should be best at and more suitable for your tripod mount. The best way forward from there is to budget for a better alround setup.

[Capricorn]

Going to say that you could be better off getting a better scope, with the addition of "eventually".

I would consider a cheap eyepiece or possibly two. Unless the cost of say 2 eyepieces comes close to the cost of the set just get a couple of cheap eyepieces, and save the rest for a better system in the future.

To attach the scope to a camera tripod you will need a dovetail and possibly scope rings. These add to the cost of using the scope you have, and in a way deduct from the scope you will get.

Equally the scope is usable and would be an inexpensive entry to visual astronomy. So make the best of it in any way you can.

[cs1cjc]

I found a good camera tripod to be very poor for a telescope. A telescope is pointed upwards which causes unbalances, it is used at high magnification which emphases and backlash or instability and it has to track slowly moving targets so needs to pan smoothly. In the end I bought a dedicated Vixen Mini Porta mount which interfaces to a vertical dovetail allowing the telescope to be balanced. However there could well be cheaper solutions.

[fountain]

I wouldn't touch a camera mount with a telescope. The stability, balance everything is wrong. The shake will drive you mad at higher powers.

Bins I'd think would be OK.

[Andeee]

Thanks for all the input!

So what are 'cheap' eyepieces? I don't want to end up with something that I want to replace again. And am I wasting my time with a 6mm or 4mm? I'd like some better views of the planets.

And are there any recommendations for a new setup? I live in the middle of the city and have no garden or balcony, so I need something portable. If I have a budget of say £400 what should I be looking at?

[tuxzek]

Thanks for all the input!

So what are 'cheap' eyepieces? I don't want to end up with something that I want to replace again. And am I wasting my time with a 6mm or 4mm? I'd like some better views of the planets.

And are there any recommendations for a new setup? I live in the middle of the city and have no garden or balcony, so I need something portable. If I have a budget of say £400 what should I be looking at?

See my earlier post re EP advice, but yes on the 700/76 telescope 6mm and 4mm won't work. Please correct me if I am wrong but I worked this out for mine via Warthogs post (see my link in post above) and around 7mm was the highest power you could go on focal ratio f9.

The telescope I bought was cheap in price with cheap EPs but the Newtonian seems fairly good and the tripod is passable. With new Skywatcher EPs I went out last night and managed to see the moon and jupiter through breaks in the cloud.

Initially used the 20mm Plossl and the image seemed to be far clearer than the EP supplied with the telescope but when I went to using the 7.5mm high power EP I caught myself saying WOW. The banding on Jupiter is so clearly visible.

So my recommendation is to stick with the newtonian but do buy some new EPs. But first check with Warthogs post what EPs are recommended based on the size of your scope. He actually recommends 4 various ones but I stumped for 2 as it suits what I need.

Und Viel Glück! I am hoping to go to Berlin next year for the marathon if I think I can get the training in.

[Andeee]

Thanks tuxzek. I finally got around to reading Warthog's piece, but I'm still a bit lost at to what I should be getting. I mean I've now got a set of figures for the sizes, but the only shop I can find in Berlin starts EPs at around €50 and goes up. On websites I can find them from €18.99 a piece.

There's no way I'm going to invest €300 in an EP, but what sort of price range/ manufacturer am I looking at to get something decently usable?

[Andeee]

So I've gone to the only shop in Berlin and the smallest he has is 9.6mm which he claims is really as small as I should go. I mentioned the 7.5mm and he didn't believe that you could get good stable images from it with the size of scope I've got. I've decided to take the plunge and get the 9.6 and a 20mm at €65 each..

[Andeee]

Well. I bought two Meade EPs. Both super Plössl. I think I paid too much for them as I've seen them much cheaper on the Web (in the UK at least), but...

Just been out looking at the Moon and Jupiter. Simply stunning.. And I can now understand what the guy in the shop (which was an opticians by the way) meant about a 7.5mm being too much. The shake on the 9.7mm was incredible. I had quite a job focusing! But it was worth it. The larger, darker bands on Jupiter where clear. And the Moon was just stunning. I tried to find Andromeda, but a bright city combined with a full Moon defeated me. But still very very pleased. A world of difference to the rubbish that came with the scope. I'm looking forward to trying then out on the toy refractor.

...I think i'm going to need a bigger telescope though :rollseyes:

[brantuk]

Your duplicate thread is removed now Andee

[Andeee]

Thank you!