New welsh member saying hi and needs advice

[Sandraj]

Hi everyone, hope I am posting in the right place.

I would like some help with the following........

I want a Scope (not binoculars) to view birds/wild life and the skies

Am I asking to much? I like the Celestron C90 Mak but its not weather proof, is that something that can be overcome with a case or something?  would one of the Celestron Ultima 80 or 100 be OK? I really fancy the travel scope but it seems that isn't up to much, such a shame as the size is nice.

I want to make sure I am still going to enjoy this hobby in a years time before buying a dedicated scope, I also want to add to my scope over time, with new eye pieces etc as that would keep my interest as well.

I know nothing as of yet and am reading and watching video's etc so we need to keep the terminology simple or you will have me very confused.

All help is appreciated, many thanks

Sandra

[rowan46]

Welcome to sgl

generally people use spotting scopes for wild life. they have a couple of advantages over astronomical scopes for terrestrial use.

because of the prism the image is right way up.

they are usually weatherproofed

they are more rugged

and because they are used in the day they tend to be smaller apparture and thus easier to carry around.

its a couple of these qualities that make them less than ideal (certainly not unusable) for astronomy.

For astronomy bigger is best the biggest you can handle comfortably in any of the places you are apt to use it. you may have to trade off  best astronomy views for portability.

If it is predominantly  for wildlife i would get a spotting scope. There are astronomical scopes that can do the job but nothing weatherproofed

[rowan46]

just a mention about the mak. these small maks and the c5 from celestron give great views no false colour and very clear and are probably the best optics in their price range by a long way. unfortunately they have a very narrow field of view. great for nesting birds but not so good for anything moving

[Sandraj]

just a mention about the mak. these small maks and the c5 from celestron give great views no false colour and very clear and are probably the best optics in their price range by a long way. unfortunately they have a very narrow field of view. great for nesting birds but not so good for anything moving

Oh this is so hard to try and decide what to buy, thank you for the post

[rowan46]

what sort of budget are you looking at?

[Sandraj]

what sort of budget are you looking at?

About £200 to £300 would rather keep it as low as possible in case I don't continue the hobby. Would be happy to spend much more in a yr if I find I am really enjoying myself

[rowan46]

does that include tripod?

[Sandraj]

does that include tripod?

I am easy on the tripod, if I need to buy it separate thats ok as it will serve for anything else in the future, so no, it does not include the tripod.

[rowan46]

This may be worth looking at  the colour is not too bad but you will also need to buy an erecting prism 45 degree diagonal and eyepieces.

http://www.hampshireastronomy.co.uk/product/starwave70ed it may be a better astro scope than a spotter but price wise its probably as good optically as all but the better spotters

This is probably a better wildlife scope but its optics are not as good. It comes highly rated as a budget scope thats not necessarily saying its a good scope just that its not bad

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-spotting-scopes/celestron-ultima-80-angled.html

[Sandraj]

This may be worth looking at  the colour is not too bad but you will also need to buy an erecting prism 45 degree diagonal and eyepieces.

http://www.hampshireastronomy.co.uk/product/starwave70ed it may be a better astro scope than a spotter but price wise its probably as good optically as all but the better spotters

This is probably a better wildlife scope but its optics are not as good. It comes highly rated as a budget scope thats not necessarily saying its a good scope just that its not bad

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-spotting-scopes/celestron-ultima-80-angled.html

That is great help and a huge thank you, could you tell me what a image-erecting prism diagonal '  is please.

[rowan46]

an astronomy telescope shows images upside down the image erecting diagonal will turn the  image right way up

something like this

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/william-optics-125-45-degree-erecting-prism.html altough there is probably cheaper on the web somewhere

[Sandraj]

an astronomy telescope shows images upside down the image erecting diagonal will turn the  image right way up

something like this

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/diagonals/william-optics-125-45-degree-erecting-prism.html altough there is probably cheaper on the web somewhere

Thank you, you have been very helpful