Asking for some help :) I'm outdated

[Tiago]

Hello!

Being a recent member to this forum, I've done quite a few searached and pretty much lost myself with all the information.

Going back in time some 20 years or so, I was a pretty avid stargazer, using by 12x50 binoculars and camera tripod (all I could afford as a teenager) and was pretty much hooked into Astronomy. A few years later came college, work, living in a city, a wife, a kid, and now I live under some lovely dark skies in the country.

Last summer I bought a Firstscope for some father-son summer night fun and the bug bit me really hard again. Pretty much every night with clear skies that I'm not working, the little scope gets some work, be it outside or from my home office's window.

So, birthdays are coming soon (my son and mine, 2 days apart) and I'm looking into what's out there and ok - I remember the brands. Back in 95 there were relatively few telescopes compared to what's on the market today, it seems.

So, I'd like to take a better look at what's out there. Preferably something a little bigger than the 76mm. I'd like to see some more DSOs, take a better look at planets (I can see them, but can't make out detail at the low amplifications the scope churns out), and some better detail on the moon. I may also take a shot at webcamming something, but I won't go as far as a DSLR or astro camera. Also, I need it to be portable (as in one-man portable, I need to be able to carry it and assemble it by myself without injuring my back).

I've looked at an used XT10 Dobsonian from a sort of local guy, but the size of it, being used and the amount of time required for it to cool down (not easy when you have a couple of hyperactive dogs running around) are putting me off.

I'm not adverse to the idea of matching different parts (mount, OTA, motor) to make something work.

So, what I am asking is, assuming I want a basic, decent quality, good enough scope to let me explore a bit further and not rob me of more than £500 (I have no wish to be kicked out the door by my significant other), allow me to webcam (say 20% of the time), be portable and quickly set up, what are my better choices?

Local star parties are non-existant (hours away by car), no local stores, the existing stores across the country seem to have little in stock (likely they order from abroad to supply local customers), so trying some scopes out it going to be hard.

I've figured out I am looking at either a newtonian or a refractor on a EQ or Goto Alt-Az mount. I've taken a good look at the Nexstar 102SLT, which seems nice, even though the mounting system will produce image rotation. What else do you guys suggest?

- Tiago

[CSM]

The NexStar 4SE seems to be currently around £400 and has a wedge. Leaves a bit for a webcam.

[rowan46]

Field rotation isn't an issue if you are not doing long exposure photography. As you don't seem to like dobs that rules out the 200p dob and as you don't want it too big it probably rules out the 200p on an eq5 so i would suggest tah dah this one

http://www.firstligh...50p-eq3-2.html. the general rule is to go for the biggest you can comfortably manage and afford

[nicks90]

or a nice skywatcher or celestron 150mm newt on a EQ mount. Or does it have to have goto?

[Tiago]

Thanks for the suggestions. It doesn't have to have GoTo at all, but tracking would be nice. Isn't it necessary for webcamming?

I've always wanted a Dobsonian, ever since the binoculars. But wide light buckets aren't pick up 'n go. the price for that used XT10 is borderline interesting, but buying it and then going back to the smaller one as it's more practical kind of defeats the purpose of buying a new scope in the first place.

Also, the other dark sky spots I've found nearby have some uneven roads getting there, and that is somewhat of a concern for lugging around a huge piece of equipment.

[rowan46]

you can upgrade the eq3 mount with motors

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/dual-axis-dc-motor-drive-for-eq3-2.html

[nephilim]

For all of £415 you could own one of these or its little brother

, the black one is the Skywatcher 130m on an EQ2 mount(£180) the black & white is the bigger Skywatcher 200p on an EQ5 (£415) both are great scopes and I found the smaller one a great start for using a scope. Good luck with whatever u choose.

Steve

[Tiago]

Well, I'll throw some more wood to this fire The best place at my home for planting a scope does not allow for polar alignment, as Polaris is blocked by the neighbour's ginormous pine trees.

I have places where I can see it, but I'll be looking over rooftops to do any observing from there.

I didn't consider catadrioptics, as those used to be (still are) expensive - my previous stint with stargazing ended right about the time the EXT came out, in 96 or 97.

So, it seems the better options would be

1. Get an Celestron SLT (102 or 127) or similar equipment and use it anywhere

2. Get a 150-200 newtonian and RA motor for it and probably have to drive to the hills to use it - will get less use, for sure

3. Get a good Alt-Az mount and the best OTA I can/Dobsonian and toss the idea of webcamming anything other than the moon

Oh well, there's some thinking to be done, I guess.

[nicks90]

2. Get a 150-200 newtonian and RA motor for it and probably have to drive to the hills to use it - will get less use, for sure

why?

I cant see polaris from my back yard either - but i know the exact latitude to set the mount to and i use a compass to point the mount north and a spirit level app on my phone to level the thing. I tracked jupiter for about 10 minutes without the need to alter the dec slow motion control last time there was clear skies (felt like a year ago!).

without super accurate polar alignment, you cant do loooong exposure AP - but you can't record an AVI with a webcam for that long either, as jupiter rotates too quick and you will get a big splodge instead of a planet. Rough alignment would probably do for the 30 second avi captures you require.

[Tiago]

Thanks mate, this helps clear things up a bit. I'm still trying to figure out this whole webcam imaging thing, anyway, one way or another I should eb pulling the trigger soon.

Thank you all for the input

[nephilim]

Thanks mate, this helps clear things up a bit. I'm still trying to figure out this whole webcam imaging thing, anyway, one way or another I should eb pulling the trigger soon.

Thank you all for the input

If you have a spare few days read this http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/131246-xbox-livecam-mod-cliff/ all you need to know about modding an xbox webcam, does a great job for less than a fiver, here's Jupiter that I took using it combined with 130mm scope & 2x Barlow.

Steve