Primary school astronomy club 2!

[DazEales]

Hi all,

First of all a big thank you for all the advice and friendly welcome messages.

I have taken your advice and have been to meet my local astronomy club and they were great! Really helpful and friendly and they are happy to come down to the school with their equipment for a taster session with the kids!

I also managed to speak to someone there that sells telescopes and he has given me a number of options for my initial £500 and I was wondering if anyone has any opinions.

Should I look to buy a bundle that includes 2 refractor scopes a Newtonian a travel scope and some binoculars, this package sounds great but my worry is that none have tracking motors and am sure if I may be better going for the second option that has a super track 127 with a tracking motor plus a 130 dobsonian.

.

Option 2 is less equipment but does mean that I won't have to keep finding an object every time another pupil wants to have a look.

I am a novice at this so any advice is warmly welcome!

Thanks

Darren

[damnut]

Hi Darren,

That is a difficult choice, could you let us know what the refractors are so we can make a considered  recommendation. Also it would depend on if you see further funding coming from the School, when maybe you could add a goto scope. I would create the interest first,  you can have lots of fun finding objects and that is something that can be taught rather than having a line of children waiting to have 1 minute at the scope which is not enough time for eyes to get adapted. So free, stuf planetarium programs, plenty out there but try Stellarium its great and can be found here :-- http://www.stellarium.org/

Ask your library to get a couple of copies of 'Turn Left At Orion', make target lists you can give to small groups, see if you can get your local astro shop to put in a bit of sponsorship (Rother Valley Optics).

SO at the moment I would go for a bit of quantity to get your students engaged, so long as the refractors mentioned re ok. But £500 you could get 2 * Clelestron 90mm Astromasters on az and a 150p dob (From FLO),, twist dealers arms for a couple of pair of binos or pick up some binos off ebay...

Good luck with the project.

[brantuk]

Hi Darren and welcome to SGL

Imho I wouldn't want to keep finding stuff for them every time another student wants to have a look. I would be looking to teach them how a scope works and how to find things for themselves. I'd make it a condition that they attend the theory class before they get anywhere near a scope. Then I'd be on hand for guidance and to help them make corrections to how they're using it during the practicals.

I'd also take them through a list of things to look for before each practical session where they get hands on with the gear. In terms of gear - I'd avoid electronics - £500 will barely cut it for one scope never mind two or three - and the flimsy cheap end electronic scopes will soon get broken. One each of the two main types of scope and mount would be the order of the day.

1. A newtonian on a dob base - you'll get a good 8" for around £200 on the used market.

2. A starter refractor on an eq5 or cg5 equatorial mount with slo mo controls - £300 would just about cover it second hand.

You may even fit a couple of pairs of Liddl bins into the budget for that. But I'd make it very clear from the outset that these are scientific instruments and they have to do a little theory first before doing the practicals - and they'd have to achieve set goals (i.e. identify and find specific objects) each session. Also make Sky at Night part of their reading requirements.

Hope that helps - if you need any more advice do keep the questions coming.

[brantuk]

Woops - dunno what happened there but I wrote a long response and somehow lost it - ugh!

Oh! It came back lol

I wanted to add - make sure you get your educational discount if buying brand new. And I think the items may be VAT free through the school account - but double check on that - not sure what's changed since I was in education.

[DazEales]

Hi,

Option one is:

1x Celestron 80 AZS telescope with tripod

1x Skywatcher 90 EQ telescope with tripod

2x Visionary table top compact telescope

3x 7x50 binoculars

1x Celestron travel scope 70 ex-display + solar filter

Option two

Skywatcher 150p newtonian reflector.

Celestron 80 AZS telesope

1x pair of 7x50 binoculars

Option three:

Supatrak 127 with motor drive

Heritage 130 dobsonian. No motor drive

Lots of choice for my £500 - need something that will engage with the children and keep their interest

Any tips/advice/help welcome

Thanks

Darren

[brantuk]

Nope - I'd go for :

Skywatcher 200P dob and SW Evostar 120 on EQ5. Plus maybe a pair of Liddl Bins. Check Flo's prices for brand new and work out 65% of the total for second hand prices - it works out around £500 and you get a couple of great instruments that are very solid, stable and will withstand a good battering from little hands lol.

[baggywrinkle]

Well done on the start up round.

I would still go by my initial response and keep it simple. If they have to nudge and learn to find things then I do not think that is such a bad thing. Youngsters have access to all kinds of stuff to make their lives a little easier...but that is not always rewarding.

Good luck.

[ronin]

Have not looked up costs and could be out but I would say 1 motor driven mount and one manual dobsonian.

If funds allow then the 150P dobsonian, bigger and the 130 needs a stand/table and looks like it is not overly robust.

At a school I suspect "robust" is a necessary requirement.

[kalasinman]

I feel that as this is an elementary level, a DOB would be a poor choice. I know we love them on SGL, but as a great grandpa, I seem to recall that kids of that age are not well disciplined (a good thing) and would be bumping it off target at least once every viewer. They also tend to be short. Being atop a stand? Sounds dodgy. A small newt with goto gets my vote.

[sparticles]

have you considered a tal 1m? incredibly rubust and crop up used for around £100,including the mount...

[sparticles]

*robust*..

[happy-kat]

How many children would you average would attend each session?

[DazEales]

Probably between 8 and 12

[brantuk]

A Tal is a great idea - my 100rs was only £100 - and I got a CG5 mount for another £120 (all second hand prices). It would make a great combination.

[happy-kat]

A refractor does put the eyepiece at the easy to use end for children and it looks like what they might expect.

Plus less fragile.

[Siriusmeg]

I have max 12 at my sessions - the 150p dob is great as the ep is about at their eye level, and with a bit of instruction they can easily use it by themselves to find/observe the Moon.  I would recommend getting more adults involved to help though - we have 3 or 4 to keep everyone on track  

+1 for the setting targets/tasks - we use simple Moon recording sheets so they can locate and name craters, make observations and sketches - they can they work as groups around a scope, with one observing while others record.

[happy-kat]

I guess I was thinking the children would be a bit shorter and wouldn't reach :-)

[Guy Wells]

I would use a 127mm Mak on a GoTo. This way you would have a large database of object to view. The target would always be ready for observing. Children lose interest fairly quickly. I had a group of 10-15 children a few weeks back. They enjoyed Saturn. Not 20 seconds later they were enjoying the Moon...

[Dom1961]

If you're looking for computerised, this may be an option http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=101248

[alro]

I would recommend goto as one. The database is fantastic, so far mine has performed exceptionally, really accurate, which does help especially if trying to maintain and captivate youngsters interest.

I think telescope house had all celestron nexstars reduced.

FLO did have a sky watcher discovery for 300, not sure if they still have.

good luck

al

[J_N_Y]

Have you gauged interest from the kids yet? Just nosey as to their opinions - going into teacher training in September, and your whole idea here is inspiring!

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

[CSM]

Our society recently bought a Celestron 114LCM catadioptric Newtonian specifically for use at Star Parties and for beginners. As commented, their attention span may not be great and with a Dobsonian there is always the problem of the next viewer knocking the scope - beginners don't know how to use the eyepiece and it takes practice - so easy to bump into the eyepiece.  With luck you will get one or two pupils who become really interested.  They are the ones who will want the theory and learn their way around the sky.