First Scope

[J_N_Y]

So - I hear you guys are pretty good at spending other people's money?

Predominantly funded as a 30th birthday present, I'm looking at having about £300 to spend. Background is this:

I live in a first floor flat. Our balcony faces South West and has a limited field of view thanks to street lamps and neighbours' prized trees. Huge windows in the back face North East - ok for binocular viewing but guessing not for a scope. I have a car so can get around.

So - i have a bit of a dilemma.

on the one hand - I have been looking at the skyliner 200p.From what I have managed to research, it's a fantastic telescope. But - given my flat, any realistic use will be from either local family's back gardens (hey live locally), or popping it in the back of the car and finding a dark spot. It's a pretty bulky fella and dragging it around every time i want to use it i assume will knock the optics all over the place? Also - As i have been using binoculars up to now, will it be too much telescope to get to grips with? I'm just concerned that i may find it all a bit overwhelming, a bit too difficult to use (on an astronomy level, finding things etc. not on a setting up level)? But - I have heard rave reviews about the scope, and the 'lil kid in me wants the biggest toy he can afford!

On the other hand, should i look at getting something a bit smaller? the portability would no doubt be a benefit to getting it out and pointed skyward - which is obviously the most important thing here. I'd rather have a good scope I use often, then a £300 optically superior hatstand. Should i look at something a bit smaller, like the skywatcher explorer 150p? or a refractor telescope? Would the views from them disappoint me do you think? would i yearn for the views through the 200p? Also, a smaller scope would possibly come with an EQ mount - would this make general viewing much easier?

as far as 'what I want out of a telescope' goes - the views are the main thing. Details of the moon, some planet spotting. I'm not hugely concerned about astro imaging yet - but i would like to get into it as time progresses. So the 200p is limited from that perspective, but again, the reviews i have heard sing the praises of it's optics too much to ignore. can it be used for basic astro imaging, or somehom modded to track? But the main thing is just to spot the things i can see on the charts, maybe encourage my girlfriend to see some pretty cool things out there.

I know this is a nice big wall o' text, and if anyone ahs gotten this far down without branding me as a complete plonker- Thank you! Any advice and opinions on what you think would be the best option, I'd love to hear. open to all suggestions and opinions. Thanks!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Transporting the 200P shouldn't do too much damage (you will need to collimate scope more often). If the scope is not too heavy to lift down stairs (or maybe you use a lift) it might well be OK. Have you considered an SCT as an alternative? My C8 has the aperture of the 200P, but is only 45cm in length, and the OTA is very light (4.7kg), compared to the newt. That compact size does come at a price, of course. The maximum FOV is smaller, and the price is quite a bit higher.

[damnut]

MMM op has a budget of £300 so no C8 there, Maybe a smaller 127 mak on a synscan goto mount a few going around used @£275. If you can transport  a 200p then you will not be disappointed. The mak is a great scope but has a narrower field of view.

[ronin]

Just questiuons:

How much observing will be done from the balcony?

I get the impression that quite a bit will be from there and less from elsewhere.

When you say 200P do you mean the dobsonian mounted one or the EQ5 mounted one?

If you are thinking of astrophotography then you may need to rethink the budget, as a minimum for that is really an EQ5 with motors. An EQ5 is £230 and motors an extra £120 so that is £350 and no scope, or other bits. Also a visual scope is not the best scope for imaging, the requirements are sort of similar in name only. Both use a scope and a mount but the scopes are different and the mounts can also be different since the priorities are not the same.

If you are stood on the balcony with a scope how long before the police turn up asking what you are doing?

[J_N_Y]

Thank you all for the comments so far.

I don't thing getting it up or down the stairs would be too bad. It was more the bumps it may receive in the back of the car I was worried about. I have literally no idea how resilient they are to knocks.

I'm tending to think I want to keep away from a go to. I like star hopping through the binoculars, and I feel like I will learn more with a chart and pictures in front of me. I quite like the feeling of achievement in finding a star, and the price of the go to mounts seems excessive for a feature I would consciously try to use less of.

Observing from the balcony as much as possible, unless I have the weather to get out the flat. Ideally I would want to be out all the time, but in a pinch with time constraints the balcony would do. I have no issue getting out and about, I was just concerned the size of the 200p may limit that.

The one I have been looking at is the dobsonian. Astrophotography I think is something I would have to invest in a fair bit, so for now it would definitely be dabbling, a 'hey look what I saw' to my friends and family rather than long exposure or high quality images. I just wasn't sure if the setup of a dob, and the lack of tracking completely prevent basic pictures being taken. If I got the dob, later on in the future, budget permitting could I change it to an eq mount?

And I haven't had any hassle off the police with the binoculars as of yet! Maybe the telescope may the the line to cross hehe.

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[J_N_Y]

Sorry for the double post but I can't see an edit button.

Skywatcher do the skymax 102 :

http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/astronomical_telescopes-sky-watcher-maksutov-cassegrains/skymax-102_eq2.html

[Night Hawk]

There's so much choice out there. As you've read the 200p dob is a good choice but then most dobs are, as the money is spent on the scope and not on the mount. I don't think transporting the 200p would be an issue as you can get base in the boot and the scope along the back seat. Funnily enough I've discovered I need to make less collimation adjustments if I move it in two pieces rather than moving it as one unit.

I'm no expert but if you were to mount the 200p you would need a decent mount eq5 or above. If you were thinking of buying a mounted scope; have the thought about the SW 130 or 150 instead?

I'm sure some of the experts on SGL will point you in the right direction or give you food for thought. But I'm glad of my decision to buy the 200p dob.

Good luck

[-Aldebaran-]

As night hawk does, I transport the Dob in the car with the OTA along the backseat (belted up of course) with the base in the boot. My sessions are not determined by the difficulty of transporting a scope but by the weather, and being in North Wales my telescope makes a lovely hat stand most of the year! For me, purchasing the 200p Donsonian was a no brainer as I had no interest in imaging (too much money involved, only to need a computer to artificially enhance your subjects afterwards?) and it was big enough to get good use and remain relatively inexpensive.

[happy-kat]

Thinking of telescope placement space and eyepiece position if using your balcony you may be better off with a tripod and a telescope that has an eyepiece at the bottom. Such as a refractor or a SCT/MAK.

Where will you observe the most your balcony or somewhere needing a car to transport too, if observing is too much a pain it wont happen as often as it could, to hard, take to long to actually get observing, it might cloud over soon...

[J_N_Y]

It's a good point that if it is a pain to use, it will get used less. I would like to think I would get out and about most of the time and the balcony would be if it was dodgy weather, not much time etc. primarily I would want to use the telescope away from home, the in law's back garden, somewhere with less light pollution. But yes failing the time and conditions the balcony would be a backup

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