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TheDude87

By TheDude87
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TheDude87

TheDude87

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Hi all, first time poster. Just ordered my first telescope, It's a reflector scope. I'm sure it won't be the greatest but as I say it's my first one and didn't want to go big until I see how things pan out. To be honest it's all I could afford at the min. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I here dunfanaghy isn't a bad spot for dark sky's and a bit of camping. Thanks all!

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HIP3802

HIP3802

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Hi, TheDude87, and welcome to SGL! Congrats on the new scope!

If you haven't already got it, I can highly recommend the free planetarium software 'Stellarium'. Many on here use this not only to find objects in the night sky, but also to plan viewing sessions. The software is customisable for your location and even for individual scopes and eyepieces - so that you know (roughly) what to expect to see through your eyepiece when looking at objects. (Downloadable from here: http://stellarium.org/). Another great resource - but not free! - is the book 'Turn Left at Orion' which gives directions and hints on how to find a large number of objects  in the night sky using 'star hopping' techniques.

Hope that helps,

Martin

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. Agree with Martin's recommendations of Stellarium and the book too as they two items together will enable you to get the maximum out of your new scope.

Clear skies and hope you enjoy the forum

James

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Schorhr

Schorhr

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Welcome to the forum!

I don't want to be a spoil sport, but while the telescope is ok, the mount is horrible.

They should be against the law ;-)

I started with something like this (just branded differently) and even though I read about the mount I bought one... But used for around £10.

And even then, it's really only usable when building a dobsonian mount (5£ worth of hardware store supplies) and one or two better eyepieces.

If building a dobsonian rockerbox mount IS an option, this one has more aperture and shows quite a bit more http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141137407430?nav=SEARCH&sbk=1

What's your budget, then?

If you can stretch it a bit the Heritage 130p comes into reach and it will start to show a bit of detail on deepsky objects, the mount moves super smooh and it's more compact.

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Schorhr

Schorhr

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The mounts available that would be rigid enough to carry the telescope will all cost more then the telescope itself :-(

How's the return policy where you bought it?

If that is No Option you could build a Rockerbox mount.

I tried optimizing my mount that came with the 76 700 but there was little that really helped.

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Schorhr

Schorhr

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Indeed, it's one of the telescopes with the best value overall, but even the 114/500 dobsonian will probably beat the 76 700 on ShakyTripod (The National Geographic 114/500 dobsonian sells here for 81gbp, it seems to be more expensive in the UK --- weird! But it's aperture ratio is kind of cirtical regarding eyepieces, coma and parabolization anyway...).

The next upgrade to the Heritage 130p would be a 8" as a 6" won't show that much more compared to 5".

There are a few 130/650 out there around the same price as the heritage, but usualy on EQ2-Mount. While those are still better then the simple tripod the 76 700 comes on, they are a bit weak for a 5" overall.

Too bad so many stores and manufactures bundle good telescopes with weak mounts just to be able to provide a low price, but in the end leaving customers unhappy.

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