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Hello from the South East of England


JimStanley

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I have been a member for a few days, and have been following many of the comments with interest. I have finally decided to post my first ever post (first post on any forum – ever, so pretty daunting!).

 

I am new to Astronomy, and although I have always had a very keen interest, I have never had the time to pursue it – but now I have, so I have decided to buy my first Telescope. I am really interested in Astrophotography, and already have a Canon 100d DSLR and a decent Laptop which I intend to use with my new scope.

 

So my question is which scope?

 

All of the reference material I have read states “don’t by a scope until you have joined a club first” which is what I intend to do (Mid Kent Astronomical Society, http://www.midkentastro.org.uk ). The other thing I have also read, is that the mount is the most important piece of Kit (?).

 

So far I have come up with two possibilities:-

 

Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PDS EQ5 PRO GOTO Newtonian Reflector Telescope - £732.00

Celestron Advanced VX Series 6-inch Newtonian Telescope - £762.00

 

Do you think the VX is worth the extra £30?

Cheers

Jim

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Hi Jim and welcome to SGL - If you are interested in imaging DSO's in particular (galaxies, nebula's - Not planets) then can I suggest buying a copy of the book Making Every Photon Count from the book section of the FLO website before you spend a single penny. Read it once...... twice ..... thrice and then think again about what you need and why. Then you will be in a better position to make an informed choice.

For what it's worth, the HEQ5 and ED80 often get recommended as a great starting place and for good reason. This sort of setup is the basis for many an imagers rig and you will not go wrong with it.

Look forward to seeing you around :)

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Hi Jim,

Welcome to SGL. Nice to see you have done your research, with that sort of budget I would wait until you have visited your astro group, and you should be able to get an 8". Or have a look to see what is available on the used market. (just for info FLO have the 8" on an eq5 goto for £708)  to be found here :--- http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200p-eq5-goto.html

Do not discount a small ed refractor, you should browse the imaging section to see some of the outstanding images that have been produced.

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Hi Jim and welcome to the forum. Have to echo Sara's recommendation above regarding your intended imaging 'rig'. The book (Making Every Photon Count) by the way makes for essential reading and I would certainly use this book as the basis for further researching your options. The main thing to remember whether you are going to be an imager or an observer is to take your time and do the homework, as we all have different budgets with different needs so it is important to make the correct choice that is best for you. The imaging sections here contain some very experienced imagers so you will never be short of good advice and perhaps a couple of posts over there will certainly help you in making a good decision

Clear skies and hope you enjoy your stay here.

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Hi Jim, welcome to the forum. I' m not in a position to give advice on those scopes but I will say that whatever budget you set aside  don't spend it all on the scope. You will be amazed at how many extras you will want to buy or feel you 'need' in addition to  the scope itself. Also don't forget a pair of binoculars!

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You want to be thinking of future proofing your investment and I suggest that if the bug really bites you will be looking at something larger than a 150mm scope at some point in the near future. Consider the payload capacity of the mount...will it take a bigger scope in the future?

Of the two mounts you are considering the Celestron VX has a larger carrying capacity and in fact is a superior mount in several aspects. In fact you would be best comparing the VX with the larger HEQ5 fro Skywatcher. The HEQ5 has been around for a while now and has a great track record, whilst the VX is reasonably new, though it seems to be a good mount and there have been some good reviews written.

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Thanks everyone for such a great welcome, and for all the good advice.

The book “Making every photon count” seems to be a very sensible start, so the book is on order from First light Optics, I can’t wait to get reading.

I am not going to rush in to any purchase, I think it is good advice to speak with the members of my local Astronomy club first, and of course digest the book!

So watch this space and I’ll keep you all updated on my progress.

Thanks

Jim

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, I have absorbed all of your feedback, thanks everyone who offered advice.

Having decided I wanted a 6" Newtonian reflector and then carried out many weeks of research including reading ‘Making every Photon count’ twice ( I think I need to read it again!), and read many informative web pages, I have finally made my purchase. Yesterday, I took delivery of my new scope, a Celestron 8” SCT on the AVX goto mount – nothing like I originally planned!

I have spent several hours today, putting all of the pieces together, and aligning the finder scope (focusing on a TV aerial some distance away – from my back garden, it was the best that I could do).

I cannot believe it took me longer to align the finder than it did to build the scope, but I learnt a lot in the process.

I have well and truly blown the budget, but I am initially impressed with scope and mount, and hope to have many years enjoyment from it.

Whilst doing my research, I came across this site which has some good information for anyone starting out or looking to expand their horizons:-

http://www.rasclondon.ca/joomla34/member-articless

All I need now is some clear sky and I will be out there looking up :-)

Let the adventure begin!

Jim

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