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First time Hi

Tonyuk

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Tonyuk

Tonyuk

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

I'm Tony. Fire Officer for Stockport Council. I live in Offerton Stockport.

Brand new to this site and Astronomy. Used to watch Sir Patrick as kid. Watched the recent Star gazer programmes with Prof Brian Cox. So i decided to try and find out more. I only have one book.... 'Home Reference Library Astronomy' and a pair of small binoculars. My son downloaded the Google Sky Map App onto my HTC. Ha ha now i am completely hooked.

I was looking at Telescopes on Amazon and came accross BlinneOrlaith who had made comments on the The Celestron 130EQ. I am still very keen on getting this scope, unless of course another better one could be recommended.

BlinneOrlaith (are you still on here?) recommended this website. So here I am and very keen on learning more. I'm from Stockport and unfortunately we don't have an Astronomical Society here. I'm thinking of going to maccastro initially.

I have met a likeminded person in Stockport who has set up a website called skastro.org it really is in the very early stages and we are hoping to get people to join and also give us advice etc. and who know's one day Stockport may have it's own Astro Society. In the mean time i will be very happy to chat with you experts and learn so much more than i know now.

Incidentally, i saw jupiter for the first time the other night as my App showed me where it was. i used my small binoculars and could swear i saw one of it's moons. I've driven my family bonkers with that discovery :) i now need to see the other moon :)

Tony

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Rigel-7

Rigel-7

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Hi,

Celestron and SkyWatcher are both made by the same company Synta so are very similar. It's worth having a look at the FLO (see link at top of page) site to see the range. Each scope has its merits some are good for planets, some photography and some are really portable.

When I picked up my wallet and went to the shop I was looking at the SkyWatcher Heritage 130 dob, the SkyWatcher SkyMax 127, the SkyWatcher Explorer 200p EQ5 and the TAL 100RS EQ5. I went for the 150 as I felt the 200p would not be portable enough for me.

Good luck....

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Darrent

Darrent

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Hi Tony

New here myself, joined yesterday looking for support and advise.

Some great info on older threads, I'm still contemplating my first scope choice and can't decide between refractor and reflector.

Just like you I also watched Sir Patrick as a kid and was hooked again with the recent BBC Stargazing series.

Good luck finding a scope and scanning the skies.

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PeterMoss

PeterMoss

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Hey, Tony, great to see more newcomers into the fold....I'm a beginner myself, here in (not very) sunny Ashburton in Devon. I have a Meade ETX-LS8 GOTO telescope (you flip a button on the side of it and it "Goes To" the next planet or star that it can find if its left to its own devices, which is great, but at £1600 it didn't come cheap. I'm hopingh to get into astrophotography (even though I have an AltAz mount!) Looking forward to hearing more from you soon.

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Tonyuk

Tonyuk

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Thanks to everyone for a warm welcome and some great advice. just down loaded and installed Stallarium. looks good.

Re a budget.... maybe in the region of £200 as starters. and i've only come up with that figure after looking at a few telescopes in Amazon. Just had a call from my daughters boyfriend. He has a telescope that he never uses. (not sure of model at the mo) He's going to drop it off for me at weekend. I'll let you all know what it is. It may be good enough for me to really get the bug. If not i'll go for something more substantial. but i think it's wise to start low i'm sure you'll all agree.

Just looked outside, it's raining in Sunny Stockport.

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paulhutch

paulhutch

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Hi Tony, In Edgeley on Mercian Way there is a great shop who give free advice and he's a small independent too. I live in Warrington and drive there almost every Saturday just for a chat sometimes and he's really helpful. Just pop along and try and get a feel for a scope before you buy one. Hope that helps.

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  • 1 month later...
rasor

rasor

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Hi Tony, I too followed BlinneOrlaith's review of the celestron and I'm interested in how you got on buying a telescope as my better half is keen for us to get one but I don't know what do buy. We have a budget of £300 max.

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stevetynant

stevetynant

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Hi Tony, I too followed BlinneOrlaith's review of the celestron and I'm interested in how you got on buying a telescope as my better half is keen for us to get one but I don't know what do buy. We have a budget of £300 max.

I'm fairly new to this myself but seem to have been on a non stop spending spree since I've started. My advice would be based on my own experience spend all your £300 on the scope to get you the best start position then take your time over a number of months / years to build up your equipment. - the Universe isn't going anywhere in a hurry.

theres loads of advice in the beginners section - the scope I had was a 200p skyliner on a Dobsonian mount - its a great starting scope but I have nothing to compare it to - perhaps others will have different / better suggestions.

The best advice I can give I think is to take your time and do your research - good luck with whatever you decide.

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bigbox

bigbox

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Hi Tony, Welcome to the forum. Another place in stockport for you to have a look at is Telescopes and Binoculars from one of the UK'S premier specialists...

One thing i'd say is not to rush in, take your time and get the scope that will get used the most, be it a Dob, Newtonian or refractor. Most of all Enjoy when you do get one...

Regards Ady

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