Newbie, hello, and where to star't

[keefnet]

Hi all. I hope this little story doesn't get me put into a corner for not posting right in this forum. Appreciate any comments/advice. Coming up to my 50th birthday and my better half wants to get me something nice. For some obscure reason I ended up registering here and now quite keen to get my first telescope. Hot-uk deals probably started me looking, then Amazon having a daily deal on the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ, that has good reviews... but as usual, I start hunting around, then got hooked into looking at the Skywatcher Explorer 130m, then the 130p, then I found someone doing the 130pm as I liked the sound of the motorised "p" version. So then I registered on here, and looked around a little, then kinda feeling something like the "to me big" SkyWatcher SKYLINER-200P 8" Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope is looking more desirable, but no motor. So, then looking for something that gets good reviews and maybe has a motor, I ended up at the Skywatcher Explorer 130P (£315)SynScan Telescope (around the £320 mark). I expect I'll get the question "what do I want to look at": well, if I could see the rings of Saturn, I think I'd be blown away, then nice detail on the moon would be great..... and the ability to hook up my Canon DSLR would be desirable. I see lots of posts and will take time to review but I guess my basic question would be, do you think the Skywatcher 130pm is going to fulfil my desires at approx. £230, or would the non-motorised 200P with the 8" size really be an improvement and handle the SLR attachment better? Obviously open to comments, suggestions. As I started by looking at the £100 ish mark for the 130EQ, I'm now stretching my wife's budget if I'm saying I'd really like the 8" at £320, but I think I have room for it by the patio doors. That's about my budget area I think. I'll probably get add-on lenses when on a trip to the US as Amazon.com seem way cheaper for those bits and pieces that in the UK. Thanks and I look forward to spending time on this forum.

[MorningMajor]

Hi and welcome

A fair few questions there - maybe re post in the beginners section, but aperture rules the sky, so if you can stretch to the 200 you won't be disappointed - motors are great but more light into the scope is better!

Good luck

[Astronolee]

Hiya fellow newbie here...funnily enough missus is getting me the SW 300P Dob for my 40th tomorrow with goto. I was not sure what I wanted when I started to look into all this and when I did it very quickly turned into a mind numbing experience lol. It seems to me you want a good observational experience plus photography but although I am new to this the advice I am being given is you definately wont get photography from a non motorized dob...but if you want to view more without the need to photograph then buy the biggest mirror you can afford...I have chosen my 300P based on thr fact its the biggest mirror I can afford, I chose GOTO based on the fact that my knowledge of the night sky is limited plus with young children I feel it would be beneficial to track objects before showing everyone else what I found...plus I am not even going to attempt astro photography until I have much more experience as I am led to believe this is an entire separate science...anyway I am new to this and for my advice is worth thats it...good luck and happy 50th

[JamesF]

Welcome to SGL

Picking something that works for both astrophotography and visual use is very hard, particularly in the budget you've given. At that sort of level I think I'd be tempted to just consider visual use. The 200P dobsonian is an excellent visual scope but you'll have to work really hard to do any planetary imaging with it and DSO imaging really isn't where it's at. If you don't want to spend quite that much there's always the 150P dobsonian.

Many of the 130mm scopes have trouble reaching focus with a DSLR camera and whilst they can be made to do so with a fair bit of fiddling I'd not be inclined to recommend one to someone who wanted to use a DSLR because of that.

The more I think about it the better idea I think it is to leave the photography for the time being, go for the 150P or 200P dobsonians and get some decent visual use out of whichever one you choose.

James

[Bizibilder]

Hello Keefnet and welcome to SGL!! I will add a vote to the 150 or 200 Dob as good starter scopes. Mainly for visual work but you could rig your DSLR (especially if you have live-view?) and take some single frames of the Moon. Planets and Deep Sky Objects need quite different techniques and somewhat over-budget kit.

[Charon]

Welcome aboard.

[Dude_with_the_tube]

welcome to SGL,

i would agree with the posters above,and would suggest going down the visual only route for time being.Get to know the skies,download Stellarium on your PC and play around with it on those dull days,learn the stars etc.As for the scope choice:8 or 10" dob will do the trick,but as many others will suggest:try and get to either a shop or a star party where you can see them in flesh and try them out first to avoid 3 things:1.i wasn't expecting that thing to be that big.2.i was promised to be able to see aliens landing on Mars,but i can see jack sh...t. what will immanently lead to point 3: nah,i better give up on this.

[skywatcher58gb]

Hi A 200 Dob is an excellent scope to use for visual and you will see some amazing Deep Sky Objects. Take your time to get to know the sky with a scope like this, and in the future you can upgrade by mounting the tube assembly onto an equitorial mount. This will then enable you to delve into art of DSO photography. But in the mean time enjoy astronomy the way it is meant to be enjoyed - by visual observation.

Dave

[JonDoe]

Hi keefnet welcome to SGL, it really is a minefield isnt it, the more you look the more confussing it gets,

what is simple is this, the more light you can gather the more your going to see, seeing is what its all boils down to in the end.

im happy snapping the moon and planets, for now.

[saturn4me]

Hi and welcome to SGL!

[keefnet]

I am amazed at the replies - thank you all so much. I'll do just that w.r.t. visual for now. Astronolee: all the best for your 40th, and that 300P is a monster! if only it was me, I'd consider it, but the 200P is probably the solution for now. James, Roger, Dave and others, thanks again. Still looking and now I see I have options on the 8": the standard floor standing option or the Sky-Watcher Explorer-200P with EQ5 mount. I suspect the EQ5 would be the better option, although that runs to £415 now so I'd probably have to offer to help out paying for it. I would appreciate a nod of that is probably as good as I could get for an 8" and best option for mount within that price range? When I work out how to do new-line, I'll make my posts a bit easier to read

[Rich MedRev]

Welcome aboard, my vote (to begin with) is the 200 Dob, great value, easy to use and it will show plenty.

when you're ready you can always choose to mount it on an NEQ6 and have a dabble at AP, though keep as a Dob and go with the ED80 + HEQ5 for AP instead is a better option.

For Astro clubs and Star parties you will use the Dob more and get quicker aid to boot.

[wookie1965]

A warm welcome to SGL

[Catweazel]

Hi keefnet, welcome to the lounge

[Siriusmeg]

Hello and welcome from me too - you have come to the right place to get your questions answered

[keefnet]

One more question for now: The EQ5 tripod mount would be better than the standard base option for the 200P, right? Higher viewfinder and finer control (if I understand the main difference). That is about my budget limit for now whereas the NEQ6 would be a considered upgrade in the future. And I like the look of the 200P on the EQ5 i.e. looks the part rather than a floor mounted telescope that is Ok but aesthetically not as conforming to what I would say "looks the part". Yep, I'm starting to sound a little materialistic (sorry, but just more of a gadget man and the tripod option looks better to me)

[JonDoe]

if you dont get the response you need then i would post again in the "getting starting with equipment section". unless you need to know tonight then in that case cross your fingers

good luck choosing and to start a new line just hit enter.

[JamesF]

One more question for now: The EQ5 tripod mount would be better than the standard base option for the 200P, right?

I don't think there's really a better/worse difference there. It's more a case of what you prefer. Control of a dob is perhaps a little more coarse than you'd get with the slow-mo controls on the EQ5, but it's not at all bad once you get used to it. I've never considered eyepiece height an issue as I prefer to sit whilst observing, so I just choose a chair of an appropriate height. Adjustable height chairs such as ironing chairs and drummers stools are quite popular.

The real benefit of the dob is simplicity. You stick it on the ground and point it at what you want to look at. The benefit of the EQ5-mounted scope is probably finer tracking. It has negative sides however. The eyepiece will rotate with the scope depending on where you point it and you'll have to rotate the tube back to a comfortable position, and equatorial mounts take a little getting used to because the axes of motion aren't particularly intuitive. You'll also need to lift the OTA onto the mount each time you want to use it. A secondary benefit of the EQ5 however is that motors are available for it for around £90 and by adding those you could put a DSLR on the mount instead of the telescope and do some astrophotography.

The choice between a dob and equatorially-mounted scope is such a personal one that I'd really hesitate to recommend one over the other. The best thing you could do if you're not sure is see if you can get along to a local astro club for an observing night to get a better feel for what you like.

James

[keefnet]

Thanks James -- very useful comments. Much appreciated.

[JamesM]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I would certainly go for the 200P Dobsonian for now. The EQ5 mount is fine (....even with the motors) but in my view any astrophotography in the future will benefit from a better mount, so don't waste your money on the EQ5 now and instead use the money along with a little more saving on a better mount (...HEQ5) that will better support the 200P in the longer term (...EQ5 mount is only just able to carry this scope) or in fact any other scope that you might use for imaging. The HEQ5 has much better motors for accurate tracking and comes with the benefit of allowing you to perform 'autoguiding'. This is a system that permits the attachment of an additional smaller scope which is trained on a nearby star to the object being imaged. The software attempts to keep the nearby star in the cross hairs of the smaller scope and does so by making micro adjustments to the mount's motors each second, which as a consequence, also keeps the imaged object in the main scope perfectly centered too. THis system is favoured by those who don't have an observatory and who need to set up their imaging kit ('rig') each time which itself can introduce alignment issues. Anyone such as yourself who is entertaining the idea of doing any imaging, should get hold of a copy of steve Richards' book, "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95). Very comprehensive and will inform you of all that you need and why you need it - it will save you money by helping you avoid buying the wrong kit.

In short, get the dob for observing and go for a better mount in the longer term that will permit future options for when you are ready to decide.

Clear skies and enjoy the forum

James

[Bernard254]

Hello welcome to SGL

[keefnet]

James. I think you sold me on the Dob> Then maybe, bonus permitting, I'll get the quality mount.

In the meantime, I'll get that book.

Thanks again.

}Keith

[JamesM]

No worries Keith. I think the key thing is to take your time and buy wisely and by that I mean buying kit that is of a quality that will keep a good resell price should you later want to upgrade, whilst also avoiding any unnecessary costs which is best evidenced when purchasing mounts. I purchased a NEQ6 not really because I was in need of it but because I wanted to future proof it against any possible change of scope and kit in the future. The HEQ5 and NEQ6 not only have better weight loading capacities but the motors they use are a bit quite a bit more accurate than the smaller mounts in the range. As a consequence of this the mounts are obviously dearer but in the longer will save you money by avoiding the intermediary upgrading.

The 200P is the U.K's best selling scope for good reason and is great value for money. 8" aperture is in my view when observing starts to become interesting and so you will certainly be getting value for money worth with some great views thrown in. Many members have this scope here and it does provide you future mounting possibilities along with solar system imaging should that be of interest to you.

Clear skies

James

[keefnet]

My wife is gonna do for me. Now I'm set on a Dobsonian, I'm looking at 8" or could I stretch funds now to a 10" and what's the issue later on i.e. I can see an 8" will go pretty well on a HEQ5, but would a 10"? And then, I'm looking at the Skywatcher Skyliner 250px FlexTube Dobsonian - I'm thinking that the 250px wouldn't go on a different mount, like the HEQ5 but does have motor options itself that I could possibly add later? As from my comments, I am a bit of a "dive in" type, why I seem to have progressed up from a £100 Amazon.co.uk offer on a 130, to something 4-5x the cost. I think in the next 12 months or so I should be able to go to a HEQ5 or similar mount so I need to consider that - if the 250p isn't that viable without a lot of ceiling room when sitting by the back door, then I'll go for the Dob' 8" for now. Thanks again James, and others. Also, on the text front, appears my Asus tablet return works fine when adding posts but my PC doesn't -- weird. And I am a computer genius (I must be over thinking this problem ).

[Obi Wan Ken00bi]

Welcome to the forum! Goodluck with your new scope.

Clear skies!