so, ive started thinking about my first scope

[Watchman]

The two I am thinking of are a skywatcher 150p refractor or a skymax 127 mak-cass. Either one with an EQ3-2 mount. I will be looking for second hand equipment maybe between £200 and £275 max, I have seen a couple around that price.

I dont exactly have a main interest but would like reasonable detail planet views as well as looking for DSO's.

I am a total beginner but dont want a goto as I want to learn the skies and want the satisfaction of finding things manualy.

Also, any advice on what ep's I would idealy need for the two subjects, also given a quite limited budget.

[rwilkey]

Hi, either telescope will suit your purposes well though I would choose the Skywatcher 150P. Too early to think about new eyepieces, best see what comes with any scope and try those out first, and then you can see what your viewing preferences are before you spend hard-earned cash.

[Carl Reade]

Both good scopes, but I think the 150p would give you an edge for DSOs.

Cheers Carl

[Schorhr]

A Heritage 130P would be very portable to flee from light pollution, or a 6" dobsonian. Tracking objects is easy even at High magnifications.

A 8" would be the best choice if you are looking forward to See Details on deepsky objects, in a 5" you will see shapes of galaxies and under excelent conditions a little bit of detail, but no complex spiral structures or dust bands on most.

http://clarkvision.com/visastro/m51-apert/

Once in a while a 8" is sold cheaply, 200£ or sometimes even less.

Though even on 5" the ring nebula, star clusters and galaxies are amazing, I don't mean to make them sound bad, I enjoy my 5" telescope a lot.

As for Eyepieces I agree with the above, though a 30€ Wide Angle UWA eyepiece, or even a 10€ Plössl, can increase the experience greatly.

Higher magnification for planets is often desirable (if the seeing conditions allow it), and the wide field view and eye relief of the UWA eyepieces is very nice to have.

Good luck choosing your telescope, have fun!

[swamp thing]

Hi

For visual astronomy a good stable mount that dampens vibrations quickly is your best start.

The Dobson mount is inherrantly stable and dampens vibrations very quickly indeed. Finding stuff is easy as the scope moves in any direction with equal ease, not along axis like an EQ. Tracking is easy, the scope being nudged, gently in whatever direction required.

Dobs may look basic but they work.

This is what I would pick if starting out in the hobby today.

http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

[gbeecham]

I too am new to this game and spent a lot of time researching the right scope. You have a biger budget than I had, but I went for a Skywatcher 130p dob mount and am really happy with it. It really good for "grab and go" astonomy and learning the sky. It came with a 25mm and 10mm ep's which seem to me to be pretty good as a start. Conditions havn't been great lately so I haven't seen planets yet. It cost £125 so doesn't break the bank.

[dweller25]

I would look at a Skywatcher 8" Dob - brilliant for the planets and deep sky....... and within your budget second hand

[emadmoussa]

It's really up to you what you prefer.

But for your budget, like Robin suggested, the Skywatcher 150P with EQ3-2 mount is the best value for money as far as I can tell.

Then again, if you're after something simple and don't want to go fiddling frustratingly with an equatorial mount (EQ3 in this case) you can always get a Dobosonian. these usually come with a simple alt-az base (up and down and rotate kind of base). It's ideal for visual. For your money I think you can grab yourself a very nice 200mm (8 inch) one. Like David above mentioned, they're pretty good for deep sky objects and planetary. But if you see yourself experimenting with astro-photography in the future I'd suggest an equatorial mount.

Refractors are generally more expensive, and price increases dramatically for every extra inch. From my experience a small refractor makes more sense as a first scope - it's more straightforward and physically more comfortable. But reflectors of the same price tag can output a much better performance. For example and 8" achromatic refractor could be 3 times more expensive than a reflector of the same caliber. Apochromatic refractors on the other hand (the ones with higher quality lenses that don't produce any false colours) could be 10 times more expensive than a reflector. I guess in general reflectors require a little bit more getting used to in terms of the side eyepiece hole and up-side-down images.

If you go reflector - be it a 150P or a Dobosonian - may I suggest you invest in a right-angled finder scope and/or a Telrad? They'll make your life much easier.

Shop around before committing to buy. You'll find some deals cheaper than others. Still, the base price is almost the same, but sometimes some dealers are happy to ship for free, which will save you some pennies.

Also, place ''wanted'' ad on ABS if you're after a second hand piece of gear

Good luck!

[Rustysplit]

Having started out with a 200p EQ5 combo, then moved to an EQ6, and now having gone back to basics with dobsonian, My advice would be the same as Steves', get a 150p dob. Why? Having used the EQ mounts and enjoyed the slow motion controls/tracking motors and then full goto on the EQ6, I found myself getting a bit frustrated with the waiting for the mount to slew round o the driven mounts, and ending up at odd angles when going from one side of the sky to another. This was not helped, I admit, by getting into imaging, and the further headache of patchy cloud!!!

Since building my dob, the enjoyment has all come back to just getting out there and looking. Patchy cloud is not an issue, just swing it around to a clear patch of sky. The eyepiece tends to be in a naturally comfortable position too. Chuck a telrad on it and finding stuff is a doddle. The 150p has a good focal length so planetary views will be good, but not so long that DSO's will be very dim. A good all rounder. If you can grab one secondhand then a total bargain.

[Watchman]

Ok, thanks for advice so far, the 150 skyliner looks good and a quick look shows I could pick a 2nd hander up for around £150 leaving me more spending power on extra's afterwards.

So is there anything I should be extra watchful for when buying 2nd hand?

[Watchman]

Oh and the right angled finder scope attachment sounds good too, I currently play about with the daughters skywatcher minidob but the finder scope is a bit too much of a pain to see through :-S

[PlanetGazer]

Having started out with a 200p EQ5 combo, then moved to an EQ6, and now having gone back to basics with dobsonian, My advice would be the same as Steves', get a 150p dob. Why? Having used the EQ mounts and enjoyed the slow motion controls/tracking motors and then full goto on the EQ6, I found myself getting a bit frustrated with the waiting for the mount to slew round o the driven mounts, and ending up at odd angles when going from one side of the sky to another. This was not helped, I admit, by getting into imaging, and the further headache of patchy cloud!!!

Since building my dob, the enjoyment has all come back to just getting out there and looking. Patchy cloud is not an issue, just swing it around to a clear patch of sky. The eyepiece tends to be in a naturally comfortable position too. Chuck a telrad on it and finding stuff is a doddle. The 150p has a good focal length so planetary views will be good, but not so long that DSO's will be very dim. A good all rounder. If you can grab one secondhand then a total bargain.

Is not possible to rotate the tube about its main axis when an eyepiece is an odd position?

[AlexB67]

You can turn and twist it anywhere you like, bending down or standing up to view at the eyepiece may be a bit more or less comfortable, but I have never failed to point it at anything I want to see, the only thing stopping me are trees, houses and fences If you have bad back though these scopes can give you a few aches after extensive use I imagine. I have the small Heritage and used it on the ground, tables and chairs and been in all sort of contortions to avoid my street light as well, but always managed fine.

[Rustysplit]

Is not possible to rotate the tube about its main axis when an eyepiece is an odd position?

But for me that was the point, just one more thing to faff about with. I think Eq mounts are great if you going to be imaging at all, if not, the simplicity of a dob or alt/az sure takes some beating for visual use. I think we all find what works for us after using a few set ups. It is part of the fun.