Advice please

[Psy918]

Hi everyone,

New guy here, I have recently moved to Australia from the U.K. and I am very impressed so far with the clear skies and lack of light pollution down here.

Having spent most of my life gazing at the stars and planets with just my eyes and the last couple of years with my binoculars, I have decided its time to get a telescope, as I want to see more of what is out there! Also, over the last few months I have been dabbling with astrophotography. Direct DSLR work with a tripod, nothing fancy at the minute (average results to be fair, but still fun).

My estimation of use would be around 20% planets, 70% star/deep sky, 10 % photography ( camera mounted alongside the telescope initially, I think).

My budget is probably around £2000 ! Maybe, stuff is overpriced here.

Any recommendations or suggestions ?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[LukeSkywatcher]

My estimation of use would be around 20% planets, 70% star/deep sky, 10 % photography ( camera mounted alongside the telescope initially, I think).

I think in this case you really want a 200-300mm Dob.

[rowan46]

if you are looking at a 1 scope solution Then your best compromise imo is the skywatcher 200pds on on the neq6 its not the best. 1 scope to do everything isnt but its the cheapest that will do everything. If you really want to spend up to the budget I would consider  a c8 advanced vx goto for planetary imaging and viewing

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/advanced-vx-goto/celestron-c8-sct-vx-goto.html

a skywatcher ed 80 for deep space imaging  again use on the vx mount

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-ota.html

and a dob of at least 150mm for deep space viewing

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

or better

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

 I don't know what australian prices are like but I imagine the 200pds on neq6 will come under budget  and I would order this book from the uk 

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

I think I heard that its out as a Kindle edition as well but i am not sure anyway these suggestions are  just my opinion I hope they help. Welcome to sgl

[baggywrinkle]

I have move from Aus.

Get a copy of Australian Sky & Telescope and start trolling through the suppliers. The problem I found was that few had prices like the UK and US.

Though he is in Perth Keith Williams at BTOW is a great guy and will give good advice. I did visit a couple of shops in Melbourne but was unimpressed...I bought 2 OTA's fcrom Keith and had excelllent service.

http://btow.com.au/

[jonathan]

Depending on your situation, you may need something that you can transport.  While an NEQ6 Pro SynTrek or SynScan is 'portable' it is very heavy so a car is going to be essential (unless back yard is good enough).  A dobsonian mount would be no good for photography, so you would either have to forget about the photography bit or have an EQ mount for that instead, which could be no bad thing if you have the space because the hefty NEQ6 is not really a grab and go setup, whereas a dobsonian can be.  300mm dobsonians are quite large though, 350 (12 inch) could be as tall as a man and almost as wide, and may be difficult to move through doorways assembled.

I have two EQ mounts - Omni CG-4 and NEQ6 Pro.  I bought the NEQ6 for my 8SE and any other large scope I might buy, and in case I ever do get around to trying some simple astrophotography.  The CG-4 is my grab and go mount, it will easily take my 150P reflector or 102 refractor and can be lugged out in one piece (minus the scope) by me and my feeble muscles.  The CG-4 could be used for some simple astrophotography too, mainly wide-field short exposure stuff, so it just depends what you want to photograph.  You may not discover this until you've actually tried it out, something will grab you and then you expand into that area.

You could start with a mount such as the CG-4 (EQ3-2 is about the same, but weaker tripod legs) and see how you get on.  You could then trade up or keep the mount as a grab and go for visual use.

[Psy918]

Great advice, thanks. So, in an ideal world i need at least two scopes and a good quality mount.

I have a car, with plenty of room in it for transporting whatever I end up with, so one thing is sorted.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jonathan]

Aye, scopes suitable for imaging are usually not the best for visual and vice versa.  Refractors are popular with imagers but do not offer as much light-gathering as large reflectors or SCT scopes for less money, your eyes are generally fixed in their 'speed' (once fully dark-adapted) and can't be set to longer exposure times so you need as much of that faint starlight to reach your eyes as you can afford.

[itmo]

get a dob, worry about the AP later. You can do basic astrophotography with dobs too and when you REALLY start doing AP , 2000 pounds wont even get you the tripod.. I would suggest a goto dob like mine, skywatcher dobs work ok with or without electricity and have dual encoders so you can just move them around by hand or use goto/tracking however you want. maybe a 10 or 12" if you dont lack space and can carry a bigger scope. 

[astronymonkey]

Get a big truss tube dob which will fit in your car, goto and pushto systems are in your price range...... and nothing will come close visually for deep sky 

[Psy918]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I have just been given access to a ten inch dob for a few months, no goto on it though, it should improve my Southern Hemisphere knowledge quickly.

After the time is up I may have to reconsider my options, thanks again

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk