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gift for the mrs

melt

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melt

melt

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guys I need abit of help with a telescope for the mrs.

shes always had an interest in the plants stars nebulae, space in genral, and wants to look at them for herself.

had a look around and my local jessops said that the Skywatcher Explorer 130 EQ2 Telescope would be great for what she wants.

had a look online and found out I would also need light/moon filters and a book/ guide's.

first off is the Skywatcher Explorer 130 EQ2 Telescope any good ?

jessop's is selling them for £135 and with the glass filters(metal bodys) and book/guide from amazon another £30 ish. 

my head is spinning with with everything I've been reading about so any advice would be great.

also do not have to much to spent upto about £180(already booked her a secret holiday in new year)

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ronin

ronin

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To be honest there is no easy answer. I have a different opinion to others and when this is asked you will get all options.

Onw aspect that will get repeated is Jessops is not a good place to get one from, there is no support afterwards.

My view is that the filters etc are not worth getting.

If you want a book then I use The Monthly Star Guide by Ridpath, others use Turn Left at Orion.

The EQ2 is not great, as it seems like it is to be manual then really you may as well look at an Alt/Az - just less complicated then an EQ. The EQ2 cannot take any real additions such as goto so upgrade is limited and on that basis an Alt/Az is easier to live with.

To the scope aspect:

Since it is to be manually operated then I would say not to consider a Mak or SCT - in manual use the narrower field of view tends to make them difficult.

That leaves a reflector or refractor. Being honest either will do.

In the reflector line the easy one is the 150P Dobsonian - they are £175 at FLO. There are other retailers and it may be slightly less at one, but generally all similar and that is ball park.

In the refractor line there is the Evostar 90 at £135 again used the FLO price.

Used to be an Evostar 102 but cannot locate one, bit bigger, see a bit more, bit more cost.

One retailer to check is TS in Germany, mention them as occasionally they stock a few different items. http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/index.php/language/en

That is enough to add to the confusion for now.

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triton1

triton1

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I would go with Ronin on this one the eq2 mount is wobbly and after some use the Mrs might get fed up,the sw 150p dob is well respected on here and very good value and she will go "wow" when you get it out the box and as a bonus you don,t have to tell her how much it cost as it,s a present!

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Knighty2112

Knighty2112

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OK, just to add my two pence worth, here's a good refractor perhaps to start with perhaps, and it won't break the bank either, plus you'll be able to get her a few more prezzies too to boot! Hehe!

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-mercury-705.html

The AZ3 stand is more intuitive for a beginner to use over an equatorlial stand, plus it is sturdy too. I use my 120mm refractor on top of the same stand and even in the high winds we had the other night I could barely see any shake from the wind through the eyepiece, even when using my highest magnification eyepiece (currently 6mm). The 70mm scope can be upgraded at a later stage if the missus gets really hooked by the views she sees, and you can purchase a new larger scope as an OTA only (optical tube assembly) to fit to the same mount. The slow motion controls make keep the object in view quite easy too.

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carastro

carastro

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If you can stretch to it I would go for the one suggested in post 10, https://www.widescre...pes/sky-watcher  those manual mounts are difficult to use even though the scope itself might be good.  No point in having a good view of something that is drifting and you can't follow it around, or you can't find it in the first place.

This would be even better if you can afford it, as when properly aligned will even Go To the chosen object and then follow it (track it).

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-skymax-127-synscan-az-goto.html

Carole 

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Matt Scunthorpe

Matt Scunthorpe

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I would go with Ronin on this one the eq2 mount is wobbly and after some use the Mrs might get fed up,the sw 150p dob is well respected on here and very good value and she will go "wow" when you get it out the box and as a bonus you don,t have to tell her how much it cost as it,s a present!

I second this. You don't want to spend too much if she has never had one before and maybe just have a passing interest.

Like Triton said, it will be a wow factor getting it out of the box as well which is a big bonus. Beauty with a dob is that you put it out and that's it, no setting up legs, mounts, scope etc, which can get real old real quick, especially if she's not that into it after all is said and done.

As has also been said, buy from a telescope dealer, such as FLO (forum sponsor).

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

Your location is very vague but depending how north you are there is a physical shop in Batley if you wanted to physically see something before buying.

http://www.green-witch.com/contact-us-2-w.asp

Hope that has given food for thought.

Matt.

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melt

melt

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well after I good look around and a lot of advice I've got her a Skywatcher Explorer 130P AZ GoTo Telescope http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html which came today. :grin:

got it out and put it together was going to check to see if there are any updates but cant as it comes with a rs-232 plug (which takes me back to the days I had a zx spectrum computer) so looking for a new lead which I can use or a convert. got one from amazon which has great reviews http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00QUZY4UG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=AXZ3JQ1GVFPIF

going to try you tube for set up vid's

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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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Very nice telescope, and one to keep even if you get aperture fever and buy something bigger in the future. Sufficiently lightweight and portable, easy to set up etc. Hopefully its a telescope your Mrs will use and use. Congratulations for the Mrs.

Don't worry about lots of filters for the moment. In general the common coloured filters work best with larger apertures (200mm and bigger) and to be honest, the difference is often relatively fine. Other specialist filters can be seriously expensive and not necessary when starting out. However I do recommend an inexpensive moon filter to reduce the glare - makes for a much more comfortable experience when observing the moon.

In the short to medium term, think about upgrading the eyepieces.

There are a ton of great books which you could buy in due course. But there are also great resources on the internet for free! Download the free "Stellarium" programme for a really good star atlas, and the "Virtual Moon Atlas" which will enable you to identify every feature! There are also good internet sites for a monthly overview of things to observe, for example http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/from Manchester University.

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melt

melt

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Very nice telescope, and one to keep even if you get aperture fever and buy something bigger in the future. Sufficiently lightweight and portable, easy to set up etc. Hopefully its a telescope your Mrs will use and use. Congratulations for the Mrs.

Don't worry about lots of filters for the moment. In general the common coloured filters work best with larger apertures (200mm and bigger) and to be honest, the difference is often relatively fine. Other specialist filters can be seriously expensive and not necessary when starting out. However I do recommend an inexpensive moon filter to reduce the glare - makes for a much more comfortable experience when observing the moon.

In the short to medium term, think about upgrading the eyepieces.

There are a ton of great books which you could buy in due course. But there are also great resources on the internet for free! Download the free "Stellarium" programme for a really good star atlas, and the "Virtual Moon Atlas" which will enable you to identify every feature! There are also good internet sites for a monthly overview of things to observe, for example http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/from Manchester University.

yeah found that out tonight the moon is very bright so i'm now looking for a nice filter

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melt

melt

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yeah mrs said that , she was over the moon :glasses9: with the telescope and the views of the moon and that was just with the stock 25mm e/p, been looking around  for an upgrade ep and would like peoples commets/advice http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/skywatcher-sp-plossl-eyepieces.html either 12.5mm or 17mm leaning towards 17mm or http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html the 15mm,

 the stock ones are 10 and 25mm so was after something in the middle-ish(will replace the stock gear later,maybe)

would love some more advice from you guys(and gurls) and hopefuly it will  keep me the :angel11:  she says I am lol.

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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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According to the FLO page you linked to, you should have a x2 Barlow in the package. This fits between the telescope and the EP and effectively doubles the power of any EP. Therefore you have four options: 25mm, barlowed to 12.5mm, and 10mm barlowed to 5mm. Your telescope has a focal length of 650mm, thus your available magnifications at the moment are x26, x52, x65 and x130. This is an excellent range!

For the moment I would explore and exploit what you have. Once you begin to find out what type of observing most interests you and your wife, you can take a decision. For example, if you are drawn to detail on the moon, you might invest in one good 7mm ep which coud be barlowed to 3.5mm. The point is I think you will discover what improvements you need as you progress in the hobby. Good luck!

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melt

melt

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According to the FLO page you linked to, you should have a x2 Barlow in the package. This fits between the telescope and the EP and effectively doubles the power of any EP. Therefore you have four options: 25mm, barlowed to 12.5mm, and 10mm barlowed to 5mm. Your telescope has a focal length of 650mm, thus your available magnifications at the moment are x26, x52, x65 and x130. This is an excellent range!

For the moment I would explore and exploit what you have. Once you begin to find out what type of observing most interests you and your wife, you can take a decision. For example, if you are drawn to detail on the moon, you might invest in one good 7mm ep which coud be barlowed to 3.5mm. The point is I think you will discover what improvements you need as you progress in the hobby. Good luck!

son has got his mum a set of filters (different colors and moon) and they are all screw in type , the stock ep's are not threaded so looking to get a new ep so she can use the filters

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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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"the stock ep's are not threaded" - that's a real bummer! Are you sure? It is probably obvious, but the filters screw into the bottom of the EP. More probably, it's one indication that the EPs are the weak link in your package, and that sooner or later, you're going to have to upgrade them.

Meanwhile you may be able to just lay the filters on top of the eyepiece, but take great care they don't fall off!

If and when you do upgrade the EPs, remember that the magnification is given by the focal length of your scope divided by the number on the EP. Your focal length is 650mm, thus an EP of 10mm will give you 65 times magnification.

Remember too, a Barlow can double or triple the effective magnification. The x2 Barlow that came with your scope may be OK, or you may decide eventually to upgrade this too. To use the Barlow to its fullest extent, your different EPs should not be divisible by 2. For example if you have a 20mm EP and a x2 Barlow, you don't need a 10mm EP.

To get the most from your filters, mainly used for the Moon and planets at relatively high magnitudes, I would suggest maybe an 8mm EP to begin with, which could be barlowed to 4mm. This would give approx 80 and 160 times magnification respectively on your scope. You can spend up to 500 pounds, probably more, on a single EP, and you do get what you pay for! But for the moment (or for ever!) I would recommend a basic Plossl type EP. New these cost around 20 pounds, less second-hand.

There's an interesting guide to the uses of different filters here:

sas-sky.org/wp-content/.../SAS-The-Use-of-Astronomical-Filters1.pdf

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