My reflexions on my choice of 1st telescope

[Erquy]

Hi,

I am a new comer in amator astronomy and I just bought my 1st telescope and just would like to share my reflexions how I took my decision. I guess could be helpful for other in similar situation as me before my acquisiton (although I can´t say -yet- if I did the right choice, will tell later on).

If I would have 3 advices, that would be :

- don´t rush, take your time to document, understand the basics (not the least from this forum which has been my best source of input and advice by far!) before any decision.

- get a clear ideas of what you want to look at ,and intented use (deep sky, planets, daylight, all?/only visual, only astrophoto, both? -a very tricky issue to find an "all around" at reasonable budget solution of course, you need to make some compromises and you need to accept you can´t get it all at a budget level, so need to choose where to start/accept not everything will be possible,

- knows your limitations and implications (budget; size of the telescope/storage place!; in heavy light polluted area so most likely need to go out your location if some difficult objects are targets, or no issue at all/no interest in difficult targets; already available add on or not -like type of camera, webcam, portable computer if required etc...; - for your self only or also for family etc....). You will find a lot of input in the forum on all those issues and pros/cons, I won´t summary then here.

Then for my personal case: I am in my thirties with a small family (3 kids from 6 to 18 years old), and I basically wanted to offer something for Christmas that the whole family and friends could enjoy... and as the whole family express basic interest in the sky above us, we decided to go for a telescope. On top of that I have my personal interest in photography which I let on hold for some years but recently got in the back on my mind to restart as hobby, and working out some astrophoto I have no experience with was a good combination/motivation to restart to photographic hobby!

So after looking at a number of alternatives (2 months studying the question about every days before decision), we went for a Skymax 102, goto synscan for the following reasons (a nextar 4SE would be also certainly another option or any similar kind -I don´t want to promote the skymax in particular, there are several options very similar on this kind of Matsukov Cassegrain/Schmidt Cassegrain at entry level like this):

- 1st telescope and no experience, so let´s start at a reasonable budget but not with a toy neither and with a small "all around" robust solution (i know it is not much adequate for deep sky, at least a bit and that´s the offside we accepted)

- small and easy to transport on vacation, week end and so (and we don´t have a big car for 5 people;-)

- easy to set up for anybody in the family to get into the game rapidly and no frustration in set up and find our targets (and general opinion/interst is for observing, and not hunting our targets through the constellations, so a goto + tracking was seen required to start up (with practise, I am sure we will learn our ways in the sky despite being a goto -my approach will be anyhow to explore clear specific areas, not to use the goto jumping 180 degrees by simply pressing the 1st proposed target). So we will learn the sky and if we really pick up on astronomy/astrophoto, I know next step will be for a better mount (maybe only with tracking and no need of goto at that time once we know the sky, we will see)

Finally, once the choice is done, go to a reliable supplier well known of the community (I am not sure I am allowed to say whom I purchased, I think there is a dedicated topic on this, at least I can say I went to a reknown German one -i am in south sweden- and I can only say positive things (fast, reactive, suportive) .

This telescope seemed to me the best options fitting our aspirations and limitations. I hope I have not done the wrong choice (I am thinking as I am writing, I shall have maybe posted this before my purchase ;-)

Please experienced users, don´t hesitate to say I did a big mistake seen my situation if this is the case - new comers need to have a shared view!

I will come back in coming weeks hopefully to confirm I did the right choice ;-)

Hope above can help out reflexion for the ones about to make their 1st choice.

[Catweazel]

It sounds like you gave it a lot of thought, and in the end, you chose the scope that best suited your circumstances. The Skymax is a perfectly good scope, and the advantage of the lightweight GOTO mount makes it a very portable setup, and also good value. I'm sure that you and your family will see a lot, and get a great deal of enjoyment from the Skymax. Congratulations and clear skies

[rowan46]

Ultimately it doesn't matter what you get, all that matters is that you enjoy using it. My first scope was a dept store refractor it was actually pretty awful but it never dimmed my desire to see the stars. I have had a couple of better scopes since then and the skymax 102 is an awful lot better than my dept store scope was I hope you use it a lot and get a lot of fun with it.

It's easy to worry about "did I get the right scope?" as long as it's used and enjoyed it's the right one. And that niggling thought in your head that goes "is this the best I could get" don't worry about it because It doesn't matter how much you spend there is always better.