Help required for first time telescope

[callummiller]

Hi all.

I am relatively new to all this and wanting to purchase a decent ish telescope for myself and the kids to see things in space, I have been looking through ebay and different forums to get an idea and I'm getting a bit lost.

I have seen one here EXPLORER-130M 130mm (5.1") f/900 MOTORISED Newtonian | eBay and need to know is this a good one, what would I expect to be able to see as some people have said you'd be lucky to see the moon with it, which I find hard to believe, what could I see further afield? and would it be in any details like Saturns rings or anything.

Money wise I was going for around £100 but this one caught my eye as it looked good and thought the cost was ok, I would say £160 ish being the max I'd go to but think spending £100 may just be wasting money. We don't have a lot of spare cash but would like to be able to at least see something out there......

Any help or advice would be gratefully taken on board, cheers in advance,

Regards Callum

[Beyond_Vision]

It would avoid using Ebay as a lot of the cheaper scopes on there are of questionable quality. I would look at something like from the Skywatcher range or Celestron

Here's a link to some of the Skywatcher scopes

First Light Optics - Reflectors

Regards

Kevin

[callummiller]

Many thanks Kevin, just a lot confusing isn't it?

What would be the recommended at around £100 to £150 mark and what would we be able to see, if anything, I know a lot depends on where we are, town lighting etc, but wouldn't want to be spending that just to see a little bit if you know what I mean.

I would gladly sit for hours in garden, but kids would be bored at just seeing another shiny thing like the last one, not sure if I've explained that right lol.

Just so much conflicting info on net, this is the first site I've come accross that appears to have better or should I say correct information on it.

Thanks in advance, regards Callum

[Stargazer Jack]

Just so you know, you can get a brand new one for cheaper than the one on eBay! Avoid eBay like BeyondVision said

[nightfisher]

have a look at the 150mm dobsonion on FLO`s website good for you and the kids to look through

[Super'dooper'man]

Hi. I recently purchased a Skywatcher 114 scope from a reputable on-line telescope company. It cost me £120 including postage. I have seen the gas bands on jupiter, and the rings on Saturn. I am no expert at all, but i am very impressed with this scope (although i haven't really got anything to compare it with). A lot of people on this forum are very updated and knowledgeable about all aspects of this hobby, so it might worth spending time reading through all the statements and advice given to get a better understanding..

Lloyd.

[rowan46]

It's an ok scope You can get the same one from flo cheaper. Click the logo at the top to take you there. As to what you will see. you will not see anything like the images you see on the telly and the web you will see the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the Moon and lots of sparkly things. The only colour you will see other than the planets is on stars. You will not see galaxies and things in any detail unless you have a very big scope so if you are expecting to see anything like the pics you see on the box or the web, prepare to be underwhelmed. What you will see is objects from so far away that the very light from it started before man walked the earth. looking at the sky is like looking through a time machine the deeper you look the further back in time you go.

[callummiller]

So looking through FLO site, this model appears to be good, not expecting to see anything or everything in massive detail, but as most on here probably start small then go large lol. I don't mind spending £200 to see something in detail as it will just push me to get a larger one at a later date, can always recover some costs selling this second hand.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-supatrak-auto.html

or

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

Next stupid question, is a seperate stand required for this thing as it looks huge, or is it just the picture makes it look like that? I was looking at a few in local shop at weekend and obviously stability needs to be an important factor, I have dabbled in photography for years and no good if the thing wobbles all over the place. Just needing the full overall cost, not £200 for scope, plus £50 for this and £50 for that. This will basically be a starter kit as been curious for yrs, and as many laughing and reading this can see me spending a lot once your hooked lol, as you have probably done the same as I am about to in the past.

Thanks again in advance as your all being so helpful, Callum

[Beyond_Vision]

A dobsonian scope will not be suitable for photography as it does not track the sky. It's real advantage is it's aperture for a relatively low price. This will give it a good light gathering capability for deep space objects.

If you want a mount that tracks the sky then a motorised mount is needed. The mount will then become a significant part of the cost and the optics may then be smaller for the price your are looking at. The next step up in price would be a goto mount. These would be just over the £200 mark.

You will also need to budget for a collimation tool if you choose a newtonian scope.

First Light Optics - Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece

[callummiller]

There are quite a few sites saying this one is a good alrounder for starters

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 130M

Sorry for all the questions, and will be going through this site over next week or two, as I have been tonight, a wealth of infermation on here, been looking at the pics and stuff and amazed at some but not expecting half of them with anything I will be starting with. I would try some pics and not sure if you can attached USB or anything to telescopes, hense the good read through of stuff. I have a decent ish camera Canon Powershot SX10is which I have a tripod for and have actually had some good moon shots with as it is, but would love to try with a scope.

I've been searching around for weeks before registering to the site really as didn't want to come on without a clue at all and sound like a complete noob, but realise I am lol.

Ordered a few books and bits, but local shops here will basically sell you anything they want to make cash so not bothered about ordering online and the FLO site looks really good with good reviews to what I'm after.

Just reading up on the motorised scopes and do not mind paying that bit extra to get a better all round view, I suppose money could be blown way out if you allow it, we have the Wynyard Planetarium and Observatory a couple of miles away and venturing up there at their next meet.

Been on this site for about 4 hours now and learnt loads, now just need to get stuff ordered and sorted when I figure out what I need!

[Pikey]

Hi all. I've purchased the skyliner 200 but want a better mount (tripod). I'm pretty new to all this and could really do with some help. I've googled to death but nothing really tells you what will and won't fit for my scope?