im confused.com

[omeganeb]

Hi,guys.im new to the forum and have posted in the introductory thread.

After getting a scope from my brother(before any research) im now finding it hard to understand the capabilitys of my scope.i purchased it as it was a steal and came complete with 8 eye pieces and a shed load of extras.

Its a meade 105 and ive linked the spec below but even after trawling the forum alot of the info just went straight over my head.

I hope you can help me out with any info you may think will be beneficial to me about EP's etc.its things like focal length and ratio that bamboozle me

Meade ETX 105 - Review

[John]

Hi there,

I'm not an ETX user myself but this website has lots of information on that range of scopes that might help you:

Weasner's Mighty ETX Site

[omeganeb]

Cheers john.

[swamp thing]

Hi

Hope this is of some help explaining the terminology.

Focal Point:

The point at which parallel light rays from a distant object are brought together by a lens or mirror; also known as the focus. It is the location of the sharpest image of a distant object. The distance of the focal point from the lens or mirror is the focal length .

Focal Length:

(symbol F or f ). The distance between a lens or mirror and its focal point. Together with the aperture, the focal length is one of the main properties of a lens or mirror. The longer the focal length, the larger the image scale.

Focal Ratio:

The ratio of the focal length of a lens or mirror to its aperture, usually expressed as a number, the f/number . The smaller the focal ratio, the smaller the image scale and the brighter the image for a given aperture. Small focal ratios, below about f/6, are termed fast, while those greater than about f/8 are slow, a terminology adopted from photography.

Regards Steve

[omeganeb]

So surely there should be some basic guidelines and tips that a newcomer to astronomy can follow to make sure they get a good scope.i mean the scope that i have(linked in 1st post) could be a pile of junk to you more expierienced astronomers on here.it would be nice to know either way as looking at the specs i couldnt tell you adam from eve.i have no clue as to what they mean.well i know from the above reply but is there a basic law in scope choosing as im sure in alot of these stores people are just trying to pull your pants down to get a good sale out of you and we can see this from the amazing claims on boxes etc that salesmen forget to mention wont strictly be true.

Is it a case that the higher the "f" number the better or worse the scope will be etc.

Although im a complete beginner im already bamboozled and slightly frustrated at what things mean even with different eyepieces etc.there is just so much to it.i have a few meade 3000 series eyepieces that for all i know could be the worst on the market but with all the different opinions on the web its hard to actually know whats what.

I really want to enjoy the hobby and i want to enjoy it to the maximum my scope will allow but if my eyepieces or the scope arnt up to the job how can i tell.