Starter telescope

[Stargazing Family]

Hi all

Myself and my family are new to this, my 8 year old daughter loves to look at planets in books etc and wants to see them through a telescope but would also love to take pictures, I have no idea of prices or quality and would like some advice as to what would be a good option please, we do have a budget but obviously want to get good value for money too. Thanks in advance for any help with this, Michelle

[Mr Spock]

If you let us know how much you want to spend there are plenty of options we can recommend.

[rowan46]

planetary imaging is probably the least difficult way of imaging just hook up a cheap webcam to a scope and a laptop and play with a few buttons give us an idea of budget and we'll suggest a scope to do the job

[Capricorn]

Without details here goes:

If the family want to look then you will need a scope on a mount that is capable of tracking. Simply so that whatever you point it at stays in view longer.

For pictures you need a mount that tracks. For decent astrophotography you need a good mount that trackes very well (=MONEY).

For the simpler webcam images, planets, a mount that is decent will do. (within reason)

As a general scope a 150PL on an driven mount should about fit the bill. A 150PL on an EQ3-2 is £285 (FLO). Not driven however so add £100 to that for the motors. I would have prefered to see it on an EQ5, but that option isn't offered. The EQ3-2 is a bit light and not as stable. (<- pictures need a stable mount)

So you are looking at the £400 area. There will be the need for extra items, say a collimator and a couple of additional/better eyepieces so £100-120 for them.

[Stargazing Family]

Hi and thanks for the information so far, we have a budget of about £250 to £300, is there a scope we can buy as a basic starter that can be up graded as more money is available, ie add motor drive, cam mounts etc

thanks again for your advice

Michelle

[jfox61]

planetary imaging is probably the least difficult way of imaging just hook up a cheap webcam to a scope and a laptop and play with a few buttons give us an idea of budget and we'll suggest a scope to do the job

This..... Also consider that there's a lot of free software out there to help you too. You will need some sort of photoshop type program, again lots of freebies if you don't already have one. Converted webcams for AP are about £80-£100 now.

Finally consider a smallish scope to start with, something like a Skywatcher ST80. Small enough to carry around, and powerful enough to view most objects in the sky. Later, as and when you decide to expand, it will make a perfect guiding scope so will be dual purpose. They're less than £100 if you shope around.

You won't need to spend a fortune on an expensive mount to start with either as they are light and won't physically tax a cheapish mount like an eq3-2. All that should cost you less than £300.