Which Telescope

[joel222]

I've just joined the forum today in the hope of some advice on which telescope to buy my son for his 7th birthday. Would the telescope at the following link be any good? Also, as I'm a photographer it would be nice to be able to attach my dslr to it to get some images too. My budget is upto £200 so any help/advice would be much appreciated. 

Thanks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skywatcher-Startravel-80-400-Accessories/dp/B00G53UQQY/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

[ronin]

At 7 likely a nice easy to use scope, short and wide, kind of find anything in it.

Attaching your DSLR is the problem.

Yes you can, other then the moon you will not get much out of it.

Unfortunately the stars move, and are dim.

By the time you have collected enough light they have made big streaks all over everything. You are looking at exposures of 30 seconds to 600 seconds and that is for the brighter objects (not moon)

For this you need an equitorial mount and one that is driven by motors.

So yes the scope will be easy for your son, however getting pictures is not reaslly an option.

[Sirius Starwatcher]

Hello Joel and welcome to SGL if you have a look at the First Light Optics web site you will find reviews on this scope and others that are very similar which will be useful in making your decision . Best of luck with your choice.

[happy-kat]

Hi

That is my setup I keep at my Mum's.

It looks like what a telescope a 7 year old probably expects.

It is not huge and too big and for you make a great portable grab and go.

You can use a webcam to create images of the Moon for example I think I needed an extension tube to use my webcam.

Yes I can attach my dslr but have made a simple counter weight to balance the telescope and camera. But don't expect great quality. I do need the extension tube here. Great for the moon.

However there will be chromatic aberration on the limb of bright objects, but for me I don't find it too troublesom.

My better eyepieces show less CA.

The mount means no long exposure is possible on stars but it is easy to use and has slow motion controls.

A longer tube telescope would show less CA as would be slower and also potentially take more magnification.

[CSM]

Do have a look at the Beginners Guide on the FLO site.  Although Amazon is cheap - something to do with taxes? - they won't give you any support or advice.  And as well as their beginners guide look at the FLO Skywatcher range.  There are far more options in the Skytravel range than just that one scope you mention and if you look at the Evostar range you might just want to extend your budget a fraction.  But do bear in mind that there are always extras to get.  Download the Stellarium computer program and if you get the chance before your son's birthday, visit a Star Party and talk to the guys there, look through the scopes and be thoroughly amazed - and probably a bit confused - we all get like that at the start.

[Lowjiber]

There's nothing wrong with that scope... for your son.  However, if you're buying it for you to use with a camera, forget that.

[lensman57]

I've just joined the forum today in the hope of some advice on which telescope to buy my son for his 7th birthday. Would the telescope at the following link be any good? Also, as I'm a photographer it would be nice to be able to attach my dslr to it to get some images too. My budget is upto £200 so any help/advice would be much appreciated. 

Thanks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skywatcher-Startravel-80-400-Accessories/dp/B00G53UQQY/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt

Whatever you end up buying for your child please do make sure that you keep it way from him during the daytime hours and do not let him use it unsupervised, the temptation for a child to turn the scope towards the sun is very strong. I can tell you from my own personal experience when I was a child and used to " borrow" my dads binos. Better safe than sorry.

A.G

[skfboiler]

That scope seems to be good scope for you and your son. Like others said for astrophotography you are limited. After a while and if it is in your budget, for astrophotography I would consider an one of the lowest cost GoTo equatorial mounts like the one in the link. For astrophotography, with the correct dovetail you can move the scope to the mount and it will track and get you at least 2 to 3 minute exposures and get good pictures.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?k=goto+mount

[joel222]

Thanks for the help guys. I don't mind paying a bit more if you think it would be worth the extra and you could recommend something?

[Dave In Vermont]

I concur with John (Lowjiber), etal, that the ST80 on that mount would be fine - but not for astrophotography. I have an ST80 myself. It makes a great "grab-and-go" scope that can take a lot of stresses - like what kids are wont to put on them. Want to spend more money? Okay - get a copy of "Turn Left At Orion" and read it together:

http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundreds-Telescope/dp/0521153972

And, perhaps, a nice, and fun, way to find your way around the night sky from where you are?

http://www.stellarium.org/

And you should then have a good introduction to the un-ending world of astronomy and it's myriad facets.

Happy Holidays!

Dave

[ollypenrice]

Astrophotography is complicated and expensive, largely because you need an expensive mount. A bare minimum would be this one. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-eq3-pro-goto.html

The scope itself is very competent indeed but a upgrade on the mount to the HEQ5 would be a good investment.

Setting imaging aside your original choice was very sound.

Olly

http://ollypenrice.smugmug.com/Other/Best-of-Les-Granges/22435624_WLMPTM#!i=2266922474&k=Sc3kgzc

[RichM63]

It's like the ST80 fan club around here. We all seem to love them.

Another advantage, is that with the erecting diagonal or prism your son + you could use it on holidays for ship spotting etc. (just be careful where you point it if it is you at the eyepiece when at the beach )

[joel222]

Ok thanks for all the replies. Just one more thing, an ad popped up with the telescope in the following link and wondered which would be the best buy? If you could have a look I'd be very grateful, thanks.

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sky-watcher-evostar-90-eq-2-refractor-telescope/p10584

[Dave In Vermont]

Ok thanks for all the replies. Just one more thing, an ad popped up with the telescope in the following link and wondered which would be the best buy? If you could have a look I'd be very grateful, thanks.

http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-sky-watcher-evostar-90-eq-2-refractor-telescope/p10584

Hello again!

"The better buy" is really a misnomer here. This would depend on how much money you can spend. The 90mm F/10 is a scope that brings in more light - allowing you to see dimmer objects - and will allow higher magnification to be employed on nights with good seeing conditions. So it would be a more capable instrument on these counts. Add to this the equatorial-mount, which will involve a steep learning-curve to employ properly, and it's a better package when simply put side-to-side. But this does cost more, so it is up to you to decide which way to go. If it is affordable, I'd go for the Evostar.

My major reservation is where it is bought from. From the ad copy, I am thinking the outfit selling it isn't really into astronomy much. And I'd want it from an outfit that knows about telescopes and can answer any/all questions. As well as provide good support after the sale is made.

That's my 2 - pence,

Dave

[joel222]

Ok thanks for the info Dave

[happy-kat]

That is a much bigger / heavier telescope and mount, your boy is 7.

Off to find photo for scale.

[happy-kat]

Sorry too late to edit my post.

This is a link to an image of the evostar. I guess Dad would help :-) it has a scale image and review.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/141556-skywatcher-evostar-90mm-refractor-review/

The text shows yellow on my tablet so I had to select all of it to read it.

[joel222]

Thanks. The reason I'm thinking about spending a bit more is that I don't want to have to upgrade a month after having it after finding out there are better ones for a few £ more. If for the extra £15-20 we will get better views I don't mind paying the extra. As someone mentioned earlier though I'll have a steep learning curve with the equatorial mount, will this be much of an issue as would like to keep it simple too?

[happy-kat]

I have never used an equatorial mount so can't comment there.

But I do use an ST80 on the AltAz3 mount and it is a breeze.

Some of your budget would be good to set aside for one better eye piece as the supplied 10mm is not great with either telescope. Also the book probably already mentioned Turn Left at Orion.

[joel222]

Right.......I've ordered the book mentioned above and chose the evostar but then came across another one too. They are both around the same price and the only difference I can see is that one is f6.7 - 130mm and the other is f10 - -90mm. Which of these two should I buy? If it makes a difference I'd rather look at planets than deep space.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-eq2.html

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-explorer-130.html

[Dave In Vermont]

The Skywatcher 130mm is a Newtonian Reflector. And this throws a whole other steep learning-curve to you: Having to learn to collimate the optics. If this scope is really for the kid (I'm beginning to wonder... ), I'd be hesitant to do so. I'd stick with the Evostar refractor. Reflectors can be fine for kids, but I'd suggest a table-mounted Dob set-up.

My 2p,

Dave

[happy-kat]

Great on the book.

I guess the question to ask is does either telescope need to be easy usable by your 7 year old son?

The explorer the eye piece will rotate into different positions as it sits on an eq mount. It may be akward or harder for your son to see into the eye piece.

Both telescopes sit on an eq mount. I have not used an eq mount, perhaps someone with one and a young child could add comment on use.

[joel222]

The scope is for my son but the more I read about them the more I'm getting interested in them myself too. As he'll only be using it with me I suppose I'd always be on hand to set up etc, but that being said, I'm also new to all this so I neither want something too complicated at first. I'd just read somewhere that said the widest aperture the better, but didn't realise the 130mm one was a reflector. If the refractor is going to be easier to use I think I'll go with that one for now and see how we go.

[happy-kat]

Refractors give that nice point and look simplicity with the eye piece at the bottom if on a tripod. A table top dob like the heritage 100p would be very easy to use by a young person I would imagine and although a reflector it is designed to not need collimation.

It is fun choosing :-) to get a feel for scale of the Evo there are pictures in the link I gave on the first page of your thread.

[joel222]

Just an update......I'd like to thank everyone for their input as to which telescope to buy my boy (and me) and I've ordered a skywatcher evostar 90 (az3). Now just have to wait until his birthday on the 10th of Feb to play!