what to buy?

[arran]

hi,

i have about £350 and want to buy a goto telescope so i can use it with my laptop.

so basically i'm wondering what would be the best goto telescope for a price of £350 i live in manchester and will be using it in my backgarden and also on the peak district if that helps.

any helped would be greatly appreciated regards arran

[Cornelius Varley]

£350 isn't a big budget for a goto telescope. You can get a AZ GOTO 130P http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html or a AZ GOTO 127 Skymax http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-skymax-127-synscan-az-goto.html or the Celestron equivalents.

Peter

[Scott]

plus on top of what peter says, if your away from a power supply you're gonna need a portable supply More bucks. 350 will buy a great scope but not with goto.

sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but it's just a fact. gadgets cost ALOT.

Scott

[Floating...]

My Dad has just bought a Skywatcher AZ GOTO 127 Skymax for £360ish. Had a go & I'm very impressed to be honest. Not a goto man myself but after a quick align (which was slightly out but obviously adjustable if you want to take the time) we had a look at the Ring Nebula, Dumbell Nebula, M31, M15 & the clusters around Cassiopea and not in a particulary dark area either. The moon was stunning through it as I'm sure Jupiter will be.

Personnally I like to find the objects myself - that's where I get half the fun from - so I'd rather spend the money on a bigger scope than the goto but having used it I can certainly see why people buy them.

[M4lcs67]

I own the Celestron 127 SLT Mak and that is a great scope for the money altough a little over your budget. Also as mentioned, I would recommend a powertank to drive it otherwise it will eat batteries at a shocking rate. Also you would need to buy an appropriate lead (that FLO sell for about £12/£13). The Maplin powertank I (and a great many more on SGL) use is about £30ish. So it would be slightly more money than you were wanting to pay, but if you could manage the little extra then it would be money well spent.

[Carbon Brush]

I'm not knocking the choices suggested in the earlier posts.

The 'SW127' types of scopes are very well thought of and good for the money.

Just making a comment about other options.

The budget has to fit in scope + mount + electronics + accessories.

If you can forget the goto electronics for now, that leaves big money over for a better mount and better scope.

The cleverest goto won't help if you are looking through a milk bottle bottom stuck on top of a wobbly tripod.

Goto will point you the right way, but not show you the object.

Perhaps later look at a goto mount or just driven EQ mount?

On the other side. There is no point in having a fantastic scope on a rock solid mount if you can't find objects.

In your (presumably light polluted) back garden a Mak/SCT type scope will offer advantges in in blocking stray light, compared to (say) a newt. But you could flock the newt for a few ££. Goto will help in locating objects that are on the point of vanishing into the orange haze. But a newt would be better to grab the faint objects in the dark peak district. The Mak may be easier than the newt to carry to the peak district. A refractor is quite portable and can reject off axis light easily. But there is chromatic aberration in this price range. Especially on a short FL for wide field views.

No instant and immediate right answers!

Can you have a hold of and look through a few scope types before spending? That will help you to get the best scope.

This is of course the scope that gets most use, regardless of size, construction, features, etc.

[arran]

hi again everyone,

i would just like to say thanks for all the advice so far, I have decided a goto is probably not the best choice but i am still looking on the same budget but for a telescope with preferably an motorised tripod or maybe just a standard tripod and am looking for recommendations for the best for my budget preferably an all rounder so i can use where ever a travel size doesnt really matter just image quality and a decent tripod

so if anyone has further recommendations i would be hugely greatful

regards arran

[arran]

forgot to say also is there anything you can buy like a usb lense so i can view the sky from my laptop

[Carbon Brush]

A 6" or 8" newtonian is (in my opinion anyway) a good first scope if you don't mind the size. Then there is the question of the mount.

Take a look at the scope choice threads on SGL and you will find lots of information.

The skywatcher 200 (8" newts) are very well thought of. I have the F5 version on an equatorial mount. The scope is optically and mechanically well worth the money. Many choose the dobsonian package. New prices are a bit over £400 for the SW200 on EQ5 and a bit of change from £300 for the dobsonian. The SW150 (6" newt) comes on an EQ3 mount at bit under £300 and just over £200 on a dob mount. If you take a look at the First Light Optics site, they have a good assortment and are a respected retailer.

You can of course buy used and save a bit of money, or get accessories thrown in. I would not though recommend buying from ebay unless you are very confident of the seller. There is a lot of what is best called trash on there. UK Astro Buy Sell is generally trustworthy. When you get the time and posts on SGL, then you will have access to the classifieds - another trustworthy source of used kit.

Take your time over choosing.Look at the various threads on here and try to have a look/hold of a scope or two. Is there a local club you could visit? Or an observing group?

For simple moon views, and bright panets, you can get started using a webcam with the correct nosepiece to fit the eyepiece tube. a plug in and play solution.

Hope this is useful.

[Capricorn]

Arran, if you want a goto get one.

Strange fact that came out of a post about 12-15 months ago - 2/3 of the people here have one.

Quite a few people that buy dobsonians are now buying goto dobs or trying to upgrade their manual ones.

They can be troublesome, usualy they are expected to be plug and play where you do almost nothing. Wrong you do a fair bit and you have to be realistic. They do need power, cannot think of an electronic and motor system that doesn't. Most common point made is you are paying for the electronics, well of course you are. That car you have, well here is the shock, the engine and electrics were part of the cost, a goto scope is the same.

[bendiddley]

I've got a skywatcher 200p dobsonian and its great. Loads of aperture and easily portable. Mine cost £260, I think they're a bit more now though, but would leave you with money left over for accessories!

[Mr Moff]

I originally took many weeks to decide between the 200p eq5 and the Dob. In the end I went for the eq5 because I wanted to do some photos with it.

After a couple of months with it I found I still wanted to try the Dob, so went for it. Honestly for every 10 clear nights I use the Dob 7 or 8 times. It's much quicker to setup and use, and it's nice to be able to sit comfortably while using it.

Don't get me wrong though, the 200p eq5 is a great package and with the motor upgrade it becomes a great setup for astrophotography.