looking at getting 12inch dob for fist scope

[AlexB67]

Ok cheers I have been looking on telescope house, anyone recommend any other sites?

also scopes n skies, though I've heard varying reports since they were not good, I had issue with them at all with my order. Also they have some useful help videos to introduce you to the basics of eyepieces, barlows collimation etc. just at a right sort of minimal level to get you going.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/?gclid=CO_97JnForcCFZQZtAodrF8ASw

I got to credit scopes n skies a little because they offered a free 2x barlow as well with the scope. The one they gave me is better one compared to what they advertised, a basic cheap one under £10 is what was offered on the site, but the one I got was in fact a better one with an adapter to do both 1.5x and 2x, presumably because the cheap one was out of stock, so fair play to them for throwing that in and not delaying shipping 'till they had the one advertised.

I must admit that the scope was clearly shaken about in transport and needed collimating, but that is courier thing and could happen with any courier or rough handling during transport.

[AlexB67]

oops typo, I meant to say, I had no issue with scopes n skies.

[SeedyF]

Agree that FLO are great for advice, service and price and I work for the Government not FLO - Honest

Skopes n skies have been good too. My scope came from Opticstar and they had the best price at the time. And I have used telescope hose in the past with no problem.

[DMA]

Hello

It's not all about having a big scope the amount of light pollution makes a big difference.

As your in a rural area an 8" scope will easily see as much as a 10" in a suburban light

polluted sky.

Good quality eyepieces really help with how much you can see FOV and how sharp the focus is.

The Supplied 25mm is not to bad but change the 10mm at least.

10" dob.is the biggest size thats deamed to be relatively easy to transport.

I am currently awaiting delivery of my skywatcher 250px from First Light Optics.

First Light Optics are the sole sponsers of the site and a very good company to

deal with,I try to give them all my business.

By the way I'm jealous of your rural sky's.

Dave

[umadog]

If you're in a rural area in good skies, an 8" will show more than any telescope in suburban skies for the majority of objects. Of course a larger telescopes in rural skies is better still

[kris7125]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going for the 8" so I can get a good selection of lenses, I am going the get the Barlow set as recommended on FLO but can anyone recommend some good lenses

[Grotemobile]

If your going to spend that sort of money,

you might be better off with something like this.

http://www.firstligh...p-heq5-pro.html

This is another scope i would recommend for the planets

& the moon.Put it on a EQ-5 mount,& its a great

portable scope.

http://www.firstligh...ax-150-pro.html

Bigger, is not always better sometimes.

It is the amount you are going to use it.

Steve

[mitchelln]

Thanks for the advice, I'm going for the 8" so I can get a good selection of lenses, I am going the get the Barlow set as recommended on FLO but can anyone recommend some good lenses

I would heartily recommend the Baader Hyperion 8-24mm Zoom MKIII. The optics are excellent and build quality is great. It saves you constantly swapping eyepieces. If you get the barlow bundle from FLO you get a range of 3.5-24mm in one package. At the 24mm end the field of view is not as wide as individual eyepieces, so I have one wide angle (the Baader 31mm Aspheric) that I swap out when I want a wider FOV. However, the zoom stays in the scope pretty much all of the time now.

I got all my lenses from the classifieds section of this site. Saved me a lot of money. So top tip is to get your posts up so you get access!

[planet15]

It was very cloudy during the early evening and night, but about 12am, the sky partially cleared up and I saw the Moon and some faint stars.

So, I took out the new 8" Dobs SW200p to the back garden, and I had first observation until about 2am. I was throughly impressed. The Moon was full details with huge craters and mountains, and the mere dark sky in bare eyes was filled with bright stars.

Being Dob reflector, it was easier to manuvor around the tube, and to point to the Zenith. Especially pointing to the Zenith would have been a bit awkward with EQ mounted TAL-1.

Compared to the 4" TAL-1, the 8" SW200 gave more brighter and wider view, which made me feel a lot easier to find the stars. I am sure 12" or larger ones would be even better in this regard, but this 8" is a definitely excellent choice and keeper.

[kris7125]

Thanks for all the advice people really appreciate it

[AlexB67]

Ok cheers I have been looking on telescope house, anyone recommend any other sites?

Now just being new to the hobby myself, so others will give better advice. If I were you. I'd wait until you have tried the scope with the stock eyepieces. What some like in some eyepieces tends to vary a lot I find reading around here, though there seem to be some popular favourites, some are more picky on some things compared to others, it will depend on factors such as your exit pupil, what sort of eye relief you feel comfortable with, do you want to observe with specs or not, if you wear them etc.

I would say see what you like about the 10mm and 25 stock when you get the scope, with and without a barlow, if you decide to get one. Most will agree that the stock 25 mm is fairly decent, the 10mm a bit less so. I find this too.

In any case, if you are prepared to lay out a bit of extra cash for a decent set, try before you buy may not be a bad thing.

A lot seem to swear by the BST explorers for example that are reasonably priced, I think this is what I would get perhaps for my next upgrade, but for £ 100 - 200 you could get something really good no doubt. Given you could afford a 12 inch dob, the 8 inch dob you got, you saved yourself a lot of extra cash. I would not be in a rush to go and buy expensive eye pieces straight away.

Have a god perusal of this forum, the is also an eyepiece section.

No doubt even with stock eyepieces and a barlow, or for that matter without one, you'll have great time to start with, even with my humble 5" scope and stock eyepieces I for sure had a great time, and that is in a light polluted suburban Bristol

[kris7125]

Thanks Alex some good advice there, I think I will just get the barlows and see how it goes from there, like you said I'm sure I will have a great time irrelevant to the eyepieces that I'm using!

Lets have some clear skies!

[bingevader]

Now just being new to the hobby myself, so others will give better advice. If I were you. I'd wait until you have tried the scope with the stock eyepieces. What some like in some eyepieces tends to vary a lot I find reading around here, though there seem to be some popular favourites, some are more picky on some things compared to others, it will depend on factors such as your exit pupil, what sort of eye relief you feel comfortable with, do you want to observe with specs or not, if you wear them etc.

I would say see what you like about the 10mm and 25 stock when you get the scope, with and without a barlow, if you decide to get one. Most will agree that the stock 25 mm is fairly decent, the 10mm a bit less so. I find this too.

In any case, if you are prepared to lay out a bit of extra cash for a decent set, try before you buy may not be a bad thing.

A lot seem to swear by the BST explorers for example that are reasonably priced, I think this is what I would get perhaps for my next upgrade, but for £ 100 - 200 you could get something really good no doubt. Given you could afford a 12 inch dob, the 8 inch dob you got, you saved yourself a lot of extra cash. I would not be in a rush to go and buy expensive eye pieces straight away.

Have a god perusal of this forum, the is also an eyepiece section.

No doubt even with stock eyepieces and a barlow, or for that matter without one, you'll have great time to start with, even with my humble 5" scope and stock eyepieces I for sure had a great time, and that is in a light polluted suburban Bristol

I think that's very good advice.

Have a play first, then see where you'd like to go next!

Cheers

[todd8137]

Hi my first scope was a 12" solid tube and trust me they heavy things so watch your back ,even tohe flex tube ( which am not a fan of ) are still heavy -ish but you will love a scope of tjis size

pat

[John]

The Flextube's actually weigh a bit more than the solid tube equivalents, up to the 12" size at least.

[scarp15]

If you feel that you could manage / handle the weight of something like a 12" flextube, one small advantage perhaps, is that the ota will be slightly less susceptible to occasional light gusts, if set up in an inadequately sheltered location.