Jump to content

With A Budget of £300 approx


Recommended Posts

What would you buy

to sit out look at the planets stars etc and a beginer that probably would not ever have the money to upgrade :)

i was looking at

Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

but is there anything else that is better would fit the bill

And after saying all that what would be good suitable upgrades for the skyliner

Regards

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you dont want to do any imaging what about a Celestron NexStar 90 SLT?

I was trying to find a computerised mount and that seems to be the only one I could find, but I was only looking for new. Second hand should open up more opportunities for better kit.

I'm not too sure of the differences between the Skyliner 200p and what I've posted above, I was mainly looking for a computerised mount which, I'm sure, would help a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there

The skyliner comes highly recommended in this forum. Ease of use and good price matched with great light-gathering. That 8" aperture means you can get great views of planets, and also the feinter Deep Sky Objects, star clusters, galaxies and nebula really spring into view. The difficulty with go-to is that it adds way more to the cost (unless you can ge something reliable second hand). I started using a computerised mount, but I found that I learnt my way round the sky (to the limited extent that I have) better using a star atlas and programmes like Stellarium. Go-to is great if you want to look at specific stuff and haven't much time to find it though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Mark - with a £300 budget GOTO just swallows up too much of it leaving too little for the optics, which are what deliver the views of course !.

I'd also advise not to let urges to photograph things dominate your choices - the requirements of visual observing and imaging are rather different.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Mark - with a £300 budget GOTO just swallows up too much of it leaving too little for the optics, which are what deliver the views of course !.

I'd also advise not to let urges to photograph things dominate your choices - the requirements of visual observing and imaging are rather different.

Somehow i knew when i asked the first question i knew it would not be simple lol

Thanks for all your replies so far

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are not in a hurry, you can keep your eyes open for something second hand. only recently a 10" dobsonian went for £250 on Ebay and for that price the power and performance of a 10" mirror is phenomenal. I bought one similar and although the mirror was a little dusty its in perfect condition. If you're buying new, for under £300 then a 200p cannot be beaten IMO. I think lunar and some planetary photography can be done with a dob, here is a pic I took of the moon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you buy the Dob almost all your money goes into the optics which are, after all, what this whole thing is about. Plus, this very inexpensive kind of mount is, in fact, superbly stable and intuitive to use. No cheap electronics to let you down.

I really wouldn't let photography confuse the situation. You could use a webcam (far better than a DSLR, surprisingly) on the moon with the Dob but any kind of long exposure DSLR imaging begins with a mount alone that would blow your budget twice over.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=1793644788&k=r8HTK72

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buying this telescope what else is needed to go out and gaze into the night sky apart from books :) any more equipment needed to use the telescope ?

thanks guys

Hi Shroomy

Not sure of the spec, but your scope would come with a diagonal and at least one basic eyepeice, and a finderscope or red dot finder of some sort. Many people look at upgrading the finder depending on what type it is, and getting a small selection of eyepieces (a wide angle for low medium power larger views) and a high power eyepiece get more detail on planets and split doubel stars etc,)....and thats how the slippery slope starts!

You mght want to consider downloading a free planetarium software, like stellarium as well as books, as a good way of planning your viewing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Buying this telescope what else is needed to go out and gaze into the night sky apart from books :) any more equipment needed to use the telescope ?

thanks guys

It comes ready to use out of the box and general advice is to always try the gear, get some experience so you can then get the extras that will benefit the observations you prefer.

That said, to me, and many other dob users, a telrad finder is an essential add on. It makes it very easy to point the scope where you want it to point. So if you struggle knowing where the scope is pointing at with the stock finder, a telrad finder will solve that.

Another common complaint is that the 10mm EP is not that good and most people want some more magnification for planets. Personally I use 5mm and 7mm on planets most of the time, but the "seeing" conditions here in Portugal seem to be better then what you guys get in the UK.

If you're more into DSOs you'll likely want a good widefield low power EP and another one somewhere in the 16 to 13mm range for a closer look on smaler DSOs.

One thing you'll need from the start is a red light torch to keep your eyes dark adapted when checking maps/books.

A piece of advice, try to get your EPs 2nd hand, check the adds so you get familiar with regular prices. Buy well know brands, that way if you change your mind and want to resell you can get all your money back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.