Need advice on the first set of bins and telescope

[dk20dk]

Hello SGLers,

could someone share thier opinion on my first set up? I've studied the basics of getting into the hobby and decided to take it slow: books ('Turn left ar Orion' and others in my native language) — binoculars and tripod — telescope. My house is located in Thai rural area, away from the city lights, so the sky gets really really dark, milky way is clearly visible. Also I'm not sure international shipping is a good idea (warrenty-wise) and there's only one local thai website for amateur astonomers, I will be referring to it from now on. 

Binoculars (budget 5000THB, ≈£100):

I'd love to have a pair of Helios 10x50, but those on ebay with free delivery from Korea look really fishy  . Here's what I've chosen on the website that delivers within Thailand:

Orion Scenix 10x50 http://www.thaiexcite.com/Orion-Scenix-10x50-Wide-Angle-Binoculars-Black.html

Other bins: http://www.thaiexcite.com/Binoculars/

Any comments are welcome.

Later when I'm done familiarising myself with the sky using books, apps and bins, I'm planning to buy this telescope:

GSO 8" Dobsonian Telescope with 2" Crayford Focuser GS680 http://www.thaiexcite.com/GSO-8-Dobsonian-Telescope-with-2-Crayford-Focuser-GS680.html

Other available telescopes: http://www.thaiexcite.com/Telescopes/

My budget for the telescope is THB25000, ≈£500. This GSO 8" comes with 2 EPs: 2” 30mm (40x) 68° and 1.25” 9mm (133x) 52° field Plössl. From SGL I've learnt that GSO EPs have a pretty solid reputation around here and the website offers a selection of those here http://www.thaiexcite.com/GSO-Super-Plossl-45-50-degree-FOV-/

I'd highly appreciate any comment on my choice of equipment and advice on the additional EPs I should buy.

[dk20dk]

Side note: I'd really love to do some deep sky imaging and am fully aware that a Dob with no tracking leaves no chances. Would it be possible to have a set up for Astro Photography within my budget? It's OK if it wouldn't. there is always a next step 

[chrisg18]

hi there .personally I would not buy binoculars and save £100, and put this towards a decent telescope and mount.learning the night sky with a telescope is more rewarding  and kills two birds with one stone. I bought a skywatcher 200p and eq5 mount for £400 in England.this set up is very capable for viewing and getting into dsos . you can add motors and goto to the mount later when money is available.also what about a zoom eyepiece they are very good nowadays.this will save loads of money to put towards a zwo 120 camera lol. this is probably the cheapest bang for your bucks.everybody will have their own opinion. go with what you can afford and what your heart wants . this hobby grabs you and makes you get money from thin air,somehow,it just happens. don't sell a kidney for less than £2000 though this should keep you going in this hobby for a while  .

[jonathan]

Those Orion Scenic bins look fair for the price (they were $92 on another website I found, about £60), but ideally you should aim for something that is 'fully multi-coated', that means all glass surfaces have coatings to help light transmission, eliminate fogging, and reduce glare / reflections.  Nitrogen-filled and waterproof are also a bonus to have.  The difference between multi-coated and fully multi-coated may not be immediately obvious, but may just help with those difficult to see objects.  You could also look at 8x42 bins for a slightly lighter pair, or 15x70 for higher magnification tripod-mounted viewing (buy a large L bracket regardless of binocular size, never a small one).

To give you some idea, here is the pair I have and rate highly: Bushnell Legacy WP 8x42

I'm not saying you must buy that pair, but one with those specifications at 8x42 or 10x50 should be very good.  Make sure it is Porro prism and not Roof prism.

I can't comment on the Dobsonian telescope as I don't have one, but for eyepieces you may like to have a 22mm and a 12mm in addition to 30mm and 9mm, somewhere around those sizes.  You may like to read this blog post that I quickly found which appears to be about that telescope.

Astrophotography can be very very expensive to do well, however you can do wide field with nothing more than a tripod and a DSLR (short exposure), with a good tracking EQ mount you can do longer exposures, then the cost spirals after that.

PS.. The Celestron SkyScout is a nice little GPS object finder, it is basically an unmagnified hand-held finder that tells you where to look for objects in the sky (even if they are beneath your feet!)  If you can pick one up where you are for £50 or whatever then it will be a good bit of fun for you, I find the audio tours to be informative and relaxing (well spoken by a female American, not sure about other languages), a great way to while away an hour or two under the stars with just you and some binoculars.

[dk20dk]

Thanks for the opinions. 

To give you some idea, here is the pair I have and rate highly: Bushnell Legacy WP 8x42

I'm not saying you must buy that pair, but one with those specifications at 8x42 or 10x50 should be very good.  Make sure it is Porro prism and not Roof prism.

The only model that matches your advice is Bushnell Permafocus 10x50, fully coated, controversial auto focus feature, not waterproof or fogproof, but otherwise seems similar. Might go with those instead. 

chrisg18, Skywatcher's not available where I stay, as far as I'm concerned.

[Paul73]

Sounds like a good aproach. Binoculars are a great way of learning the night sky. I was amazed at how much I could see with a pair of 10x50's.

Paul

[cjdawson]

Here's what I did.

Went out and bought an 8" SCT telescope, which I've been using for the last 12 years without any problems.  It was a great purchase.  However, I came into this with the goal of astrophotography in mind.  If you are just starting out and don't have that same goal, I'd highly recommend going for the binoculars.  This is two fold, firstly, your initial investment is small  - only the binos, no need to worry about telescope.  As you already know from books like Turn left at Orion there are loads of objects that you can go for with Binos, and with your darks skies plenty of opportunity.  Invest in a good pair and they'll serve you for a long time into the future.

Then, if at a later stage you decide to go for a scope, and for astrophotography, then you can keep using your bino's whilst the camera is doing it's work and you have free time during those long exposures.

Having said all that if you are only intending visual, and you know that you want a scope.  Forget the binos ;-)

[Alfian]

Hi I'm very much of the opinion that binoculars are an extremely useful tool for an astronomer, not just the "poor" relation to a telescope. I think the problem you have is a lack of choice. Using binoculars for astronomy tend to test the optics a lot more than using them for terrestrial purposes so getting the best you can find/afford will yield more satisfying results both in terms of handling and optics. 

Searching the internet did not bring up much for Thailand, (trying to avoid shipping/import costs) but found a Celestron supplier here:

http://www.tmktrading.co.th

I don't know whether this will help or not but the range of binos given is much better.

Scope wise I doubt if you will go wrong with the GSO Dob!

[dk20dk]

Thanks for all the answers, guys.

Then, if at a later stage you decide to go for a scope, and for astrophotography, then you can keep using your bino's whilst the camera is doing it's work and you have free time during those long exposures.

 I like your logics, and yes, I am aiming at astrophotography. Bins are supposed to be a mid-level solution to save the beginners some bucks if they don't have enough patience and dedication for this hobby. Not everybody has is. And you wouldn't know till you try.

 Searching the internet did not bring up much for Thailand, (trying to avoid shipping/import costs) but found a Celestron supplier here:

http://www.tmktrading.co.th, http://www.darasartcenter.com/and http://www.thaiexcite.com. But the first two don't deliver. Nevertheless, which ones at tmktrading would you recommend? Perhaps I'll schedule a trip to buy the bins in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, my choice remains the same: Fully coated Bushnell PermaFocus 10x50 and Multi coated Orion Scenix 10x50.

[Alfian]

"Bins are supposed to be a mid-level solution to save the beginners some bucks if they don't have enough patience and dedication for this hobby"

Bins are a lot more than that You will find many ardent dedicated astronomers who have a whole arsenal of high end telescopes, that value the binoculars that they use alongside their other gear. Some experienced astronomers almost exclusively use binoculars.

Anyway that apart, if I had to choose a pair of bins from the Celestron range priced around the £100 mark (UK prices) I'd probably choose either the Roofprism Nature DX  10x42 (or 8x42s) or the Porroprism Cavalry 10x50s. Both are fully multi-coated and with care should give good service.

[cjdawson]

I am aiming at astrophotography.

In that case, get the biggest scope that you can handle.  More light gathering means shorter exposures.  Make sure that whatever scope you choose, it has GOTO and an Equatorial mount.

Other things to look for are features like Periodic Error Correction (Hardware), and an ST-4 auto guiding interface.

The rest of the stuff can be added later.

Periodic Error Correction will help the scope track better.  

The ST-4 interface will allow for stand alone Auto guiders, or other auto guiding solutions.

Other things like Dew heater, electric focusser and guide scopes can be added later.