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very, very new to this

lesbelcher

By lesbelcher
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lesbelcher

lesbelcher

Posted
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hi all, :D

decided im fed up of looking into the night sky and seeing the same old thing. so now i am hunting hi and lo for a telescope to give me something that would give me a glimps of whats beyond!!

it'll be my first telescope so if anybody has any ideas PM me and it will hopefully make up my mind. :):);)

Les..

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kenmyers

kenmyers

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a great starter scope would be the heritage 130p. Just got one myself for the missus and it is excellent and folds away quite small. you need a table or platform to rest it on but that aside, it is great.

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Keiran

Keiran

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I think it depends on your budget... I love Goto scope, they make things soooo easy, but you do get more for your money when you buy a DOB (Dobsonian)

A very good starter Goto Scope... £290

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html

But for the same price you get an 8"/200mm dobsonian (size is of the big mirror).... £285

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

It may help if you tell us your budget and what you want to do with it. It may also help if you take a look through the :

Beginner Help and Advice Section (alot of people have asked the same question)

Aslo check out the :

Members Equipment Review Section (this is where members post their experiences with their equipment)

I hope that helps

Keiran

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JamesF

JamesF

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Welcome to SGL.

Some idea of what sort of budget you have might help as well as knowing whether you're particularly interested in planetary/lunar observing or galaxies and nebulae or both.

James

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lesbelcher

lesbelcher

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Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.

Was talking to FLO yesterday and I was looking at the skywatcher 130p supatrak. Thaught the budget would stretch to one of those, just incase it ended up in the loft.

Then maybe it won't and I would move onto bigger and better things.

Orion nebula and planets have interested me, and maybe get a webcam and record some of the sites...

Sent from my Sensation using Tapatalk

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kenmyers

kenmyers

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the skywatcher 130p supatrak is on a alt-azimuth mount.

If you are wanting to do astro photography of any kind you do not want that mount as it will rotate the field of view while guiding.

Alt-azimuth trackers are great for visually observing but an eq mount is what you probably want. With a motor drive and good polar alignment an eq mount will keep your subject perfectly aligned in your field of view without rotation.

The scope you are looking at is good but if you are going for that size I would get the heritage 130p. Same light collecting ability for MUCH cheaper, although this is on a dobsonian mount... so no tracking at all, you move it yourself.

Just found this:

Skywatcher Explorer 130M (10713)

ttp://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-skywatcher-explorer-130m-10713-.htm

only £179, its an f/6.92 so will show you EVERYTHING and has a motor drive so once you point it at your target, start the motor, and you will not loose it.

also found this http://www.f1telescopes.co.uk/shop.php?id=2309&level but the spider is rather large and it is an f/5 so not perfect for planets but good for DSO's.

I may get myself the skywatcher. AWESOME DEAL!

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JamesF

JamesF

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The Skywatcher 130M *may* still have a spherical mirror, which you do not really want. It would be sensible to check which you're getting first. And FLO are still cheaper, I believe :)

FWIW, you can do planetary imaging with a tracking alt-az mount because there is software that will "unrotate" the images. It is more hassle though. However, even with an EQ mount for deep sky imaging you still really need guiding as well as tracking. Unguided really limits your sub length. An EQ2 such as the 130M is on is really not suitable whichever way you look at it.

James

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Les and welcome to the forum. Before deciding on a budget and buying any kit, I would advise going along to your local astro society or observing group to attending a couple of observation evenings. All the technical details and specifications won't mean a thing to you unless you are able to develop some experience from which to hang all these numbers from. The observation evenings will also get you up close to some of this kit (can be bigger than you think) so you can also make decisions about storage, portability if you need to travel to a dark site and with regards to reflecting scopes, cool down times.

Only you can decide on what you wish to do, be it observing solar system (planets & moon) or deep sky objects (DSO's) such as galaxies and nebulae. No one design of scope can provide the best results on every subject and explains why people have a number of different scopes. Perhaps imaging is your main goal and if so, will require a different set of priorities in scope/mount selection if you want good consistent results. At the end of the day, only you can decide on what type and size of scope will best meet your expectations and more importantly, budget.

Clear skies

James

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Andy_E

Andy_E

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Hi!

depends on budget. there are some surprisingly good scopes in the sub/around £200 area... my money would be on the SW skyliner 150p dobsonian. however, if imaging is something you might be interested in, then an EQ mound is essential.

I couldn't agree more with Nick... try meeting up with a local group. most people will be more than happy to dish out advice, and you will get to see the varying telescope designs in action, as opposed to in a shop window.

A good pair of binoculars can also go a long way! plus, they don't have the storage issues of a telescope... or their price-tag.

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