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Hello from Lancashire

spanglysparkly

By spanglysparkly
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spanglysparkly

spanglysparkly

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Hi everyone,

I have been lurking on here for a while and posted on the beginners forum yesterday, so I thought it was about time to say hi here  :cheesy: 

I haven't purchased my first telescope and am still in conundrum about it, but I'm in no rush (this is what my post yesterday was about).

From the lovely people who answered my post I am now eagerly awaiting my first package of Turn Left at Orion' Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas and Illustrated Guide to Astronomical Wonders. So I will have plenty to read.

I have decided I would like to buy second hand but worried that I might not know if anything was wrong with any of it.

I did have an eye opening conversation with the hubby about my new hobby and he said that instead of my original £200 budget, why not go new and spend the £400!!!   :eek: I couldn't believe it.... This again opens up all sorts of options.

So next week I'm going to go to a store in Stockport and have look around and ask a million questions, then probably come back here and ask more  :grin:

So hello and I hope I don't ask too many questions and as always - open of loads of advice  :confused:

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laudropb

laudropb

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Hello and welcome to the SGL. Its a good idea to have a look first hand at what is available. You will be able to find out the size and weight of the scopes which is important for storage and portability. Try to decide what your main interests in observing will be, eg Solar system, DSO s etc. This will also govern the best type of scope for you.

All the best John

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. As long as you stick to the main manufacturers (Meade, Celestron Skywatcher) you won't have a problem as their quality control is pretty good along with supplying a good range of scopes for all budgets and interests. If I had to recommend one particular scope then it would be Skywatcher's Skyliner 200P which also happens to be the UK'd best selling scope. It has a lot of aperture for the money (aperture = light = detail) is easy to set up and transportable should you need move it to view from a darker site. The cost is well within your budget allowing you to buy a collimating tool (to ensure the scope's light path is fully callibrated) along with other goodies like a red torch light etc. The 'Dobsonian' part of the description refers the the base that this newtonian style scope is mounted upon and is basically an alt-azimuth style mount that is very easy and intuitive to use. Dobsonian scopes offer the best aperture/value for money than any other scope because most of the money goes into the optics rather than GOTO electronics. Yes you will have to locate objects of interest manually but that's half of the fun and the books that you are awaiting delivery on will certainly get you 'on target' for sure. It is easy to be seduced by the electronics route but if your budget is fixed, then there is no point in buying a system that can show you a possible 10,000 objects if the smaller scope that you are now forced to buy can only reveal a small percentage of that list. You can only cut a cake so many ways but the above 200P scope certainly provides for a big helping in the observational department!  :grin: One item you might like to consider as an add on to your new scope might be a red dot finder like this one or this smaller one. What they allow you to do is to keep one eye on the sky whilst the other eye through the finder sees a projected crosshair that 'appears' to sit against the sky. This is a far more intuitive way of guiding your scope to the chosen target than using the standard optical finder because that reveals an image that is both upside down and back to front. There are optical finders that will show you a 'corrected' image like this one but they can prove to be a little bit more expensive to buy. 

One extra consideration and that is resale value. There may come a time in the future when you no longer wish to be involved in astronomy (....very doubtful!) or more typically that you wish to upgrade (...known as aperture fever - we're all sufferers here). Buying good kit from the start makes sense as it will hold a better resale value (around 70%) which in real terms means that you have actually spent/lost only a small amount of money on your original purchase which is pretty good going for your journeys into outer space. What ever you decide to do, please try to buy your scope from a dedicated astronomy shop or online website. They might not be the cheapest (not much in it in my experience) but what they do provide is after sales service and advice which can be worth a lot more in real terms than saving a couple of pounds.

Remember there are plenty of people here who are willing to advise you and to get the best deal so don't feel you have to rush into it (....easier said than done - we've all been there!  :grin:) and please come back to us with any thoughts.

Clear skies and hope you enjoy the forum

James

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spanglysparkly

spanglysparkly

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Thanks all and a big thanks JamesM for the info. The Skywatcher skyliner 200p did come into the equation but I think that it would be too heavy for me to move and was looking more at the skywatcher explorer and from there, 150 or 200 - hubby said this could be my christmas present but then i wouldn't have any budget unless i bought it 2nd hand http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-eq5.html .I have decided that although it would be handy to have goto capability, I would rather have the aperture,as I have read loads on this forum over the past couple of days about aperture fever and I understand why the skyliner would be go (i'm recovering from an op, so i'm talking 5 hours plus)

I do want to be able to take photos mainly of planets, moon, still abit unsure about deep space objects.

seen this on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skywatcher-Explorer-130m-Newtonian-EQ2-Reflector-Telescope-/221553443469?pt=UK_Photography_Telescopes&hash=item33959d428d

I just want to get this right, I'm trawling ebay and also had a quick look on uk astronomy buy & sell but until i know what i need it seems a bit pointless.

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Spanglysparkly welcome to SGL, some very good advice from James, but as you now advise that you want use a camera, it takes you into a whole new ball game. Aperture is one thing, but not so important as a good solid mount with tracking capabilities and then the pennies start to mount up. This, of course, does not stop you from taking very short exposures with your camera from whatever telescope you buy.  Never the less, if you are eventually intent on imaging, you will have to do a lot more research for a scope and mount within your budget. The 127 Mak has been a popular scope for this purpose and has revealed some very rewarding images of subjects within our Solar system, whatever you end up with, enjoy your Astronomy :)

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purdo

purdo

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Hi & Welcome to SGL.  I too had originally thought of the 200p/eq5 mount as I am very interested n in AP too.  But after taking advice from the folk here I decided to take my time learn how to use  a telescope, find my way around the sky better etc.  Anyway, decided after (3 months) to go for a Dobsonian.  Haven't regretted it, but at some stage with buy a scope with a eq mount for AP.  Only thing is & I knew before I got the scope, it's a bit heavy for me to set up, hubby has set it up every time.  The set up is so quick, only takes a couple of minutes.  I did manage to carry the base once, but was afraid of dropping it, it's a bit cumbersome. Didn't even attempt the OTA. Don't think I would ever sell it, will just have to buy another scope. :grin:

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