first scope advice

[jasont68]

hi all

i am looking for a budget telescope mainly to observe the moon and connect a camera to so i can try astrophotography

my budget is limited to £150 is this enough or am i wasting my time ?

if so can i have some recommendations please ?

all advice greatly appreciated

thanks

jason

[Eastridge]

Hi Jason,

AS bit more info might help us help you better...

When you say 'try astrophotography' do you mean of the moon or are you hoping to take photos of planets or even in due course DSO's?

£150 scopes can do the moon and some photos of the moon, but would be really pushing it for nebula and the like.

Also are you thinking oif using a DSLR for photos or a webcam, or no idea at this stage. A small light telescope might struggle to 'hold position' with a heavy DSLR attached unless you provide extra support.

[jasont68]

hi thanks for the reply

to be honest i think mainly images of the moon just testing the waters at the moment !

i have a little point and shoot camera and also a dslr i would want to use whatever gave me best results , there have been some stunning images on here using a scope and a camera phone .

i tried taking pictures of the moon with a dslr and found i cannot get close enough not enough detail, my thinking a budget range telescope would be a cheaper better option than a lens for my camera ?

thanks

jason

[ronin]

Without looking at the scopes available you are looking at something like a small scope on a driven Alt/Az mount. Then stick a webcam in the focuser and take a video recorded on to a laptop or PC. If you have an available laptop that would make most sense.

Nothing in the budget given would be solid enough to have a DSLR attached and operate easily, a DSLR hanging off the rear end upsets everything. A small webcam is easy.

One thing to take into account: Those good images using a scope and a camera phone, you will not see the 99.5% that didn't come out good. Those images are processed by the button marked "Delete".

[Eastridge]

Yes, a scope will be cheaper than a long lens if you go modern. We picked up an old manual 500mm for our Pentax for £50 but you do need to know what you are doing have lots of patience and a solid tripod ( which costs at least £100.) to do moon shots with it.

On the scope front we started with this

Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145P

which is within budget but has no motor drive and you have to track objects manually which isn't great for photos.

I would strecth you budget to something more like this

Skywatcher Explorer 130M (EQ-2) which is motor driven and is a bit bigger apeture.

Webcams are quite cheap to buy or you could just try with your compact first and see what you can get.

I'm sure there are brands opther than Skywatcher but we went with them as both I have linked to won Sky at Night group tests.

[jasont68]

thanks for the replies

jason

[Gohan75]

I say keep saving n get a better scope. you don't want to destroy your interest in astronomy by having a low end scope. My First scope was a skywatcher 130p. It was good enough to really get me into it all but soon after i wish i had gone for something better. I Saved and got a 10" dob and have never looked back. Maybe i should have just gone all out straight away...?

[VigdisVZ]

For 150£ you're going to be limited in what you can take photos of. The whole deal with AP is that you will probably end up wanting a sturdy motorized EQ-mount to get any kind of quality on fainter objects.

However, the good thing is that for 150£ you can get a very capable optical instrument like the SW Heritage 130p dob, and some refractors of different size and quality. I am not sure how the mount will hold up a DSLR for shooting the moon, but if it does (maybe someone can clarify, and you could probably add some balance to the back of the scope to compensate) you will haven an excellent moon lens at 650mm focal length. I'm not that experienced myself but I can't think of any cheaper way within your budget to get focal length and aperture to reach the moon.

Also for visual observing a 130 a good little scope, and if you have good dark skies you could see a lot of good objects with it.

But... lastly, I agree with Gohan75. If you're serious, save up some more money and get atleast a 200p dob for visuals, or look at the sturdier EQ mounts for real AP. If you really want to check if you're into astronomy, you could get a set of binos, and a book like "Turn Left At Orion" and start exploring the night sky. If you stick with it, it's time to look at the real optics

With that in mind, you have a DSLR, prop it on a tripod and do some nice wide fields. I've done some really nice shots outside where I live, in the light pollution, with just my 18-55mm F/3.5 kit lens. That's how I tested my degree of interest. I quickly realised I was hooked on AP and soon I went for broke with my NEQ6 mount.

Hope I made some sense.

[LukeSkywatcher]

For a little over £150, you can buy either the Skywatcher Explorer130P (£175), or just the 130 model (£159). Both come on an EQ2 mount. It would be better to go for the 130P model as it has a parabolic mirror and gathers light more effectivly. You will be able to image the moon with either scope and a camera attached. Its a very popular scope for people who are buying their first scope.