New Scope

[keeplookingup]

Hi

I had posted about a year ago on this and here i go again.

since I am still "new" and don't have a scope. I have relied on my bincoculars for years However I would like to do more.

see more, and hopefully get into some imaging later.

for a first time scope which is best?

my budget is probably about $750-$1000

i keep reading about scopes but get conflicting results.

which company is most reliable and has good serives?

thanks

[Arushin]

Hello and hope someone will jump in with some good recommendations for you!

I would start by deciding where your main interest is. There is no one scope that will be outstanding on both deep sky objects and solar system. I know that a lot of people on here will point you towards a Dobsonian and as you are someone looking for a first scope I would tend to agree.

This type of scope is well within your budget, will give you fair all round performance and is is extremely easy to use. $750- $1000 equates to around £470 - £640 so will get you a good size aperture. I know that you mention getting into imaging but be warned.... a half decent imaging setup will probably require another '0' added to your budget (at the painful end). That said, you can image planets with a webcam using a Dob but it's a little tricky unless the Dob mount will track objects. Imaging DSO's is all about long exposures and this is why a good equatorial mount is the most important piece of the setup. Don't be put off! My advice would be to go for a Dob with the largest aperture you can afford and work your way up from there. I know of a lot of people with very high end imaging kit who also have a large Dob in their collection for pure visual.

Also look at the 2nd hand market because astronomers tend to look after their equipment so you are sure to find some bargains. You can expect to pay around 2/3rds retail value for second hand kit in mint condition so this option would extend your budget further. Don't forget the extras like some eyepieces and possibly a collimator of some description.

With regards to make.. Meade, Celestron and Skywatcher. You can't go far wrong with these. Of course there are others, but steer clear of cheap or unbranded kit.

I hope that helps a bit.

Good hunting

[nmoushon]

First you should decide if you want one fore visual use or for imaging. The best ones for visual are usually the worst for imaging and vice versa. The same goes for the mounts they use. Not to say you can't image with a visual scope its just not the best.

If you go for visual only I would go with what Arushin said and get a descent sized Dob. With your budget you'd get a pretty nice one too. But for warned they are pretty much useless when it comes to imaging. You could also look into a good sized Achro refractor. With this type you would be getting good visuals from it and they have potential for some limited imaging (Depending on the mount). I don't know too much about the details of whats better than what when it comes to visual scopes so hopefully someone will pipe in and give you more detail on that.

If you want to go for imaging then I'm afraid you might have to bump up your budget a bit. You most definately could get a setup that can image with your budget but it will be very limited and if you realy start getting into it then you'll have to sell your equipment for better equipment and in the end it will cost you more. But you can save a TON of money if you buy second hand. And you usually can get great deals for good equipment. I have pretty much the minimum equpment required in order to produce what is considered good images. (equipment in my sig) I got the mount and scope for about $1500. The camera I got as a present so not sure exactly how much my 450D cost but you can get a good canon for I think $200-300 (body only). If I had bought everything new it would have cost me well over $3000.

Thats my 2cents anyways. Hope it helps.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Dobs as has been said will give you the most aperture for your money, as has been pointed out. Dobs are bulky, and I chose my Celestron C8 SCT for its compact size. The equatorial mount (without goto, that was too expensive in those days) allows planetary photography, and by putting a small refractor on it later, I can in principle do astrophotography. The big advantage is that I can put it into the back of even the smallest car and drive to a dark location. A similar setup to mine, but with goto costs $1216 in the states (but with extra EPs the price would go up further). The C6 on the same advanced series mount costs $1099. A 6" Newtonian (C6-NGT) on the same mount costs $799, and is optically at least as capable as the SCT, but in a bulkier package. Skywatcher has a range of similar scopes at very competitive prices.

As others have said, until we know what you want to see, and whether you can observe from your back yard, it is hard to say what is best.

[sgazer]

as said, imaging and visual have conflicting requirements eg. 250mm dob for visual and 80mm apo or fast f4-5 newt on a HEQ5 for imaging. The biggest setup I was happy to carry and setup was a 150pds on a HEQ5 with a guide scope. 150mm is probably the minimum you'd want for visual DSO's (bit small really), but anything bigger becomes more difficult, demanding and expensive for imaging.

For visual, aperture rules (simple dob mount is fine if your happy to find stuff and track manually)

For imaging, fast focal ratio and decent EQ mount rules (150mm f5 scope will be just as bright as a 250mm f5 scope, just a different FOV, but the 250mm will need an EQ6 and will be difficult to set up and will need better tracking due to its longer focal length. Also remember a f7 scope will need twice the exposure of a f5 scope).

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

A 6" scope will show a lot of DSOs nicely. As a starter scope it is great.

[E621Keith]

I noticed your location is in Bejing China. Since SGL is mostly UK based, the equipment available to us may not be available to you, but more importantly the reverse is also true. For example you can get a custom 10" light weight truss newt like this for £400 in China, which you can't get for 5 times the price here.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=7271342075

However, what everyone said about scope types remains correct. The best visual instrument are often the worse for imaging and vice versa. I think it's best to stay visual and get a dob.

Dobsonian - Pros. Best for visual. Largest aperture for the least amount of money. Cons. Manual Alt-az almost useless for any type of imaging

SCT - Pros. Good compact scope, best aperture to size ratio, great for small apartments. Cons. Narrow field

MCT - Pros. Compact like SCT, smaller central obstruction can give better contrast on planets. Cons. Long cool down time, FOV even smaller than SCT.

EQ mounted Newt - Pros. Good price to aperture ratio - second to Dob. Good for general purpose instrument Cons. Bulky

Refractor - Pros. Sharp image Cons. Chromatic aberration. Expensive

Apo refractor - Pros. Best image quality for a given aperture. Great for imaging Cons. Very expensive, small aperture, dimmer views (compare to other scope that costs the same)

Mount

Dobsonian - Sub class of altaz. Good cheap mount. More money can be spent on optics

Alt-Az - easy to understand at first, quick to set up

GEM - Equatorial mount. Allow tracking of object during imaging. No field rotation

GOTO alt az - Will find and track objects for you automatically. Field rotation over a long period of time

Most people suggest a Dobsonian for first scope. A Skywatcher (Synta) 200p or 250p will be a good choice.

If you want to do a bit of planetary imaging, then a 150p on a EQ3-2 will work well.

If you want to have a computer to help you find an object and point the scope for you then a 127MCT on a Syntrek GOTO mount is worth considering, but you are trading optics with mechanics.

As for which company to buy from. You should find a dealer in you local area and also look for suggestion by visit local astronomical forum. Astronomical equipment isn't known for reliability and quality control and everyone here have some experience of having to send things back to their dealer. This is relatively easy if your dealer is in the same country, but can be very difficult if they are not.

I'm not familiar with the market in the Mainland, but several dealers in Hong Kong will ship to the mainland.

e.g. http://www.grandeye.com.hk/ and http://www1.astro.hk...logs/types/id/1

All astro forums in China uses Chinese as far as I know, so if you are a non-Chinese reader you may have difficulty understanding them. If that's the case you can try this forum in Hong Kong because most people there understand English.

http://www.hkastroforum.net/index.php