Getting first telescope help needed

[tiingshii]

Im a undergraduate who is currently taking a module about astronomy. And I have grew more interest into this area, so i have decided to get a telescope! As a beginner i really need experienced/professional help. Have been looking out for the last few days, spotted Orion Starblast 6 Astro which has rather good reviews, however it doesnt have a tripod! Some others that i have found are Orion AstroView 6 Equatorial reflector telescope Orion Spaceprobe 130ST Computerized telescope . There are so many choices out there, so i really hope that i can get some help here! Any recommendation that fits my requirements I have a few requirements for my first telescope 1) Reflector 2) Tripod 3) Not more than USD$400 4) Aperture not less than 5inches

[MBJ]

this might suit your needs,a nice scope and a good brand.

Explorer 150 PL (EQ3-2) With Free DVD | Telescopes | Rother Valley Optics

or if you can go the extra yard this would be better . with 77% more light gathering than the 150p it makes a great first scope.

http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/explorer-200p-eq5-with-free-dvd_d3656.html

[rowan46]

go for the astroview 6 we call it the skywatcher 150p over here it's a very good scope it's not an imaging mount so don't worry about photography although if you use a webcam it should be able to do the moon and planets. For visual work though the astroview is a good scope plenty big enough to see a lot under dark skies and a fair bit under urban skies. The general rule is to get the biggest you can afford and this one is about it. Welcome to SGL and I hope your course goes well. There are plenty of tutorials online on setting up an equatorial mount if you can't find the orion version look for skywatcher eq3-2 it's the same mount under a different name.

[E621Keith]

Hi Tiingshii, welcome to SGL

Since you budget is in USD and you are looking at the Orion Starblast, may I assume you are located in the USA? SGL is mainly a UK and European forum, so it's best if you say where you are. Some telescopes available in this side of the Atlantic may not be available on the other side, so we will need to change our advice accordingly.

The Starblast is a good beginner scope, roughly equivalent to a Skywatcher 150p in Europe. It's a dobsonian, so it won't need a tripod.

Orion StarBlast 6 Astro Reflector Telescope | Orion Telescopes

It's $300 USD in the US, but it cost £325GBP in the UK which is overpriced because a SW 200p (equiv. OrionXT8) cost only £270.

Since you are studying astronomy in uni, have you checked whether your university have an astronomy club? Many universities do and it's a good way to get access to instrument and advice. Sometimes, a uni may have a club one year and not in another if they can't find enough members. If that's the case, you may find a spare telescope locked up in a cupboard somewhere.

[John24]

Starblast dobsonian is a table top telescope. Unless you have something to keep the scope on, You should consider getting a sturdy tripod. The alt-az dobsonian mount fits on the tripod I guess. Why dont you consider Skyliner 150P dobsonian? Adequate long focal length will relieve you of costly eyepieces, costly EPs would drastically increase your budget.

But if this is going to be your one and only scope, and if you wish AP at a later stage then starblast 6 can be mounted on EQ mount.

[tiingshii]

Hi Tiingshii, welcome to SGL

Since you budget is in USD and you are looking at the Orion Starblast, may I assume you are located in the USA? SGL is mainly a UK and European forum, so it's best if you say where you are. Some telescopes available in this side of the Atlantic may not be available on the other side, so we will need to change our advice accordingly.

The Starblast is a good beginner scope, roughly equivalent to a Skywatcher 150p in Europe. It's a dobsonian, so it won't need a tripod.

Orion StarBlast 6 Astro Reflector Telescope | Orion Telescopes

It's $300 USD in the US, but it cost £325GBP in the UK which is overpriced because a SW 200p (equiv. OrionXT8) cost only £270.

Since you are studying astronomy in uni, have you checked whether your university have an astronomy club? Many universities do and it's a good way to get access to instrument and advice. Sometimes, a uni may have a club one year and not in another if they can't find enough members. If that's the case, you may find a spare telescope locked up in a cupboard somewhere.

hahaha im nt from USA im from singapore, i intend to ship the telescope back to singapore. OrionXT8 is similar to starblast without a tripod. Im looking for one with tripod so i can bring it outdoor

actually i have check with my professor, she suggested a binocular! but i really prefer a telescope instead. she also mention that newtonians are optically lousy and refractors have small aperture. thats why im looking for a reflector instead.

[tiingshii]

this might suit your needs,a nice scope and a good brand.

Explorer 150 PL (EQ3-2) With Free DVD | Telescopes | Rother Valley Optics

or if you can go the extra yard this would be better . with 77% more light gathering than the 150p it makes a great first scope.

Explorer 200P (EQ5) With Free DVD | Telescopes | Rother Valley Optics

Hi my professor said that newtonians are optically lousy, i don't really know what it means tho. in your view, are newtonians really optically lousy?

[tiingshii]

Starblast dobsonian is a table top telescope. Unless you have something to keep the scope on, You should consider getting a sturdy tripod. The alt-az dobsonian mount fits on the tripod I guess. Why dont you consider Skyliner 150P dobsonian? Adequate long focal length will relieve you of costly eyepieces, costly EPs would drastically increase your budget.

But if this is going to be your one and only scope, and if you wish AP at a later stage then starblast 6 can be mounted on EQ mount.

what does AP stand for?

omg! starblast 6 really can be mounted? where can i get the EQ mount from?

[tiingshii]

Guys, how about Celestron Nexstar 130? better than what i have mention above?

[John24]

AP= Astrophotography, which is a costly affair. Visit this site

Orion Telescopes & Binoculars - Telescope.com

This is orion's webpage they have live chat session where you can ask any sorts of questions about the scope, tripod etc. Skyscanner 100 can be mounted. You better ask about the 6" to orion. Also I think that the scope can be EQ mounted too, it has provisions for tube ring and all that.

[John24]

Nexstar 130 SLT is newtonian computerised. I would have dropped the electronics, it is fun to find the objects yourself. You then start learning about the sky. Celestron website doesnt mention about the mirror, it is better to have a parabolic mirror rather than spherical one. Get to see the scope in flesh, as I have heard celestron have lots of plastic parts. Have you considered any skywatcher scopes?? And a bit of advice dont be in the paradigm "The costlier the better", it is always " The bigger the better" but some where you need to draw the line.

One more thing XT8 doesnt need a tripod the scope itself is very long 1.2 m and with the dob mount you can easily see through the EP. XT8 would be very big though. See the scope for yourself or you can scale down the scope from the pictures from net. You have tube 1.2m then measure its size with a cm scale and bring out the ratio. After that you can get an approximation of how big the scope would be. If you intend to take the scope out for camping or vacations then a dob is of no use unless you have a car. And they get pretty heavy at 8" and after. The best scope is one that you use the most.

[E621Keith]

Your professor may be talking about research grade instruments. For amateur use, Newtonian optics are good enough. (btw, Dobsonian (starblast, XT8) is a sub category of Newtonain). She is right about binocular, generally it's best to learn your way around the sky with a pair of 10x50, before choosing a telescope.

Have you checked local dealers, it will be better to buy from a local dealer, so it will be easier to sort out if anything goes wrong.

You should join a local forum, which may report problems unique to your area. Such as Dobsonian mount chipboard warping in the hot and humid environment, EQ mount cannot be set low enough for your latitude etc...

SingAstro • Index page

If Singaporean dealers don't have the telescope you want, you should have a look at other Asia Pacific dealers. You will save money on shipping for a start.

[tiingshii]

Your professor may be talking about research grade instruments. For amateur use, Newtonian optics are good enough. (btw, Dobsonian (starblast, XT8) is a sub category of Newtonain). She is right about binocular, generally it's best to learn your way around the sky with a pair of 10x50, before choosing a telescope.

Have you checked local dealers, it will be better to buy from a local dealer, so it will be easier to sort out if anything goes wrong.

You should join a local forum, which may report problems unique to your area. Such as Dobsonian mount chipboard warping in the hot and humid environment, EQ mount cannot be set low enough for your latitude etc...

SingAstro • Index page

If Singaporean dealers don't have the telescope you want, you should have a look at other Asia Pacific dealers. You will save money on shipping for a start.

i did check out the local dealers, but its way expensive. For xt6 its selling at SGD700

[ollypenrice]

You professor is wrong in saying that Newtonians are opically lousy if the context is buying a small amateur scope for visual use. They are optically excellent in so far as they go. The big professional telescopes built on huge budgets have optics giving a sharp stellar image right across the detector, without field curvature. This is hard to acheive and expensive. It is also quite unnecessary in an amateur telescope used for visual observation. In visual observing you centre tthe object and look at it. Field curvature is not that important nor is it all that visible even in a budget modern Newt.

If you want the best image from your small budget in terms of colour correction, sharpness and brightness then it has to a be a Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount. This is absolutely beyond doubt.

In a lecture on what optics to put in the Hubble then, yes, it is fair enough to say that Newts are optically lousy...

Olly

[E621Keith]

i did check out the local dealers, but its way expensive. For xt6 its selling at SGD700

Have you added the shipping cost for shipping the XT6 from USA and import tax and GST at the local custom? Often it increase the price significantly.

When we buy from USA, we get charged VAT and import duties when the goods enter UK. This increase the price of the goods by approximately 25%, and that's before we added the shipping cost. The shipping cost for a telescope sized object can be very expensive. Orion's free shipping only applies to the US mainland.

$700SGD(£350) for a XT6 does sounds very expensive. Have you looked at other brands such as Skywatcher Skyliner and Meade Lightbridge.

I don't know about Singapore, but Meade's dealer in Hong Kong sells scopes and accessories at roughly the same prices as the US.

[Krys]

Have you been touch with TASOS (Singapore Astro. Soc.)? I'd certainlly make them your first port of call for reccomendations. I'm not in SG at the moment so really can't advise on local dealers, and I'm still a newbie myself, but there's a few things I'd warn of based on my limited experience. You might well find someone there who is selling off a complete setup used, which would save no small amount of money and might also net you some accessories and EPs into the mix.

* A decent mount is as important as the scope itself - indeed for me, I found it moreso. The best optics are nothing if all you get is vibration blur

* Think about where you will be observing. To get a decent horizon for planetary observing you really need a park. To do any kind of DSO work whatsoever in Singapore, you need to get offshore to the Southern Islands, or Johor. If you don't have a car, then you portability and ruggedness will ultimately wind up meaning more than perfect optics. In this case, Mak will be a better bet than a reflector, something like the SkyMax-127 or SkyMax-150 (the latter is a bit over budget new, but should be affordable 2nd hand, and you'd save on shipping over a reflector if getting from overseas). Don't disregarded refractors either, they don't need collimation and are very, very tough and have good contrast (useful for handling light pollution). Something like the Startravel-120 could be good. If you do have a car or live in a landed property, then a reflector is worth a shot, and the 150P is pretty much the standard starters gear for those lucky people with gardens

* If DSOs really are your thing, and your budget/time is limited then hold back money for a tent and basic camping gear so you can do the Pulau Semakau trips with TASOS or camp on the Sisters Islands yourself to get in some extra observing time.

* Save up for some decent eye pieces, those included on entry level scopes usually aren't that great, and often people thing the scope is weak and upgrade unnecessarily. You can't really go wrong with TAL plossls. A set of them and a barlow, and you are sorted for life

* Get a light pollution filter!!!!!

Good luck!

[Krys]

Edit to the above - Re: the StarTravel, I meant 102 not 120. The 102 is smaller but has less issues with chromatic aberration. The 120 has better aperture, but is reportedly pretty awful when it comes to CA, making the 102 better overall. Aperature does matter, but it's not the only measure of a decent scope, particularly when dealing with less than perfect skies.