My first scope advice (yeah, another one)

[neo2810]

Right, so I've finally given into my long desire to own a telescope and started planning for a purchase next month most likely.

Now, although I have a fair bit of disposable income, the wife has slightly different views on where our cash should go so I've set myself a budget of around £500 (give or take a few £100 ). With that in mind, I'll try and explain what I hope to get out of this to help.

First of all, this scope will only point up. I have no interest in using it for terrestrial viewing.

Secondly, I will want to use it for astrophotography, but probably not initially. I realise that as a complete newby, I'll have a steep learning curve before I'm proficient enough to tackle that. So basically, a motorised mount is not a requirement now, but the mount must be able to retrofit one.

I think I've decided that for a beginner, a newt reflector would be the best option but I'll be guided by you lot.

I also think I'd rather tackle the challenge of finding targets myself, rather than pressing a button and letting the scope swing to it without any intervention.

So, down to business....

Initially I looked at a nice cheap Celestron 130EQ-M with a few high quality EP's and filters. Then I looked at another Celestron 150 SLT I think it was before finally settling on my latest choice of the Skywatcher Explorer 200P/1000 EQ5. This scope appears to tick all the boxes and with the 10mm, 25mm and 2x Barlow included, I think I'd only need to buy a high powered EP like 7.5mm to give me a good range to start with.

However, I'm well open to your expert guidance and would even consider spending another £100-200 more if the gains would be exponential?

[Mr Spock]

The 200/EQ5 is an excellent choice. Going above that would need a larger, more expensive, mount.

You might want to budget for some decent eyepieces though as the ones supplied are 'adequate' rather than good.

[rowan46]

If astrophotography is your goal the mount is your primary concern then you will have to build your kit around it. It's possible to get pics from an eq5, I have seen some ok images here from people who have used them but it's not an ideal mount for photography. save your money for now get the 200p dob.

then get the heq5 aty a later date instead of motors for an eq5

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

the eq5 and 200p and motors costs

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5

First Light Optics - SynScan PRO GOTO Version 3 Upgrade Kit for EQ5

total cost about £700

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

total cost about £1050 I know the second package looks the more expensive way to go but it will give better results for photography in the long run. As you are in no hurry to get to the photographic stage it will give you time to save for the proper thing rather than making do. So as I suggested jut get the dob for now and the heq5 when you are ready to start astrophotography

[jonathan]

With astronomy kit you can upgrade parts as you see fit or funds allow, so I would say purchase a decent scope for now and worry about the mount later - for astrophotography you will want the beefiest mount you can afford, probably an NEQ6 is going to be the preferred option but this weighs in at just over £800 for the non-goto SynTrek version. A newtonian on a dobsonian mount may be the cheaper visual option for now, you should be able to fit the newtonian onto an EQ mount later.

Many astrophotographers use large refractors, which may be beyond your budget for now but as you upgrade your kit you may find yourself buying one to go on your large EQ mount.

You should soon learn that scopes become quite specialised, what's good for viewing planets is not so good for viewing DSO (deep space objects), good for astrophotography may not be so great for visual use, etc.

A good scope on a good mount can be used for visual and astrophotography for sure, but there's always a better (usually more expensive) scope available!

My first scope was the Nexstar 8SE, the scope itself is great and I now use it on an NEQ6 SynTrek, a very stable mount. A problem for visual observing is vibration in the mount, the original mount that came with the 8SE was not very stable, this coupled with frustrations with Goto setup soon left me wanting a better mount. I don't really miss the Goto.

[neo2810]

Thanks for the suggestions chaps. I think it looks like I'm setting on the Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 with good quality 12mm and 8mm lenses to compliment the decent 25mm and 2x Barlow it comes with (I've been told the 10mm supplied is mediocre). I'll get a moon filter as well but that should start me off nicely until the photography bug starts prodding, and then I can buy a new mount for it.

[JamesM]

Looks like you've made a good choice there Neo. Astrophotography and observing are slightly different disciplines that require different considerations when it comes to scopes. Rather than rattle out a load of guidelines etc may I recommend that you take a look at Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count"(First Light Optics £19.95). It's a modestly priced book that is very well written and it will provide you with a comprehensive overview of what kit you need and more importantly why you need it to take good consistent images that will make the whole exercise worthwhile. Imaging doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive but it is important to buy kit that is up to the job and so this book will help you formulate a realistic budget. We don't want your first image of a black hole being the one in your wallet!:D

Clear skies for now,

James