Complete newbie help with telescope

[Scott1]

Hi

Firstly I will apologise because I bet this has been done to death but completely new to the hobby. I have always had a keen interest in the hobby but have never pursued it until now. After reading numerous websites I have information over load can someone please put me on the straight and narrow? I am looking at getting a telescope and I am trying to stick to a budget of £100 to start with don’t mind going over a bit but, don’t want to really jump in the deep end and be spending hundreds of pounds. I have had a look on amazon and seen a few but not sure which is the best for my money, can anyone help?

Thanks

Scott

[ronin]

Terriable question!

You have either refractor or reflector.

In the refractor area there is the SKYWATCHER MERCURY-705 TELESCOPE from Sherwoods.

It is only 70mm but it is f/7 so the CA is better controlled this is £105.

They also do the SKYWATCHER CAPRICORN-70 TELESCOPE at £85

The Evostar 90 is good abut that is £140

In the reflector side the 130P flextube is £130 and at f/5 will be more difficult to maintain at it's best.

For ease of use the 70mm Mercury seems fair as it will be maintenance free, you will I suspect want additional eyepieces fairly soon as the supplied items these days are not overly great.

For the £100 mark that is about it.

Don't get from Amazon as a proper astro retailer is a lot better.

I have located the information from the Sherwoods site.

[baggywrinkle]

There are a couple of Celestron's and Skywatcher on the Amazon site, most are OK. If you go to £150 you can get a larger apeture.

As a total starter I would maybe advise a refractor on an AZ mount, simple, quick and easy to set up, no collimation needed.

An EQ mount takes a little more getting used to but do not let that put you off. There is a good Skywatcher Maksutov 127 on an EQ mount.

Above all avoid the Seben, they have had some lousy reviews. Along with Seben I would also ignore National Geographic.

There will be many others able to offer advice on a starter 'scope.

Are you near an astronomy club? Folk there are usually very helpful and you can often see a 'scope set up and working.

[baggywrinkle]

That Sherwoods site seems very good.

In some ways buying from a proper dealer rather than an online book store can be better is there are warranty issues. With a dealer you can talk with someone who understands what you are talking about, not so sure with Amazon.

[Scott1]

Evening

Thanks for the info. What would be the best for a novice to start out with something which can be added to at a later date? I am in the process of looking at the Sherwood’s site, just need to learn all the differences in terms of lens sizes and such, what type is better a reflecting or refracting telescope?

Scott

[jonathan]

At that price range the scopes themselves will be the limiting factor. You can put them on a better mount and fit nice eyepieces, but it becomes a matter of diminishing returns as the optics of the scope would quickly reach their limit. This is true of most scopes, in fact, it's just that the prices go upwards more quickly to reach that limit.

In Astronomy terms, lens = eyepiece.

I rather like the Skywatcher Startravel 80 EQ1. It's a great little telescope for a smidge over £120, very easy to maintain and store, you could be outside observing in just a few minutes. If you have a spare corner of a room you don't even need to take it off the tripod, just lift the whole thing outside.

This type of short refractor is best used for wide-field observations, such as the beautiful Pleiades, or the Great Nebula in Orion. By adding a moon filter it could be used for looking at craters on the moon or observing Jupiter and Saturn, though sky conditions will have quite an influence for planetary observing when using a 10mm (high power) eyepiece. Having compared 'middle-range' kit eyepieces with the 'mediocre' eyepieces that come with the Startravel 80 (ST80) I can say I didn't notice a great deal of difference, my limiting factor is usually the sky conditions and not the scope or eyepiece - on a good exceptionally clear and dark night (especially if you go well outside any towns or built up areas) you will see the cloud bands of Jupiter, possibly the Great Red Spot, and the rings of Saturn; on a bad night or in a heavily light polluted area you might just be able to make out that Jupiter has some cloud bands, and Saturn has an elongated shape to it.

The Heritage 130 will offer greater light gathering and thus brighter views overall, but it will not be as easy to use and maintain, especially once you get the hang of the EQ1 mount that the Startravel 80 comes with. The two slow motion controls allow precise movement of the scope, and if set up correctly you should only need to turn one control to keep items in the field of view. Setting up can be as simple as plonking the tripod down on the ground such that the mount is 'facing' the North Star, which is easy to find once you've seen it a few times; it's the star that all the other stars appear to rotate around, the Plough asterism is perhaps the most famous in the night sky, and also an easy way to find the North Star.

As far as eyepieces and other accessories go, scopes will usually come with a suitable finder scope, at this level it's usually fine to keep the one supplied unless you really can't use a straight-through type, then you could upgrade it to a right-angle correcting one (the image is corrected left-right and up-down); you could spend £80-100 on a couple of decent eyepieces, people recommend the BST range though I've never tried one. I like the Celestron range but they start at around £80 for one, they are nice though and should be good for use in any scope (as would the BSTs, I presume). After that lot, you've probably spent more on the accessories than on the scope itself, but if you spend wisely they will be investments, and can usually be transferred to another scope if you choose to upgrade later.

Anyway, I've rabbited on long enough. I own an ST80 and still use it, often with the kit eyepieces, it's a great little compact scope.

[Scott1]

Thanks Jonathan

I like the the Skywatcher startraveler 80. If I want to view moon and planets you need filters and different eye piece am I correct in saying that?

Scott

[Jim Steele]

If you want a reflector consider the heritage 130 flex tube. A lot of aperture for the money and easy to use

[Jim Steele]

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/heritage/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

[Scott1]

Also should I stay clear of this red dot finder?

[Schorhr]

+1 for the heritage 130p, relatively large aperture for the money, nice for planets and Deepsky (especially if you invest 16€ for a 2x magnification Barlow or better eyepiece later).

130mm/5" will show much more details on galaxies, star clusters and so on then a 3" or 4", though a maksutov telescope at that size is neat for daytime photography.

[AlexB67]

Also should I stay clear of this red dot finder?

I'd say it is very easy and intuitive to use, no inverted image, point and shoot as it were . One down side, if in a light polluted area and stars are hard to see it can have its downside finding you way around the sky.

[Schorhr]

On the heritage, as it has a low focal length, a cheap 30mm or 40mm Plössl (15€) will give you almost the maximum field on a 1.25" focuser, about 16/21x (though the 40mm has a too large exit pupil with a f/5 focal ratio telescope), and that's perfect when the red dot finder won't do. Otherwise a red dot finder or better Telrad or rigel quickfinder and maps are better then finder scopes.

For viewing a 20mm uwa, 30€, is much nicer then a Plössl though.

[ronin]

I had dropped the idea of the 130P heritage for a few reasons. First you said £100 and that is £130, second it is f/5 so a plossl may not work too good in it, need more costly eyepieces, next being the construction it is it will not hold collimation well so you will need a collimator very soon, another £25-30, then you need a table to use it on, the whole thing is about 2ft tall and I doubt you want to kneel on the ground.

With almost any scope you will want/need 2 additional/better eyepieces, say £50, with a reflector you will need a collimator, say £25. That is £75 on top of the scope if it is a reflector, so if the 130P that makes just over £200. Now we are somewhat over your prescribed budget.

[Schorhr]

The heritage 130p can be collimated with a collimation cap / film can or the like, and holds collimation pretty well actually.

The supplied eyepieces will do at the beginning, and even Plössl, Erfle are tolerable regarding sharpness imho.

A box and/ or foldable stool will do out on the field, that's how I observe.

Later planetary or Hyperion eyepieces could be an upgrade, but really, I'd always prefer aperture over accessories. The latter can be added later if needed, more aperture for Deepsky will require you to buy a new telescope when you settle for 60-90mm aperture.

[baggywrinkle]

Also should I stay clear of this red dot finder?

I would say stick with the RDF. They are simple and easy to use, However (and there is always a however) they provide no magnification and therefore for dimmer objects makes them harder to find.

I have an EQ5 goto mount and I am adding an RDF to the 9 x 50 spotter so I can get the best of both, but for you at present that may be a later update depending on what you buy.

I have a Skywatcher ED80, going buy the optics quality on that I would think that even with the lower cost optics in the Skywatcher Star Travel it would be very good.

Keep in mind, your first 'scope is never your last...unless the wife makes rather intimidating threats.

[sgazer]

http://www.firstligh...p-flextube.html

X2. Or a pair of binoculars.

[Scott1]

Thank you for the info im starting to see the differences in telescopes now, I like the idea that your first telescope is never your last hence my reason of not starting off spending hundreds of pounds and just buy something which will allow me to have a good quality for the money I can afford and then progress on to a better telescope in future then.

Scott

[jonathan]

And that's the trouble with asking for advice from astronomers - you'll get ardent fans of various models and types, so unless you can afford to buy both or one can be ruled out, you'll still have to make the final decision on your own.

Both types presented here come with a learning curve - the ST80 (refractor) comes with the EQ1 which is a full size beginner mount and tripod, to understand how it works requires a little understanding of how the earth rotates relative to the stars (that's why they appear to rotate around the North Star). With the Heritage 130 (a dobsonian mounted reflector) you will need to know about collimation, that's the alignment of the secondary and primary mirror, to keep up with the movement of the stars you just need to nudge the scope up/down/left/right accordingly, there are usually no controls as such except on the expensive goto models.

One thing I will say about the EQ1 is that the tripod is the weakest part, the leg braces are easily broken if overtightened, this happened to mine but I was able to repair it with a couple of metal tie-wraps.

[Scott1]

Thanks everyone

Im thinking between a skywater Skyhawk 114 or a skywater explorer 130

Any thoughts on these?

Scott

[Jim Steele]

The 130 has a bigger mirror and was well reviewed in the sky at night magazine. The parabolic mirror in the heritage focuses slightly more light to the secondary mirror and is a simpler dob mount. Some of the lower spec sky watcher mounts can be a bit wobbly. £115 from flo atm

[Schorhr]

130mm will Show a Bit more regarding deepsky, Details and so on. It is ultra portable for it's aperture. If you want I can search for One of my Photos comparing the length of a 125/900 and the collapsed/extended heritage. It fits into a large backpack while for the longer 900mm tube you will need a bike Hänger/Transporter OR a car. And a dark location is key for faint objext such as galaxies and best observation results on Star clusters, nebulas and so on.

If I am mistaken the sh 114 and its Not the 114/900 but a short 114/500, collimation is even more critical and the supplied eq mount is really Not that stable Plus ads to the weight.

A Eq mount does have it's benefits but for photography you should get something more stable anyway. Plus the heritage can easily be mounted on a Eq mount. Too.

[Scott1]

Thanks for the information. What do you mean by heritage?

[Schorhr]

Sorry for the confusion, still trying to get the häng of my phone's miniature Keyboard ;-)

the skywatcher Heritage 130p telescope, it's a reflector/newtonian telescope on a simple dobsonian mount and a flex-tube, meaning you can make it shorter during Transport/storage. It seems to cost about 130£ in the UK, 160-190€ now in Germany. I love it to Bits, perfect for travel/backpacking and the balcony.

[Schorhr]

125/900 without mount or tripod, 76/700 on simple dobsonian style Frame and collapsed/extended heritage 130p (130/650) on it's mount next to each other.

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp5/minmont/IMG_0313.html

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp5/minmont/IMG_0314.html

The h130p on a Eq mount (astro 3)

http://ringohr.de/tmp5/130pOnAstro3-oh-shucks-i-need-to-tidy-up-the-mess-before-making-pictures-sorry.jpg

wich is better then a eq1 or eq2 but even with the short heritage 130p a Bit wobbly, and for traveling increases the weight and packing size.