New guy and his scope

[Olek110]

Hi guys

A family member recently gave me a Skywatcher 130p with an eq2 mount for my birthday. Based on what I've been told and what I have seen this is a great scope for a newbie. I am slowly getting the hang of the basics, for some reason the trickiest part seems to be setting up the mount but I am getting there. Some of the first views of the sky through this scope have been breathtaking.

The scope came with a 10mm and a 25mm wide relief eye piece. I have acquired some other eyepieces just to open my options up and I was wondering what suggestions people have for other newbie kit, I've heard a Barlow lense is a must have.

Any opinions or recommendations would be very much appreciated.

[rowan46]

:I don't know that a barlow is a "must have" I never use mine because it is not very good (is there a shorter way of writing that ) the one "must have" for a reflector is a collimatng tool

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/collimation/cheshire-collimating-eyepiece.html

[todd8137]

Hi the and welcome along, stellarium is some great free software down load it,it's free a couple of good star chat books ,Phillips books are great to start of with ,have a look on amazon for them may be a 32mm eye piece, a moon filter is always handy there's a few am sure others will have there input a Barlow is not a must,best thing I say is enjoy your new scope for a few months,get to now it and where to look .and then go for all the things you want ,nothing worse than try in.to learn 10 things at once

Cheers pat

[DazC]

+1 here for a barlow. Gives you effectively twice as many ep's.

D.C

[Ganymede12]

I've noticed that my first scope is tiny compared to other scopes. In fact the scope I hope to upgrade to (SKYLINER 200P) has been bought as a starter scope.

But I must agree, a Barlow lens is a must have.

[tjr]

The only 'must have' is plenty of enthusiasm and observing time under your belt to get the most from your scope. But a decent starmap/ app to help direct you would be my recommendation. 'Turn Left at Orion' is a very good book for this.

I personally would go for 4-5 well selected eyepieces over a barlow, but that's just me... some people swear by them. The 'eyepieces: the very least you need' sticky is a very good read if you want to start a decent collection.

Great scope first scope you have there though.

[Olek110]

Thanks guys this is all really useful stuff. People Are recommending software as well but as a Linux user I think im limited to kstars which isn't a problem so far as I've done a great job of keeping me orientated.

[NGC 1502]

Don't forget warm clothes (lots of layers) even at this time of year .

Regards, Ed.

[jonathan]

Is Stellarium not available for linux?

I can second Turn Left At Orion, I hear there's a new edition out. It's a beginner or casual observers book for sure, but to be honest when I tried going to a more advanced book I just got lost and confused, couldn't really understand the charts or descriptions. I certainly had a lot more fun with Turn Left At Orion.

A good moon filter will help you a lot when observing Jupiter and the Moon, you should get one suitable for your 130P as not all Moon filters are made equal.

If you do get a barlow make sure it's a good one - higher quality becomes more critical when you increase magnification. You need as high a light transmission as possible because things become dimmer the more you magnify.

[Islander]

I run Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel on Linux (Ubuntu) both are available for this platform and both are free

Treat yourself to a red light torch

[Qualia]

The only 'must have' is plenty of enthusiasm and observing time under your belt to get the most from your scope. But a decent starmap/ app to help direct you would be my recommendation. 'Turn Left at Orion' is a very good book for this.

I personally would go for 4-5 well selected eyepieces over a barlow, but that's just me... some people swear by them. The 'eyepieces: the very least you need' sticky is a very good read if you want to start a decent collection.

Great scope first scope you have there though.

I second everything said by the other fellas here but I've picked out tjr because he's basically summed my own thoughts.

When out, I've also found that a pirate's eyepatch is useful (picked mine up in a toy shop), so I don't have to be squinting and tiring my eye.

A red light (I use my bike's) is handy to read the maps or print outs without messing up your night vision.

I also like my light weight blanket (given free on the trains here) which I can drape over my head to not only keep me warm but also to block out any annoying lights I glimpse in the city.

And finally, I've found my ipod handy to sometimes get me into the right chilling mood, cosmic space music does wonders.

[JamesM]

Some great and relevant advice above for you Olek. The latest edition of Turn left at Orion to look out for is spiral bound version whilst the earlier edition was in hardback - wouldn't want you to buy the wrong one as they are not cheap. Although it is assumed that a red light is better ti use, it is more useful if it a dim red light, a lot or red torches are still too bright and hinder night vision. If you want a brand of barlow that is modestly priced and is a good performer, I would suggest taking a look at the x2 TAL (£35) if you can find one as I know they are popular although FLO are expecting a shipment in soon.

James