Direction needed in purchasing the right scope.

[Whistlebare]

Hi everyone, I've just joined the forum and was hoping to gain some insight into the type of telescope I should purchase.

I'll start by introducing myself and giving you some info on my astronomy knowledge (or lack of). I live in Closeburn, Dumfries Scotland and enjoy lovely dark skies with no street lamps to pollute my views. I had a 6" Newtonian telescope on a equatorial mount (cheap generic model) with a 25mm possl and a 6mm possl. I found this scope adequate for looking at the lunar surface and I could make out a small pea size shape of Jupiter and if I was lucky one or two moons of Jupiter, the focus on this scope was terrible also. I was somewhat underwhelmed by this experience and very rarely used my telescope after this.

Lately my passions for looking at the stars have been re-ignited, so I sold my old telescope on eBay and started looking for a new one which would do the job.

As a beginner I know some would say start off small and build up, but I tried that and I was not impressed. So I am now looking at bigger more powerful scopes.

What I would like to achieve with a new scope varies from looking at the moon and planets to deep space astrophotography and long exposure photography using my canon DSLR 300d and a philips 900 ccd webcam.

I liked the look of the celestron goto type scopes such as the prodigy series and also the nexstar 5, 6, 8 SE series but I hear mixed reviews on these scopes for attaching DSLR cameras to for long exposures due to the single arm fork mount also that the nexstar has a wedge but the other larger models do not. People seem to recommend the celestron cpc 800 model for long exposure times and it seems to tick the boxes of the things I would eventually like to achieve, however I would still need to purchase a wedge (£300 plus) a set of lenses and filters and all the other little gadgets which eventually I might want to buy.

I was looking at a budget of £1000 - £1500 but for that I wanted to have all the gear I would need.

So really in a nutshell guys, should I go for a nexstar 5 and use all the spare cash to get cases, lenses, heaters etc or splash out on something like a cpc 800? I know there are other brands out there like Meade, so I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks again guys.

[DOBBY]

Hi.. & welcome to the forum..

You need to start with an EQ (Equatorial) mount with tracking...as sturdy a mount as you can afford...an HEQ5 Pro is probably a good starting point...

A 200p newt on it will do you for visual & nice wide A/P...a guide 'scope can also be added if req'd.

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 200P HEQ5 PRO

[Charon]

Welcome to the forum. As for a telescope I agree with Dobby, the 200 is very popular.

[Whistlebare]

Thanks Dobby, I've had a wee look at the scope you suggested. Is it the same as this:

Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 Synscan | eBay

I was not thinking of getting a newtonian as I did not enjoy my last experience with one, but i guess that had to do with the cheapness of it i.e poor lens and build quality.

I really appreciate your help and i will look into this scope in more detail...Standby for more questions!!

[Demo johnny]

Skywatcher NEQ6 PRO Synscan £927

Skywatcher Quattro f4 Imaging Newtonian

Aperture: 250mm (10-inch), Tube Material: Steel £519 Carbon fibre £800

2 EP's Barlow and T ring for your camera £120

Don't think you would upgrade from this setup.

I went entry level in January with a 150p on Eq3-2 have added collimating tool couple of eyepieces so in to it for about £400 just to make sure i am interested enough before i look at going to your level of investment. Still have a long way to go before I look at upgrading from here as its a learning curve. Have hooked up a d700 to the scope and have nice lunar shots might add motors for some long exposures and then see where I am at. In the meantime this is the setup that I would probably aspire to.

[Tribal-Wolf]

I want that set up but alas I would not sell my bike to fund it lol

[cotterless45]

Best advice is paddle around in the shallow end with a pair of binoculars or a small scope such as a Heritage 130p.I've met several folk at star parties with all singing scopes who couldn't find anything by eye.

It sounds appealing, just go out and observe, but it's not everyone's cup of tea. A few crystal clear all nighters ending in frost doesn't appeal to normal folk! Nice.

If that appeals, it's time for the deep end. nicer.

[SniffTheGlove]

If you want to do AP then go with what Demo Johnny said, you should get decent subs, for good long exposure then chuck on an ST80 (£90) and a QHY5 Guide cam (£179) then you will have very good guiding ideal for long exposure like you stated.

Basiclly, you are looking at spending just under £1600, a bit more if you want to do Mono imaging work through LRGB filters to get better details especially out of nebs in Ha

If that is to much cash then you won't be doing much DSO imaging and will limit yourself to planetary imaging on a webcam but if you do want to do AP then an HEQ5 at least is what you need but if you can go for the NEQ6 Pro. AP is mostly down to the mount then the OTA/Cam next. Without a decent mount then you will not be doing much DSO at long exposure times.

I am currently looking to move off my 10in Dob specially to do AP and it is not cheap I can tell you. I am currently looking at £1600 for single shot colour on a 350D with the 8S Quattro on an NEQ6 with the ST80/QHY5 guiding. If I can push the boat out a bit more then add another £500 for Filterwheel, LRGB HA Filters etc plus a DMK 21AU618.AS Mono for £385

[Mansnake]

If you have a look at the deep sky imaging section of the forum you can get a rough idea of what you can expect to achieve with certain setups people have.

Ive seen some awesome DSO images which were taken with a SW150P on an EQ3-2 mount unguided. So you dont have to spend loads of money......to start with

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-deep-sky/176207-2011-dso-imaging-showcase.html

[Whistlebare]

Wow thanks for the info....I understood about 1/3 of it lol! I am a novice but I do want to achieve good AP shots. I do not want to go down the route of buying cheaper kit only to have to upgrade 6months down the line. I am currently selling all manor of stuff on ebay to put towards a good setup. So once i'm done i'll be back asking more questions.

Thanks again