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Hi from newbie in foggy Northants

Starrysare

By Starrysare
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Starrysare

Starrysare

Posted
Posted

Hi,

I am one of those annoying dabblers..Having been interested in our solar system for a while, further enthused from Dara and Brian tv show , I have never done anything about it.

However havign seen the advert on groupon I thought lets start to investigate telescopes as im sure the groupon ones wont satisfy me..Plus I would like to use my Nikon DSLR with the telescope for pictures etc..So may need something bit more special than the groupon one..

At the minute I have no budget or idea as to what to look for...as camera its apertureapertureaperture I believe!! As a beginner with no idea if I will continue to the ehady heights of £1000 telescopes I would like to keep the budget fairly reasonable£100- £150..or cheaper!

So i look forward to reading through the advice you guys give to get an idea of what to buy..However being totally impulsive I am on amazon and ebay as we speak..No budget does not mean there will be no purchases!!

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damnut

damnut

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Hi There,

Welcome to SGL,,,,, cool down, put the cash away!!. Join a local astro group and see what kit others have and what may suit you. In the mean time download a planetarium program, stellarium is great and free from here :-- http://www.stellarium.org/ And invest in a couple of books, 'turn left at orion' and 'sky and telescope pocket star atlas'. These will teach you the sky and how to get around and find objects, a pair of binoculars would not go amiss...

Cheers

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Starrysare

Starrysare

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Hi

Thank you for the link...it looks very very interesting...Will search the books on ebay also/!Thank you for the advice..Binoculars you say? Is this because I can get a rough idea of whats int he sky before investing in a telescope?That is possibly a really dumb question but just curious about binoculors..not a bad idea as im often out late with the dogs..and binoculours are more transportable that walking int he village with a telescope!

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HIP3802

HIP3802

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Hi, Starrysare, and welcome to SGL! That's sound advice from damnut - following what has been said will show you what's out there in terms of what to see, and then you can decide on what you want out of a telescope (or binoculars).

Martin

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Starrysare and welcome to SGL, as has been suggested a nice pair of binoculars in the 10X50 range, (have a look at Strathspey Binoculars) and some reading matter will set you on the Astronomical highroad :)

John.

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tuckstar

tuckstar

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Hi, welcome and good luck with it all. Binos great place to start. If you start looking with a scope straight away you will get lost.

Learn the constellations and your way round the night sky and go from there. They're a nice bunch on here so feel free to ask questions, but search forums for answers first.

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jason.p

jason.p

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Welcome Starrysare. It's good advice that previous posters have given, to hang on till you get an idea what you want to concentrate on. In the meantime there's a lot to be seen with naked eye and bins, and learning the night sky is very important. There's a wealth of expertise and advice here, just ask, however basic it might seem.

Good luck :smiley:

Jason

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Jim Steele

Jim Steele

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All good comments, I rate the Olympus DPS-1 10x50 binoculars and they really help 'learn the sky'. I bought mine for around £50 from amazon. Also try raiding your local library for books. They will give you some pointers of what to look and give you more confidence when out under the stars

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. Damnut's suggestion of joining a local astro club is a good one with the possibility of attending a couple of observing nights to get your eye in on the different scopes (size and type) that will be present and the views they can provide. Reading all the data and specifications on scopes won't mean a thing to you until you're able to establish your own datum point from which to hang these 'statistics' from. You will certainly be better prepared to know what scope is going to meet your expectations as well as afford you the opportunity to have a look at what's up there!

On the binocular front, you might want to take a look at this website which provides a lot of background advice on what binos to buy and what to mount them on. It is also a great site to provide you with a monthly guide on what to targets are available and how to find them. Overall the best advice is to take your time and do the research if you want to avoid any disappointment. You mention attaching a camera to your eventual setup and so I would therefore suggest that you get hold of a copy of Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (FLO £19.95) which will advise you on what kit to get which is going to be slightly different to that which you might want if you were solely observing - sadly no one scope does it all I'm afraid. Hope the above helps.

Clear skies and enjoy the forum

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