New (To Me) Telescope Advice

[kornfeld]

Hi all,

I'm very new to astronomy, and was looking at picking up a used telescope and mount to do some basic observing and maybe take some pictures of the Moon and the planets.

I've been to multiple local star parties, so I feel like I've got reasonable expectations on what I'll see through a variety of telescopes, but I've never actually assembled or aligned anything, so that will be new to me.

After reading a bunch for the last few months, I think I found a pretty good deal near me. It's for this set up:

http://www.telescope.com/Telescopes/Refractor-Telescopes/Refractor-Telescopes-with-GoTo-Mounts/Orion-SkyView-Pro-EON-80mm-ED-GoTo-Apo-Refractor/pc/1/c/10/sc/336/p/101878.uts

And it's being sold for $700, which seems like a great deal.

I like that it's an equatorial mount for taking pictures, I like that it isn't too huge, and I like that it has the GoTo function. I like that the OTA weighs 6.5 lbs and that the mount is rated for 20 lbs, because I've read that that will help it to track more accurately for exposures around a minute or two. I like that it has a wide field of view, but I'm don't know if this will be an issue for planetary photography or not.

I don't like that the aperture is so small, but based on what I've read, that's more an issue for visual stuff as opposed to taking pictures, so I think I could get another scope for visual stuff that is slightly larger, and use this one for pictures.

So: knowing that I'm new and want to do a mix of photography and visual and knowing that this assembly is priced where it's priced, what do you all think about this purchase? Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

[Cornelius Varley]

For visual use and DSO imaging the telescope would be a good choice, but if you intend to image the planets and the moon probably not so good. The telescope has a short focal length (500mm) which will may imaging of the planets and the moon, where longer focal lengths are required, difficult. For a similar price you could get a Nexstar 6SE or an Orion Starmax 127 Equatorial cassegrain telescope.

Peter

[kornfeld]

Thanks for the advice. At this price point, is it worth it to go ahead and buy it for the mount and tripod, and potentially swap the tube out for a different one? I feel like the deal on the mount and tripod is worth it, particularly if I can sell the tube for a couple hundred dollars to make back some of the initial cost.

[Marki]

This looks the same as the Skywatcher Equinox 80mm Apo PRO. Nice scope, very nice build quality, nice smooth rotatable focusser. With a focal reducer good for widefield imaging, I think. Aperture is too limited for good visual on planets for me, but the views a clear, sharp and with good colour. These cost well over £500 now for OTA alone in the UK - something like 800$ US,and the mount looks similar to an EQ5 Pro Synscan (another £500+, or near another 800$ US) so the deal you're thinking of looks good.

The mount will be good for considerably larger tubes, for visual use at least (takes my 100mm refractors with no issues - even put my nexstar 8SE tube on it once for fun). Many imagers seem to recommend a set up that is half of the mount's rated carrying capacity, so you're looking at no more than c. 10lbs with tube, camera, eps, barlow, guidescope (if you use one) or whatever your rig will be etc. (not an imager myself - just like to play with a dlsr from time to time ).

I often use the 80mm with a lighter mount/phototripod for an easy grab and go set-up if I'm going a way for a few days.

Good luck with you selection, whatever decision you make!

[sologuitarist61]

Looks like a good deal to me. As has already been said the items are similar to others out there that cost more. If after you have used it for a while and want to upgrade, the mount looks man enough to take a much bigger scope.