My mind is a raging torrent!

[Hootsitabernacle]

Ok..total stargazing virgin here...been interested in it for 30+ years but next month i finally buy a scope. The good members on this excellent forum have nudged me in the way of an 8" Dobs...however....what kit do i need...barlows...plossils..???..lenses....im at a loss...he-yelp!

[Spec-Chum]

Nothing.

You don't need anything that doesn't come with the scope.

Sure, there's plenty of things you'll like to have, but resist the urge and just use the supplied gear for a couple of months at least.

You'll then know where your interests lie and can plan future purchases more strategically.

[Spec-Chum]

Ok, maybe a telrad...

[John]

Hi and welcome to the forum !

The scope should come with a couple of basic eyepieces to get you going. I'd invest in a red light torch (or make one !) and a good star atlas then get on and use the scope a few times before thinking about further accessories. There are just so many options and prices that its good to have some practical experience under your belt before plunging in.

[DeepThought]

I agree with John, get your scope going for a couple of weeks, see what you enjoy viewing, then make a decision based upon your experiences.

After that, the range of accessories is only limited by your budget.

I will however say that based upon my experiences with a Skywatcher dob, you'll probably want a 32mm and a better EP for planetary views than the kit 10mm.

[Stargazer_00]

Ok, maybe a telrad...

I bought a telrad but for some reason (my dad pointed it out to me the other day when he was round mine for a mini star party) I dont use it much, I still prefer to find things using 1 eye on the sky (left eye) and one eye in the finder scope (right eye!) I find things instantly and once I'm on them I just shut my left eye and star hop. Find most things very quickly. With a telrad you can find a guide star quickly enough but you would need a very low power eyepiece to star hop well. Finderscopes rock, 9x50 of course. I'd porbably even upgrade the finder to something slightly lower power but with a bigger aperture in fact. Do 7 x 70 exist?

[Hootsitabernacle]

EP? ..Telrad..help!....mind im a mere baby compared to you lot! im not in with the lingo just yet.

i could spend hours on this site boring the pants off everyone asking questions....just wait til i get my scope!!!..i will never be off this!

thanks for the advice tho folks..much appreciated

[Stargazer_00]

Ask as many questions are you want. People here are more than happy to answer them

Telrad is a brand of finder. It's whats called a zero magnification finder as it simply uses a red image projected onto a piece of glass. you look through it and see the red image on the sky. its an easy way to find things. the marker itself is also a measuring tool so you can measure the distances between objects using the reticle. this is a similar design as is found on some machine guns as well, reflex scopes.

EP is simply eyepiece for the lazy typer

[jabberwocky]

An alternative to the telrad is a Rigel quickfinder, its much smaller and lighter, in my experiance doesn't dew up as easily but only has 2 circles rather than 3. I've just swapped my telrad for a Rigel and much prefer it.

you may find the straight through finder awkward to look through and the inverted image counter intuitive, it can be replaced with a right angled correct image finder, they should be supplied as standard but on the cheaper dobs aren't.

best advice is as others have said and just use the scope as is to begin with and then decide where you can improve things.

[zedzed]

Telrad or RA (right angled) finder I think. I had someone in local stargazing group sell the Dob because they were getting such a sore back leaning in to look up the finder scope. Agree with the other post that the RA finder should be the default finder for this ... guess Skywatcher don't as it's cheaper to ship with the "straight through" version.