Telescope advice

[kernowsims]

Hi, I have recently got into astronomy and bought a cheap 70mm Celestron Powerseeker. To be fair this has given me some good views of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn but I would like to see more detail and get clearer images so I am looking at a bigger/ better telescope but have a limited budget. I have looked at the Skywatcher Evo - 120, EQ3-2 as this is about the top end of my budget but want to know whether this upgrade is good enough to improve my viewing or should I save up more money and get a bigger scope (if so which one?). Thanks for any advice. Chris (Cornwall - UK)

[shirva]

To improve your viewing spend the money on a dobsonian all the money is in the scope and not split between mount and scope..with a dob you will get a bigger aperture for your money...and aready having a seventy I think bigger scope better option....we all go through the I want s bigget scope phase and no one scope does it all but covering a few bases with a reflector and refractor. ..Davy

[rowan46]

Its certainly better than the one you have but if you need to see more, apparture is what you need. This scope is big enough to show you a lot more

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

It's a dobsonion mount which means it will not be any good for long exposure astrophotography ( to be fair the eq3 isn't very good for this either but it is better) the dobsonion can take photo's of the moon and using a webcam image planets but its real strength is visual. its easy to use and has big optics for its price so you will not see more visually for the price than this scope. I must warn you though you still will not see images like the pics even with this scope

[farunj]

I would suggest you get an 8" or a 10" dob. The significant increase in aperture will allow you see much more detail and also penetrate the universe to a larger extent. However this won't be suited to astrophotography as stated. But since you have just gotten into astronomy, I would suggest you view them beautiful sights first, and later think about imaging.

[Ally8446]

My first scope was an Astromaster 130 on an EQ mount. Although I enjoyed the year I had it I wish I had done a little homework. I would definitely have gone straight for an 8 or 10" dobsonian. It's so simple to use. You can just put it outside and after it has reached equilibrium, Bob's your uncle.

Don't be afraid to consider second hand scopes. You can pick up a mint 8" dob for around £200ish.

Enjoy your new hobby and clear skies.

Ally

[ollypenrice]

ANother vote for the largest Dob you can afford.

Olly

[CSM]

A lot depends on your expectations. When you say that you want to see clearer images what do you mean? No amateur telescope will give you the colour images that you see in the magazines. I suggest that, if you can wait a while, you go to one of the star parties that will happen from October onwards and have a look through the scopes at these - and get further advice from the guys and gals there.

[m37]

As a fellow noob I would recommend setting your budget and then getting the best scope/mount combo you can afford. What is the best scope? The one you will use the most, in my opinion. A big factor for me is time so I got the biggest rig I could that was still portable enough to use regularly. I would love a huge reflector on a heavy GEQ motorised mount but I wouldn't get as much from it because of the size of this sort of rig.

If you are only going to want to look at things I think the dob advice is spot on. They are easy to point, no alignment processes, and you'll get the best optics for your money. But if there is even the slightest chance you might want to do some imaging further down the road then it may be worth getting an equatorial mount early on. Spending all your budget on highest quality optics is a definitely a great strategy but if you want to progress to imaging and you get a dob you might be disappointed that you can't track objects. Have you considered a reflector? These seem to me like a sort of half way compromise between a refractor and a dob... you get pretty good aperture for your money and they often come with an EQ mount.

But wait around for more advice from the more knowledgeable guys here, they will point you in the right direction for sure.

And be realistic about what you can see through it. Google a scope name and you will often see images that will give you a rough idea of what you can expect to see.

cheers and good luck.

[shirva]

Hi again Chris...just an add on to this post...all good advice being honest don't think you will ever get bad advice just honest opinions from dedicated astronomers...if you can find a club near you pop along and have a look at there scopes and get a feel of what suits your budget and needs...a lot is said about astrophotography good mounts good scopes if that is way you wish to go a lot of factors creep in especially money I would recommend every photon counts book by Steve Richards available from first light optics as a start point....good luck but don't jump in buying a scope define what you want to see or image what time you can give to the hobby and spend wisely. ..Davy

[planet15]

I have Dobs, EQ and AlZ mounted scopes, and use them all often. Before I used to think Dobonians are the best for easy and fast operation and set up.

But now as I am more getting used to EQ mounts, I realise that if I balance the OTA and EQ mount well, then they are also very easy and smooth to operate, plus they offer added possibility of astrophotography later on. Also as I get more used to the mount, set up time gets faster as well.

All of them seem great in some ways, and weak in other ways. No such thing as this one does all, hence is the best, I feel.

[Moonshane]

don't forget accessories. I agree that the biggest dob you can afford is a great buy for visual but plan also for a star map, red torch and a red dot finder (plus maybe a right angle correct image finder if budget allows). you can have the best scope in the world but if you point it the wrong way you'll not see much.

[kernowsims]

Hi Again, Firstly thanks for all the advice....lots to think about! I have looked at the 200mm dob and see that it is an azimuth mount. One of the things I didn't like about my old Celestron was the azimuth mount as it was a bit tricky to track and also the adjusters were not very good and often the telescope moved even when the adjusting screws were tight. Is the azimuth on the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian better? Sorry to be a pain and thanks again. Chris

[rowan46]

yes its a lot better you still have to track but its just a question of giving it a little nudge. The difference between a dobsonion base and a cheap alt az mount on a tripod is immense

[Schorhr]

Dobs are so stable due to their simple and inexpensive mount, that's why they are so popular :-)

[Ally8446]

Hi Again, Firstly thanks for all the advice....lots to think about! I have looked at the 200mm dob and see that it is an azimuth mount. One of the things I didn't like about my old Celestron was the azimuth mount as it was a bit tricky to track and also the adjusters were not very good and often the telescope moved even when the adjusting screws were tight. Is the azimuth on the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian better? Sorry to be a pain and thanks again. Chris

You will not get the slightest wobble from the base on a SW dob, unless it's blowing a gale of course. You won't be disappointed.

Ally

[Schorhr]

Just received a 3x Barlow the other day, and today, just for the fun of it, viewed the moon with 600x, no trouble regarding tracking and stability with the dobsonians.

With the 4"Mak on a sturdy photo tripod it gets a bit shaky at 300x, same telescope on a Astro3 eq mount probably around 200 with heavy eyepiece.

So the dobsonian really wins in this competition, at least compared to low cost mounts...

[hoops86]

im a total beginner but i dont see anything here about using some of his budget on a good eyepiece.

Based on my very limited expierence... a good eyepiece can be very rewarding when compaired to the standard ones that come with scopes. It can change the views completely.

So i would say keep a little of you budget aside for a decent eyepiece too!

Also as a beginner... i recommend a GOTO scope! You could see 10x the amount of objects in one night compaired to maually trying to find things. However i understand many people get great pleasure finding objects themselfs.

[Schorhr]

I agree with you regarding eyepieces, but even one or two entry level eyepieces (such as uwa or hr planetary for 30-45€) will increase the experience and will be sufficient for quite some time.

Though even the cheap 10€ Plössl I have are quite usable on focal ratio "slower" then f/5.

As for goto: I could not disagree more.

It took me a minute maybe to find m51 without goto the first time, but an hour to see all details of it with my smaller telescope.

It's not about seeing as many objects in one night, at least for me. I want to see details, trying to look indirectly and swapping magnifications regarding the possibilities depending on the current seeing.

Even the whole finding manualy and learning aspect aside, I don't think anyone without goto has trouble finding objects quickly after learning to use their telescope, but you can't see details that you'd see in a larger manual telescope if you settled for a smaller goto telescope for the same price.

[hoops86]

Agreed the eyepiece does not need to be a very expencive one. I just wanted to point out that it was something that could greatly improve his viewing for a small price.

In regards to GOTO i agree that you end up spending a lot of the budget on the mount and not the optics.

However its also a good way to learn the sky while viewing. Instead of learning the sky then viewing

Also helps greatly to find very dim objects that you would otherwise struggle to find if star hopping. Also for me anyway it greatly helped me to verify that the object i was looking at was in fact the object i was trying to find! But with the manual scope i was like 'im pretty sure thats it...dunno tho'

I just feel like a beginner getting into astronomy has soooooo much to learn! a goto takes away one of the big things to learn when starting. It certainly helped me anyway.

Plus its cool seeing it wizzing around doing its thing!

[breezy]

As you can see its horses for courses with people and their scopes/ EPA's .

What you can afford is the important matter, could you hang on for a bit longer and save the extra few quid to get the best bang for your buck?

The other good thing would be to either go to a shop and check a few scopes out or as suggested look for an astro club near you.

At the end of the day or really comes down to what do you want to do with it mate and what ever that is, enjoy it and tell us

[breezy]

Greer new phone with tiny keyboard, meant ep's !!!