Advice for a newbie please

[Butz]

Hi All

I am very new to this and only registered with SGL so please bear with me but I would really appreciate some advice. 

I currently have a Skywatcher Heritage 130P...I say 'have' but it's currently at my sister's house (her husband is keen on watching the skies) in a different part of the country. 

This leads on to my query as I would like to get another telescope that I can use in my back garden as I don't visit her very often. I I live in Bristol where light pollution is a real pain and limited with my options as I don't have transport. My budget is around £150. 

I would like to try a refractor scope this time aound but after spending most of this morning reading through the forums, I'm not sure if that is the best thing to do due to the light pollution issue. 

If it doesn't make much difference then the two Skywatcher scopes I've seen so far are the Mercury 705 and the Evo Star 90 (EQ2). I'm not too worried about DSO but would like to be able to see planets etc.

Many thanks in advance

[Kirscovitch]

Celestron C90 or something similar?

[wavydavy]

You get more value per money on a reflector than a refractor..........and much better colour. A cheap refractor will nearly always show to much false colour, go for a reflector..........check out the online auctions you should easily get a half decent scope that way. I picked up a 6" reflector for £85.

[rwilkey]

Hi Butz, a warm welcome to the forum!  Both scopes you mention are good scopes, however, the Evostar 90 is better because of the greater aperture, a 90 is a good starter size and you will be able to view planets, Moon and DSO's from your back garden.  Despite light pollution in Swindon, we are about a mile from the centre, we have viewed M81/M82 from our back garden, along with M31 Andromeda Galaxy with naked eye to start with, so don't underestimate what a good scope like this can do, we have the Meade DS2090 so the same aperture as the SW, and it is great.  If you can afford it, I would recommend the stronger EQ3-2 mount, you will appreciate the better stability, essential when viewing the night sky out in the cold. This is an f/10 telescope so best on planets, Moon and double stars.

[rwilkey]

Fortunately, the refractors you are looking at are not cheap and will show little or no false colour, which is a bit of myth on smaller apertures, get up tp 120 and 150 then I would agree in part.  However, can be corrected with a semi-apo filter.  Never seen any false colour on our 90 and 100 refractors.

[Butz]

Many thanks all and for the welcome

The light pollution in Swindon strikes a chord as I live a similar distance from the centre of Bristol. My back garden is dark so I don't have to worry about street lights but it's just that glow elsewhere that hampers things. 

The Evostar 90 is leading at the moment 

[rwilkey]

I know Bristol well as I used to live in Bath, I am sure if we can have good viewing pleasure from our back garden I am sure you will.  I prefer refractors at the moment as easier and quicker to set up, we have both ours on alt-az mounts and that makes life easier for us, especially as I am partly disabled.

[Butz]

Hi

I went for the Evostar 90 and it arrived today....All I (we) need now is clear skies! 

Many thanks for the help, it's much appreciated

[nightfisher]

i have not tried the 90 evostar but it should be a nice scope, look forward to hearing how you get on with it

[ronin]

The 90 should be a good scope, each scope type has their pro's and con's and the Evostar 90 will do most things pretty well. It is one of those that even if you get a bigger/better (whatever better is) scope you would do well to keep hold of it for general use.

[Alien 13]

The 90 should be a good scope, each scope type has their pro's and con's and the Evostar 90 will do most things pretty well. It is one of those that even if you get a bigger/better (whatever better is) scope you would do well to keep hold of it for general use.

I agree it one of those keeper scopes that will be in its element cloud dodging with this awfull weather we are getting.

Alan

[Butz]

Well,like many others, I've only managed a few moments using the telescope but luckily got some decent views of the orion nebula before the clouds blocked it out again...Hope everyone has managed to get some good viewing in 

[rwilkey]

Well done Butz, you will come to love the telescope and what it can do, good luck and clear skies!

[happy-kat]

Nice and it is different to your heritage (assuming you get it back) so they can work together