Best beginners scope

[redbatman]

This is my first post so sorry if this had been asked before. I am thinking about buying a telescope and had been looking at the explorer 130 on an EQ2 mount. I am now wondering if a dobsonian would be a better option. Guess most of what I will look at would be the planets and at least for now I am not going to do any photography.

Any advice is appreciated

[nightfisher]

Reading your post might i suggest the 150 dobsonian, a good scope, and at a later date if you felt the need you could mount this on an EQ mount

[chesty]

relatively new myself started off with a 130pm on eq2 which was a great scope but have recently changed to a dob which is great so quick to set up an you get more aperture for your money, they really are great value for money har to beat imo

[redbatman]

Thanks for the replies. I had initially thought about the EQ2 on the explorer 150 but more and more feeling the dobsonian might be the better option.

[Solar_observer]

i have the 130 on a eq2 mount. only had it 3 months and impressed with what it can do. it comes with a standard 2x barlow which is not good in my opinion and 2 eyepieces...10mm & 25mm. i find the 25mm ok but the 10mm useless. ive recently bought the 32mm gso (yet to use due to british weather) the 20mm gso ( this piece i used the other night with the dumbell, ring and andromeda and i was really impressed) and finally the 8mm vixen ( got this for planets) observed jupiter the other night with this and i got the WOW factor. this scope is not that heavy to move about, i do it in 2 stages just to be on the safe side. as for the sturdiness of the mount, i think its solid. i dont have any movements of the ota whatsoever when im looking down the eyepiece. like many others on here though im getting aperture fever, im looking (in the new year) in getting a 200p explorer. i would have a dob but i feel the eyepiece will be in a low postion a lot of the time whilst observing objects low in the sky. because i have a fairly high fence around my garden the ota on the mount will give me the head start on ep height. BUT this is MY personnel choice. for ease of use and bang for buck, you cant go wrong with a dob. there not the uk most popular scope for nothing. see if you can go to your local club and someone might have one (try before you buy) i love the scope i have its worth the money. good luck which ever you choose.

tony

[paul schofield]

Hi I started out with the 130p Explorer and it really is a great starter scope and the EQ2 mount was more than adequate for my needs at the time. If I could wind the clock back 3 years I would of gone for a dob purely for the fact you can get a fair bit more aperture for your money. As I was and still am a observer only and never needed the scope to move with the earths rotation a larger dob would of given me more light gathering power than the 130 did, being that I could of bought the 150p dob for almost the exact price of the 130p. The other plus point for me would be the dob assembled takes up a lot less room than the EQ2 mount did. So yes my vote would go to the dob.

[chesty]

i have the 130 on a eq2 mount. only had it 3 months and impressed with what it can do. it comes with a standard 2x barlow which is not good in my opinion and 2 eyepieces...10mm & 25mm. i find the 25mm ok but the 10mm useless. ive recently bought the 32mm gso (yet to use due to british weather) the 20mm gso ( this piece i used the other night with the dumbell, ring and andromeda and i was really impressed) and finally the 8mm vixen ( got this for planets) observed jupiter the other night with this and i got the WOW factor. this scope is not that heavy to move about, i do it in 2 stages just to be on the safe side. as for the sturdiness of the mount, i think its solid. i dont have any movements of the ota whatsoever when im looking down the eyepiece. like many others on here though im getting aperture fever, im looking (in the new year) in getting a 200p explorer. i would have a dob but i feel the eyepiece will be in a low postion a lot of the time whilst observing objects low in the sky. because i have a fairly high fence around my garden the ota on the mount will give me the head start on ep height. BUT this is MY personnel choice. for ease of use and bang for buck, you cant go wrong with a dob. there not the uk most popular scope for nothing. see if you can go to your local club and someone might have one (try before you buy) i love the scope i have its worth the money. good luck which ever you choose.

tony

must admit i really got the wow factor too looking at jupiter for the 1st time through my 130pm

[JamesM]

Difficult to answer without knowing a likely budget. My personal choice would be to go straight in for a Skywatcher 200P dob which you could later mount on an equatorial mount if you felt the need for motorised tracking or even Goto. It's the U.K's best selling scope and for good reason as its offers you plenty of aperture (= resolution which translates as detail) is easy to set and will save you money by avoiding the smaller scopes and the inevitable cost of upgrading. If you find that astronomy in the end doesn't work out for you, buying such a popular piece of kit will guarantee you a good resale value which means that the true cost of your journey into astronomy has been kept to a minimum. Some of the smaller scopes aren't as popular in the used market as most people are looking to upgrade to something bigger and so you would lose more money on the original purchase.

One last thing, in reality it is far better to take a look through some scopes before buying any kit to enable you to establish your own benchmark of what type and size of scope will best meet your expectations. Aperture is king and that in reality is what people are after subject of coarse to your budget. Many astro clubs and observing groups will be organising some public viewing evenings which are a great excuse to check out the gear close up, take a look through and to also check out the setup times, the cool down times of scopes that employ a mirror in their light path and also the eyepieces that are being used as these can make quite a difference to the final view you see. "Try before you buy" is a must if you want the best value for money whilst avoiding disappointment. Hope that helps.

James