another newbie thread

[fedster]

Well after a long night/early am read.

it looks like am going to get some binoculars to start out with, so any advice on what am looking for binocular wise.

Ideally id like a little scope for some planet viewing/photos, so was looking on ebay for a cheap little set up as i will only be using it a few times a year.

and just get binoculars for taking to work and traveling with.

any help will be gladly received

Tony

[rowan46]

you may get some better replies in the binocular discussion forum as that's where the real binocular experts hang out

http://binocularsky.com/ is a very good resource

I assume you want hand held so you are looking at at a no more than 10 x mag for extended hand holding if you want more magnification you are better off having them mounted

again if they are to be used mainly for astronomy you need apparture 70mm is absolute top unless you want to mount them and for extended hand held viewing I would go for 60mm top.

[NGC 1502]

Hi Tony. I'd get some 10 x 50 binoculars, that's 10 times magnification and 50mm objective lenses. These are very popular as they can be hand held, although more is seen if mounted on a tripod. Some folk get larger bins and have a lot of fun, but to get the best out of them a tripod is more of a necessity. You say you want to travel with them so with 10 x 50s you can leave the tripod at home.

Price is a guide to the quality, I'd avoid the cheapest if you want long term satisfaction.

For telescope choice, it would greatly help if you could say what your budget is, but for planets perhaps a small maksutov could be a good choice for visual use. I think that when starting out it's best to shelve the idea of taking pics for now.

Regards, Ed.

[starman1969]

The previous poster is right. 10x50 bins would be a great choice & give fantastic views if you get a half decent pair.

Also about the scope, again I would agree a little 4" or even 3.5" Maksutov on an alt-az mount is what I would be looking at.

[fedster]

ive got about 150 at the moment, few kayaks still to sell, also i dont want to rush in so the binoculars will do for now.

am heading back to Scotland in May.

So a good set of bins will do me for that, as id rather enjoy a scope when ive got more into whats what and where everything is up their.

any recommended bins as id rather get a good set now that pay twice.

Also is their a section on best places to go to view the stars, i know theres no where near north west will be as breathtaking as galloway.

Cheers Tony