Total Newbie

[Casper99]

Good evening, I am sure these questions have been asked numerous times before but hopefully you will all be kind to me. I have at my disposal just over £400 to spend. so my question is what is the best scope to go for to get the best bang for my bucks. I have looked at the GoTo Mounts and am quite interested in those, however I will listen to all advise given, I would like to include in my spend any accessories I may need. I am quite technical minded and do not mind a challenge.Many thanks for all your help, Regards Richard

[swamp thing]

Hi Richard

For bang for buck you don't get a huge amount if you put your money into electrics rather than optics. The best bang for buck scopes are Dobs, but seeing as you want Goto that kinda rules them out.

These are nice little Goto scopes that are great on planets. They also work well on small high contrast DSO's

http://www.firstligh...an-az-goto.html

[Steep]

I would opt for an 8" Dob, something like the skywatcher 200P or the more expensive GSO GSD680, both come in under your £400 budget with most of the money going on good optics not electronics.

[jonathan]

I agree with the Dob sentiment, it is no doubt the biggest bang for your buck when on a budget.

You may want to factor in a dew shield (or make your own) and a nice eyepiece or two, which could set you back between £40 - £70 per eyepiece. The 200P (£289) is a fast f5 scope so you could probably use a good quality high magnification eyepiece such as Celestron X-Cel LX 5mm at £70. You could put the rest of your budget towards more eyepieces (maybe something in the 13 - 16mm range), a collimation tool (as a Dob is basically a newtonian reflector in a push-to caddy, the optics may need alignment from time to time), or a foam-filled flight case to add your bits to (check Maplins regular deals for these). The 200P Dob comes with bog standard 10mm and 25mm eyepieces, I wouldn't put a lot of faith in the 10mm but the 25mm should be good enough for wide field views and finding targets.

[Stargazer_00]

The 200P is F6 I believe, which makes it considerably kinder on eyepieces.

[Casper99]

Hi all, Many thanks for your views and ideas, in my original post I did say I like the idea of a Goto but that is obviously sacrificing the quality of the scope for the electrics, The 8" Dob sound like a good investment, however, for future could this be upgraded to a GoTo Mount?. Again I am not to worried about this, I want to see as much as I can and I really want to learn where things are in the sky by using my eyes. With the 8" Dob will this give good images of DSO's as well as planets?, and again for future is this OK for astrophotograhy?. Thanks again Regards Richard

[swamp thing]

Richard

A Dob will give you the best bang for buck by far. If I was starting again in this hobby this is the scope I would pick.

http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

Reasons being

1/ cheapness, it won't break the bank whilst learning the sky.

2/ focal ratio, it's very easy on eyepieces, cheaper versions will work well

3/ Again f/ratio, collimation is not an issue with this size mirror. You won't need to mess around collimating every session

4/ set up time, plonk, use. Simply carry it outside, put it on the ground, start observing

5/ portability, it's small, lightweight. Easy to carry/transport to dark skies to get the best out of it.

6/ toughness.this scope is tough as old boots.

7/simplicity, the Dob mount is so simple to use. Point and view.

8/ intuitive pointing, the scope moves in any direction you want, no axis to worry about.

[fondofchips]

Richard

A Dob will give you the best bang for buck by far. If I was starting again in this hobby this is the scope I would pick.

http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

Reasons being

1/ cheapness, it won't break the bank whilst learning the sky.

2/ focal ratio, it's very easy on eyepieces, cheaper versions will work well

3/ Again f/ratio, collimation is not an issue with this size mirror. You won't need to mess around collimating every session

4/ set up time, plonk, use. Simply carry it outside, put it on the ground, start observing

5/ portability, it's small, lightweight. Easy to carry/transport to dark skies to get the best out of it.

6/ toughness.this scope is tough as old boots.

7/simplicity, the Dob mount is so simple to use. Point and view.

8/ intuitive pointing, the scope moves in any direction you want, no axis to worry about.

I would add easy to sell on & hold their value to the above list.

I started with a budget of £500 and have near doubled that cost, the dob will keep your budget where you want it & still give you plenty of enjoyment.

Just add clear skies.

Welcome to SGL Richard.

[DOBBY]

Hi Richard... Swampy says it all... go for the Dob ( non-biased opinion) lol

As for future astro-photography...you need an Equatorial mount for that with tracking... the 8 inch dob can be mounted on the HEQ5 Pro at a later date for that when you have extra funds

[Casper99]

Well, after much deliberation and confusion,(and I thought aeromodelling had so much choice,(my other expensive hobby)), I took the plunge and bought a Skywatcher Skymax 127 SynScan AZ GOTO, I appreciate all the comments regarding the DOB's and was so close to buying but I am one for gadgets and electronics so opted for this. I have read review after review on here and else where and this did get good comments, however most people complained about the manual ?, I have read this manual over and over, set up the hand set with all co ordinates etc and all seem straight forward, I think the confusion is it covers at the beginning the full range of Synscans, but when read over two or three times it starts to become clear. I have yet to do a star alignment so time will tell, but have gathered loads of tips and ideas on here so hopefully fingers crossed when the clouds disappear I will come back with my findings, good or bad. So, while I am waiting for clear skys could someone give me an idea as to what eye pieces are good for this scope (or are what come with it good enough ?) plus I would like to make a dew filter but not sure as to how big this should be . Richard

[TheQuietEarth]

Hey Richard,

Hope you enjoy your scope and get lots of cloudless nights overhead!

Good choice of scope and one I've looked at. I'm planning on ordering my scope on Thursday night and am 99% sure it's going to be the Celestron 127 SLT. I understand they're both made by the same manufacturer but are branded differently and that the only main difference is the manner in which the two scopes are aligned. Just wondering if you looked at the Celestron and what made you choose the Skywatcher instead. The reason I've opted for the Celestron is because it's apparently easier to align its GoTo system. There is one aspect of the SW system that I prefer over the Celestron - it beeps when it's properly aligned a target in the eyepiece.

Are you powering the SW with batteries or using a powertank?

Thanks

[Casper99]

Hey Richard,

Hope you enjoy your scope and get lots of cloudless nights overhead!

Good choice of scope and one I've looked at. I'm planning on ordering my scope on Thursday night and am 99% sure it's going to be the Celestron 127 SLT. I understand they're both made by the same manufacturer but are branded differently and that the only main difference is the manner in which the two scopes are aligned. Just wondering if you looked at the Celestron and what made you choose the Skywatcher instead. The reason I've opted for the Celestron is because it's apparently easier to align its GoTo system. There is one aspect of the SW system that I prefer over the Celestron - it beeps when it's properly aligned a target in the eyepiece.

Are you powering the SW with batteries or using a powertank?

Thanks

Hi, I did not look at this model as I had a budget that I wanted to stick to, I have just looked on Wex photographic in Norwich where I got mine from and it does look like the same scope apart from a couple of things like the alignment, an inbuilt battery compartment and comes with a CD. I am sure it will be really good. As for batteries they will not last very long so hoping to pick up an AC Power supply to use as I wont be moving to far from my back garden as yet. Richard