Bewildered Beginner!

[doubledee]

Like a number of beginners to this hobby, I'm finding the sheer choice and terminology a bit bewildering. I am also looking for a compact starter setup to get me out there. I currently use binoculars and have been enjoying the night sky for a few months but now crave more!

I don't have room for a dobsonian. They're definitely a future purchase though, if I stick with it. The telescope will have to be stored in as small a form as possible i.e. disasembled. So far I have been looking at the 127 Maks, Nexstar SE range and so on. I have also been pointed towards refractors but was then confused by the chromatic aberation aspect.

Therefore I'm looking for suggestions and am open to both Goto and non Goto options.

With a budget of £400 what would you buy?

With a budget of £800 what would you buy and what would the more expensive options offer me over the cheaper models?

Thanks and over to you.

[Mr Q]

Yes, all the terminology can be confusing but take it slow so you don't burn yourself out prematurely.

For the time being, a nice downloadable program for binocular observing can be very useful since a lot of DSOs (deep space objects) are observable with bins. An excellent one can be downloaded for free at the below link..and BTW, welcome to the SGL!Touring the Universe through Binoculars Atlas

[damnut]

Hi Doubledee,

Firstly get yourself a pair of binos 10*50 or similar and a copy of Sky & Telescope pocket star atlas / or Turn Left At Orion. Learn your way round the sky. Then go along to your local astro group and have a peek through what those folk are using. Most if not all will be delighted to let you have a peer through their kit.That will give you an idea on what is available and what you can manage.

At this point you will have saved some more cash so you can get a great setup that will last for years and have some decent eps.. :-)

Good Luck.

[rowan46]

the smallest cheapest option with a decent apparture is this one

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

next has got to be these

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skymax 127 SupaTrak

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skymax 127 SynScan AZ GOTO

First Light Optics - Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT my choice for 400

and finally this one at the top of the price range

First Light Optics - Celestron NexStar 6SE my choice for 800

The nexstar slt 127 and skymax 127 are the same scope on different mounts

the se range are slightly better mounts with an sct scope rather than a mak

[Grunthos]

Firstly get yourself a pair of binos 10*50 or similar and a copy of Sky & Telescope pocket star atlas / or Turn Left At Orion.

+1

A good binocular always a sound option.

I've added links to Amazon for the books.

You may wish to use the search function on these forums for binocular options (lots of good threads on the subject).

If you haven't done so already you may also wish to download a copy of Stellarium (free planetarium software).

[doubledee]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been using a pair of 10x50 and Stellarium for a few months now. I have one book but as everyone suggests 'turn left...', I'll get a copy.

[doubledee]

I'm interested that you suggested two GOTO options. Can anyone recommend any non-GOTO options that I could consider?

[sticks]

On a general point - if you buy a £400 scope then expect to spend another £300 on accessories and eyepieces. You will not put up with the limited package you get. So your £800 should cover a MAK127, some decent EPs, dew shield, power tank, filters, cases, etc etc. For "non go-to" scopes the Skywatcher 127 supatrak is an alternative - but why? Best of luck with your choices matey - it gets to us all.

[starnut]

I'm thinking of this one better tripod with or without GOTO

Skywatcher Skymax 127 (EQ3-2) with GOTO £643

[bm1980]

My vote for the Celestron NexStar 127 SLT refractor telescope.

Excellent scope, but i am biased as i have this scope, trust me you wont regret it

Regards

Ben

[Merlin66]

If you're looking for an Astronomy primer covering most/all the aspects of astronomy - go for a copy of Dinah Moshes' book:

http://www.amazon.com/Astronomy-Self-Teaching-Dinah-L-Moche/dp/0471383538

Highly recommended.

[182570]

FLO has a tal100rs refractor and an eq5 mount for 485 (approx)the optics on this are excellent for an achro,although not goto it is a lot of scope and mount for the money,and you can always uprgade later,as Ihave just done

[doubledee]

I'm thinking of this one better tripod with or without GOTO

Skywatcher Skymax 127 (EQ3-2) with GOTO £643

Would that be better than the 6SE? I keep reading about mounts and that the SLT mount isn't up to much, so I am steering towards the more expensive options. This will purely be for visual so I'm not too sure whether I would need an EQ mount to be honest.

[Ian123]

Hey doubledee, the reason i bought my Dob was for easy visual use.

I had a Skywatcher Eplorer 150p on a EQ mount 2 years ago and didn't get along with it and ended up not using it so i sold it.

The Dob is great for scanning the sky, not had many nights with it but far easier than a EQ mount IMO.

With your budget you could buy some decent EP upgrades, Telrad, RAC finder to make it a pleasure to use, good luck whichever way go.

[JamesF]

I'm not sure a dob will take any more space to store than a tripod-mounted scope to be honest, especially the truss tube style ones. It might be worth trying to see a few different scopes "in the flesh" to get an idea of what will and won't work storage-wise.

James

[doubledee]

Unfortunately I don't live anywhere near a store. I did have a look at the truss style dobs w/ goto but they look huge and as I'm going to have to drive to a site to view, I wanted something that I could get up and running within minutes. Don't those truss dobs have to be collimated each time? How long would that take?

I don't think I've deliberated so much with any previous purchase as this one!!

[themos]

Join an Astro Society and talk to people and use their scopes!

[carlc]

FLO has a tal100rs refractor and an eq5 mount for 485 (approx)the optics on this are excellent for an achro,although not goto it is a lot of scope and mount for the money,and you can always uprgade later,as Ihave just done

That's the route I went down - just a word of advice, it doesn't come with a star diagonal and you really need one with a scope that long otherwise it's wet knee/bad back time.

Other than that it's a great choice.

[carlc]

Don't those truss dobs have to be collimated each time? How long would that take?

I don't think I've deliberated so much with any previous purchase as this one!!

From what I've read the Skywatcher flex tube dobs hold their collimation well between sessions.

I know what you mean about the deliberation - I eventually went down the Tal route as they are variable in availability and I didn't want to miss out. Maybe in a year or so I'll be looking for the 'next' scope (and the flex tubes are tempting).

[jfox61]

I don't think the Dobsonian would take up more space reagradless of which one you decided to buy. They mount on a plinth with a footprint not much greater than the tube diameter. Any of the skymax/nextstar combinations are Tripod mounted so would need to be packed away after every session.

I bought my 10" Newtonian from my Brother in Law who used it for about 3 years. He had it collimated on purchase, and even after I had transported it to my home collimation was still fine. Only rough manhandling and severe bumps would cause it to lose collimation, and it's only a 5/10 minute job anyway.

Skymax and similar scopes may also need collimation if mistreated or knocked, and forgive me if I am wrong but I have heard they can be more difficult to do.

So, me personally, if I had the choice again, would go for the Dob as it can be left up in a corner of a room, is more portable than the others and you get more bang for your buck.

[carlc]

I don't think the Dobsonian would take up more space reagradless of which one you decided to buy. They mount on a plinth with a footprint not much greater than the tube diameter. Any of the skymax/nextstar combinations are Tripod mounted so would need to be packed away after every session.

Skymax and similar scopes may also need collimation if mistreated or knocked, and forgive me if I am wrong but I have heard they can be more difficult to do.

I believe the Dobs (up to 8" anyway) have a 'footprint' of about 52cmx52cm. However it doesn't take long to put up a tripod and attach the scope to the rings - and collapsed the tripod stores very easily.

I have heard that Maks can need collimation but only after a real bang and then there are some options to collimate the main mirror if you are happy to do so (but not the secondary - that's a job for Green Witch or someone similar).

Refractors can get knocked out of collimation - but it would have to be a big knock. The new Tal does not have a lens that the average user can collimate and so it would have to go away to a specialist but the chances of it needing collimation are very small.

I think all your choices are excellent and I'd be happy to own any of them (sorry not much help there).

Best advice I had was to stop agonising buy a scope, do some viewing and be happy with your choice - other scopes can come later!