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Hello from North Yorkshire - new member


willhick

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Hi everybody, I am new to astronomy and before purchasing my first scope I am reading books & looking at websites such as this to develop my knowledge.

I recognise that one size does not fit all & it is important to decide what is important to you.

My initial thoughts are that I want a reasonably portable scope and my interestt will at first be observing the moon, planets, star clusters, double stars, bright nebulae etc I often holiday in the UK & want to take my scope with me to darker sky areas such as Nothumberland, or Norfolk. I live on the edge of the North York Moors and there is light pollution from Teesside but then darker skies over the moors.

I do not intend purchasing (initially) goto systems etc as I want to learn my way around the skies.

Some options for purchase are

1) Celestron Omni XLT 127 mm Schmidt Cassegrain Scope

2) SkyWatcher Skymax 127 Mak scope

My budget is £600 max.

I welcome any comments, suggestions

John

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Hi John and welcome to the forum. I'm a newcomer to this hobby as well but I'm sure the more experienced members will point out the pro's and cons of the scopes you're considering. :smiley:

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Hi John and welcome to SGL, the SW 127 Mak has been a popular choice among the forum members for both visual and AP but, of course, mostly will have been with a driven system. As you advise that it is your initial intention to not use GOTO then I think you will find that recommendations will lean towards a Dob in the 200mm class, this could be converted to an EQ mount at some future date, not knowing your circumstances there may, however, be portability problems :)

John.

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Hi John welcome to the forum

I started with just a non goto scope with the intent of learning the skies,I can find my way around fairly well with binoculars but its a completely different story through the finder, I found I could only find the easiest of targets and was getting somewhat fed up with my new hobby (hence the upgrade to goto) also tracking helps enormously, as you can leave the eyepiece for x amount of minutes and the target is still in the eyepiece when you return

Just my views on the subject but everyone has their own opinion :wink:

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Hi John welcome to the lounge,

you are making life tough choosing between those two scopes,

both will fit your need, but both are best with go-to systems,

they are both light and portable, but in the end the choice is yours,

you are right about learning the night sky, that's a long process, all

part of this great hobby

Good Luck and Clear Sky's

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Hi everybody, thank you for making me feel so welcome. I take on board the suggestions about purchasing a go to system. That will probably save a lot of frustration. There is so much to learn, about this fascinating hobby... a lifetimes quest :-)

Cheers

John

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Hi John and welcome to the forum. I have to agree with John (glowjet) and Michael (Mr Spock) regarding their preference for a dobsonian and in particular the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P - the U.K's best selling scope. The aperture is larger than your two suggestions which is important when remembering that more light equals better resolution, or in plain language more detail. The field of view offered is more generous than the two scopes you mention which have longer focal lengths in comparison which ultimately provides a narrower view of the sky, not the most useful if you are planning to star hop to find your target. The above suggestion is cheaper though not as compact as the above scope you mention but to me it offers you a more effective compromise given the range of targets that you want to observe. If you were interested in only solar system objects (moon and planets) then your suggestions would perform better.

Clear skies and enjoy the forum

James

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