Hello From Newcastle!

[AndrewR]

Hello to you all,

I am a newbie from Newcastle and this is my story!

Last weeks excitement of the Northern lights has got me all stirred up for Astronomy. Like A lot of people, I guess I take a passing interest in the heavens but only really show any excitement is when something like the Northern Lights or a meteor shower occurs.

I have always fancied having a Telescope yet for some strange reason I have arrived at 46 without ever getting one. I have no idea why?

Any way, following the excitement of last week I started following this fellow on twitter... @VirtualAstro (Im sure he will be known, but for the benefit of other newbies, he has 25,000 followers and his profile reads "Astronomy, Science, Nature and more, Creator of #Meteorwatch, writer for Universe Today and the BBC. Making Stargazing fun and accessible to all".

Last week he started re-tweeting the various pictures that people were taking of the Northern Lights. As the week went on he began to tweet pictures people and kids from all walks of life had taken from their gardens of Jupiter, Saturn etc etc. I was quite spellbound by the detail a lot of these people were managing to achieve. Some were using cameras, some cameras attached to Telescopes and others with a web cam attached.

I am by nature a very impulsive person and could feel my enthusiasm for Astronomy rising all week until I got up this morning and thought, ****** it, Im getting a telescope. At 10am I was spending £20 or £30 quid on ebay to give it a bash, however as the day has worn on I am now looking at scopes between £200 - £300.

Each time I find something that seems "the one" I read a few comments on here or discover something else that leads me down another path.

At different times tonight I have "decided" on a Meade ETX 90, various sky watcher models and now Ive discovered that the Tal 100rs seems to get good reviews.

To be honest Im lost and would appreciate any pointers in the kit direction.

£200 - £300 is about the budget, ideally something that would go on camping trips, but most importantly something that will give good beginner images that will keep me enthralled and not dampen my enthusiasm.

At this stage I have no interest in taking pictures and the idea of a stand that finds the targets appeals.

I really want a decent bit of kit that I can run out and buy tomorrow'ish and play with over the next few months.

If its not for me theres always ebay and if it is and need to upgrade well thats fine too.

Cheers all and hope to see you around the forum.

Andy

[Tiddles]

Any of the Skyliner Dobs, I bought the 150, but you may stretch to the 200. You won't be disappointed.

JOIN THE DOB MOB.

[rowan46]

I am not sure how many of you or how full the car is for camping, but I would guess that the 200p is too big with all the gear in. the most portable scope is the heritage 130p

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

it's a damn good scope and short of a mak or sct there is nothing more portable that gives as good views. If the scope was mainly for viewing at home though I would get the

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian visually nothing in it's price range beats it.

hope that helps and welcome to sgl

[kris h]

Hello & welcome to SGL

[paul schofield]

Hello and welcome to SGL, have to agree the 200p dob does it for me too. Although may be a bit big for moving around on camping trips, not unmanageable, just rather large, the tube will fit across the back seat of a car but there wont be room for a person to sit next to it. I don't think much can beat the 200p for the aperture at under £300. Good luck with your choice.

[Zul]

Hello and Welcome!

[MikeP]

Welcome Andrew.

I'd endorse the view that a dobsonian will give you the best views for your money but don't rush into a purchase.

Mike

[Tinker1947]

Welcome to the SGL, Forums, you could try some Bins there very portable and not to expensive, give you a chance to learn the night sky and what way you might want to go in the hobby...

First Light Optics - Helios

[AndrewR]

Hi again and thanks for all the replies.

Armed with two impulsive teenage daughters, I ended up coming home from the shops with a Skywatcher Sky Max 102 goto.

Hopefully I can get this up and running soon enough and it will allow me to see whether this is a passing phase or a hobby that will stick with me for a very long time.

Quite excited!!!

[Tiddles]

You will love the moon and planets through your new scope, enjoy. Prepare yourself for what you can expect from DSO's. Even through a much larger scope they are usually just a faint grey smudge, its more about doing your homework and learning about what you are viewing, oh and the challenge of finding them with a manual scope, the GoTo should make that easier for you.

Clear skies!!

[Charon]

Welcome to the forum Andrew.

[AndrewR]

Well havent got everything fully set up or know what all the bits are for yet, but I did manager to have half an hour play in the garden before the clouds closed in.

Extremely excited looking at the moon so close up for the first time and then blown away when the next bright object turned out to be Jupiter and 4 moons.

Couldnt quite believe what I was seeing. Happy boy.