Newbie help for my first telescope

[westel]

Hi to all of you...i'm new to this forum,actually i'm new to astronomy as well

I've always wanted to look at the night sky and to the stars and planets but never had a chance to do it...now i have decided to buy a telescope a start with the astronomy little bit in my life...

So after many googling and watching videos and tutorials i have decided that my very first telescope to be:

Skywatcher Maksutov telescope MC 127/1500 BD AZ-S GoTo

Which i hope i will buy it next week

I hope it's a good choice

I have a few questions for you and i hope you will help me

1.This is motorized telescope with GoTo system...that's fine...but what if the motor breaks down or stops to work...can i still continue to work my telescope manually ??or if i don't wanna to use the motor and GoTo...can i use the mount manually ??Or should i buy a whole new tripod and mount for manual work ??

2.With this telescope i get 2 new eyepieces... 25mm and 10mm ... what other eyepieces should i buy or you will recommend for a good watching ?

3.SUN FILTERS----Very confusing or filters at all....If i buy Baader Planetarium sun filter foil A4 20*29cm can i use it on the telescope right away or i need something else beside the foil ?something to hold it on ?

by the way is it A4 20*29cm enough for 127mm ??or i need to look for bigger foil ?

4.Is it necessary to buy adjusting laser 1,25" for collimating ?

That's all for now....

) Thanks to all of you

[cantab]

2) Those two will be fine to begin with. A bit of observing will get you knowing what objects you do and don't appreciate, and thus what sort of eyepieces you'll want to add to your collection.

3) You will need to make a filter cell to securely hold the film over the front of your telescope. (And the cell should be firmly taped or screwed on, don't rely on just a push fit). Considering that your scope has 127mm of aperture, and A4 paper is 200mm wide, I think it's big enough.

4) Not for a Maksutov I don't think. Collimating a Mak is rather different to collimating a Newtonian reflector, but will rarely if ever need doing anyway.

[westel]

Thanks a lot cantab for your answers they mean a lot to me...

I would appreciate if anyone else can answer my first question....

Thanks

[meridian man]

1) don't think you can I'm afraid.

[JamesM]

Like Meridian Man above, I don't believe you are able to use the above Alt-azimuth goto mount without power like you can with say an equatorial Goto, where you can switch the Goto facility off and disengage the declination (up and down motion) and right ascension (left to right motion) locks and move the scope around at will. Now of course you will be able to manoeuver the alt-azimuth style mount described above by using the hand controls to where you want to explore instead of relying on the Goto navigation system to take you where you want to go.

You might want to peruse through the AZ Goto mount instruction manual to reach a definitive decision which you can view here and which might also give you some idea of the complexity of the set up protocol (star aligning etc). Regarding the solar filter question, if you don't want to make your own you can purchase a ready made version here.

James

[RoloFanatic]

For the solar film you will have to make your own holder for it but it is not difficult, there are loads of vids on YouTube on how to make them. I made my filter out of cardboard and some glue.

As for the eyepieces, in my opinion a decent x2 barlow lense is very handy and possibly a lower power eyepiece e.g. 32mm

Hope this helps

[westel]

Like Meridian Man above, I don't believe you are able to use the above Alt-azimuth goto mount without power like you can with say an equatorial Goto, where you can switch the Goto facility off and disengage the declination (up and down motion) and right ascension (left to right motion) locks and move the scope around at will. Now of course you will be able to manoeuver the alt-azimuth style mount described above by using the hand controls to where you want to explore instead of relying on the Goto navigation system to take you where you want to go.

You might want to peruse through the AZ Goto mount instruction manual to reach a definitive decision which you can view here and which might also give you some idea of the complexity of the set up protocol (star aligning etc). Regarding the solar filter question, if you don't want to make your own you can purchase a ready made version here.

James

Thanks a lot James i didn't know that but i don't get it...that's a stupid manufacturer mistake...it would be better a lot to work with the motor off...but anyway i hope the morot will last 1-2 years maybe ??

For the solar film you will have to make your own holder for it but it is not difficult, there are loads of vids on YouTube on how to make them. I made my filter out of cardboard and some glue.

As for the eyepieces, in my opinion a decent x2 barlow lense is very handy and possibly a lower power eyepiece e.g. 32mm

Hope this helps

As for Rolo thanks to you too man i was thinking to get some 32mm and maybe 6mm i will already have 10 and 25 it the package so i think it's enough with some x2 barlow maybe

About the filter i will deffinetly buy a solar foil and make some holder

[Capricorn]

If the motors fail then you are up a creek.

If the handset fails you may be able to get hold of another but they are rare to see available and tend to be expensive. I am not aware of an alternative from another source. Maybe run from a cheap laptop or even notebook would be an alternative.

You can use ther scope manually with motors, you simply set the thing up reasonably and I suggest do a dummy align then move the scope by the handset yourself - still need the motors.

If the whole lot fails then you can take the scope off and mount it on another tripod/mount if necessary.

Eyepieces: 25 is OK, I would suggest in time 10mm, 12mm something around 18mm and the 25mm. You need a couple of the small ones as at times some will be OK one night but not another. At 1500mm focal length you will not need an 8mm often if at all.

Being a narrow field of view you may need a 32mm, especially for the alignment.

[westel]

If the motors fail then you are up a creek.

If the handset fails you may be able to get hold of another but they are rare to see available and tend to be expensive. I am not aware of an alternative from another source. Maybe run from a cheap laptop or even notebook would be an alternative.

You can use ther scope manually with motors, you simply set the thing up reasonably and I suggest do a dummy align then move the scope by the handset yourself - still need the motors.

If the whole lot fails then you can take the scope off and mount it on another tripod/mount if necessary.

Eyepieces: 25 is OK, I would suggest in time 10mm, 12mm something around 18mm and the 25mm. You need a couple of the small ones as at times some will be OK one night but not another. At 1500mm focal length you will not need an 8mm often if at all.

Being a narrow field of view you may need a 32mm, especially for the alignment.

Well again thanks for the details...if the motor fails i will buy it EQ mount without GoTo...maybe it's better to buy it EQ without motors and goto....what do you think ?because my budget is limited and i can't afford EQ with GoTo

[farunj]

Instead of buying a new mount I would suggest you buy the 150p or the 200p. That would save costs eh?

[westel]

Instead of buying a new mount I would suggest you buy the 150p or the 200p. That would save costs eh?

What do you mean by that ??

[lucjam]

Not sure about the part number you list but I have the Celestron MAK 127 on a goto mount which is very similar to the Skywatcher version.

You cannot use the goto mount manually without power. With power you can slew the scope without using goto but although powered it does become tedious as the motors are not that fast.

Because of this I decided to buy an AZ3 mount wich gives me the option to go manual although I haven't had much chance to use it because of the bad weather here.

I would say that you should consider the goto very carefully before spending the money. The goto is great for quick and easy viewing of certain objects and tracks very well but as I had started with a manual scope I found out quickly that finding the object is at least 50% of the fun.

Remember that these goto mounts eat batteries so an external power supply is a must.

As already mentioned above the stock eyepieces are fine to begin with and not worth adding to or replacing until you get used to the hobby.

Hope all this helps and good luck.

[farunj]

I meant that the 150p on the EQ 3-2 is a really good scope for beginners and also the not too costly. So maybe you can consider that.

[Darkstar_1]

As noone else has said it i will. Why not get a 200p dobsonian, way cheaper than paying for goto and you learn your way around the sky, with an 8" mirror it has way better light gathering than the 127. Also no aligning needed no power supply and little can go wrong with them. As you can see from my signature i have both scopes and given the choice again i would buy the dob first as goto really is a gimmick. The money you would save could go towards more accesories or another eyepiece. There is a reason why the 200p dob is the best selling scope in Britain.

clear skies, Den.

[westel]

As noone else has said it i will. Why not get a 200p dobsonian, way cheaper than paying for goto and you learn your way around the sky, with an 8" mirror it has way better light gathering than the 127. Also no aligning needed no power supply and little can go wrong with them. As you can see from my signature i have both scopes and given the choice again i would buy the dob first as goto really is a gimmick. The money you would save could go towards more accesories or another eyepiece. There is a reason why the 200p dob is the best selling scope in Britain.

clear skies, Den.

Well thanks again for the long explanation but i have been looking in dobsons models too but the dobson it's not so much mobile...because i want to use it mostly out of the city...so 95% before using it will be in the back of my car driving out of the city and because of that my choice is 127 mak it's small powerfull and mobile for transportation...but again thanks a lot and i know you are right about the prices and money budget...

[westel]

Not sure about the part number you list but I have the Celestron MAK 127 on a goto mount which is very similar to the Skywatcher version.

You cannot use the goto mount manually without power. With power you can slew the scope without using goto but although powered it does become tedious as the motors are not that fast.

Because of this I decided to buy an AZ3 mount wich gives me the option to go manual although I haven't had much chance to use it because of the bad weather here.

I would say that you should consider the goto very carefully before spending the money. The goto is great for quick and easy viewing of certain objects and tracks very well but as I had started with a manual scope I found out quickly that finding the object is at least 50% of the fun.

Remember that these goto mounts eat batteries so an external power supply is a must.

As already mentioned above the stock eyepieces are fine to begin with and not worth adding to or replacing until you get used to the hobby.

Hope all this helps and good luck.

Well i was thinking to buy that too actually Celestron Maksutov telescope MC 127/1500 NexStar 127 SLT GoTo

And if i am not wrong you are suggesting me to buy only the OTE and separetly buy that AZ3 manual mount ?

Thanks

[AztecastroMcJ]

i used az goto mount without any power few times, not that easy or safe but can be done

a powertank and dewshield are essential

nice scope esp on lunar and planets and double stars

James

[westel]

i used az goto mount without any power few times, not that easy or safe but can be done

a powertank and dewshield are essential

nice scope esp on lunar and planets and double stars

James

And what happened to the motor ??because there are some bearings and stuff in it...doesn't brake something if i move it around by force ?And how long have you been using the motorized mount without any problems ??

About the powertank i'm not worried because i have power adapter to 220v in my car so that's not a big deal...

[alexog]

The Skymax 127 on a EQ3-2 is £30 more than the AZ S goto version but doesn't have drives. However it'll be very stable and you can add drives later if you need them (dual axis drives £80 or goto £300! yikes). Not as portable but much better if you want to try astrophotography later.

Getting separate tubes and mounts can end up being more expensive. Better to start off with a package and work from there.

Alex

[AztecastroMcJ]

And what happened to the motor ??because there are some bearings and stuff in it...doesn't brake something if i move it around by force ?And how long have you been using the motorized mount without any problems ??

About the powertank i'm not worried because i have power adapter to 220v in my car so that's not a big deal...

i bought scope 3yrs ago and used alot for 2 yrs, with no problems

i still have scope but havent used in last year, as got new scope last year, and haven't bothered selling mak yet

the tripod and mount are attatched by a locking screw, with power this should be tightened up, and left tight

but as i had to wait a week for power supply,

i used scope manually by loosening locking screw being carefull not to overslacken as this would cause scope and mount to be detached

for low power views it was ok, if you have power theres really no point using this way tho,

i also added the 127mak astrozap solar filter

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

[westel]

Well guys thanks for all of your help....After reading this and some help and suggestions from you i have placed an order and pay finally for ....

Celestron Maksutov MC 127/1500 NexStar 127 SLT GoTo ---- reason why...Because it's a small and powerful telescope and what is important to is very mobile for transportation...The operation of the precision servo motors and electronic position sensor is available with 8 AA cells or a power supply 12 V / 2 A or a Power Tank 7 Ah or 17 Ah) or with a car battery Cable is possible....

Alignment method:SkyAlign, 2-star, 1-star, parallactic, solar

Included eyepieces are 25mm and 9mm

Also i ordered x2 barlow lens

Maybe after sometime when i get some more money i'm thinking to buy 32mm and maybe 17 or 18mm

For the sun i have bought solar sun foil and i will make it by may self like said above...

Now...i know that there is no fun in the GoTo system...but i think that i will rarely use it...i will mostly use only the motor and find stars manually...

And maaaaybee just maybe much later on i will buy EQ3-2 for manual use and some more fun....

Again thanks to all of your responses and suggestions to finally make up my mind...

[boabsta]

I had the sw 127 mak on eq3-2 and to be honest it took a while before I fully understood the mount and how it worked along with having to polar align it.

Once sussed it was a joy to use.

I also had a 114 goto cel at the end of last year as I was (am still!) new to astronomy and thought it would be ideal as I can tell it what to see and it will show me.

Never quite worked out like that and I ended up selling it. I struggled to align it after following all the instructions and using spirit levels and compasses.

eventually frustration got the better of me and I punted it.

Ive never heard of any problems with the az mount motors failing and if there was problems with them I'm sure google would be full of people moaning.

My mak lived in my car as I live in a flat and it never suffered for it.

A 200p dobby is the biggest bang for your buck and simplest set up you can get. It does look a bruiser when you first see it but you soon get used to it.

It is also suprisingly portable as ota and mount can be split and sit in the back seat of a car no problem.

You will also see more with the dobby as the mak isnt realy suited for dso where as the dob covers all the bases.

Also if you decide that astro photography is something you would like to try in the future you can mount the 200p on an eq5 or above in the future.

First scope buyimg is a nightmare as no matter how set you are on 1 thing there is always an argument for something different.

And just when you thought I was finnished, have a look for second hand scopes. If you stick with the mak you may get it cheaper than new and if or when hyou decide to sell you will most probably get your money back on it as second hand prices are fairly static. You can also buy bigger and better for the same budget. Just make sure you go and inspect any second hand setup first.

Now sit back, take a deep breath and look confused

[boabsta]

I was typing out my speil when you posted to say you have ordered it so ignore above and congrats on the new scope dude

[farunj]

Congrats on the new scope!! Hope you enjoy this hobby!!

[westel]

Haha ) nevermind still thanks for all of the writing above thanks guys i hope i will enjoy it and i hope i didn't do a mistake buying this new mak and also hope that it will be fine in the back of my car and doesn't require collimation

P.S from now on i will stick to this forum to share my experience with all of you...i see there are lot of nice people here