buying a new telescope ,any recommendations about £150

[snowy 1948]

What decent telescope can anyone recommend for about £150

[Peter Drew]

Plenty of decent telescopes available for around that price bracket but the best one to recommend to you is the one that suits your current interests, more information would be appreciated. Welcome to SGL. 

[brantuk]

Hi Snowy and welcome to SGL

Here's a list of beginner scopes in or around your budget. Have a look at the different types, do a spot of research on their relative strengths and weaknesses, and you'll be in a better position to decide what you want to do with a scope and ultimately what to get. Hth.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

[Putaendo Patrick]

Peter Drew and Brantuk are both very correct - your choice of telescope depends on what you want to do. If you were buying a car, you'd want to decide on number of seats/doors - single, wife and kids, with a Great Dane dog? - long-distance versus city driving, etc. The are too many options!

However, as a starting point you might take a look at a 6 inch reflector telescope on a Dobsonian mount - it's probably the best value for your money. For example:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

It's a serious telescope with the potential to keep you entertained for a long time. But, maybe the size is too big for you to move or store etc. It's very limited if you want to try your hand at photography. You do have to align the mirrors from time to time (colimation). There are pros and cons! No telescope is completely perfect...

Still, hopefully it's a start in the search to find what is right for you. Good luck

[nameunknown]

The redoubtable "Peter Drew" came up in conversation just the other day - I was buying a second-hand 180mm MAK for about this price (and in top condition too) and the discussion turned, via various convolutions involving Banjo tutors and the sellers boyhood in Bedford, to the Camera Obscura now at the "Watertower" on the City Walls in Chester (actually it's in "Bonewaldesthorne's Tower" - but finding the Watertower is less prone to spelling errors) . The CO OTA was one of Dr Drew's creations (originally, I believe, for the "Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival"). I am happy to say the CO is still functioning very well, and being "mounted in an obsy" dating from 1322-25, probably breaks some record.... It is not open as often as it perhaps shoud be, but when it is, it appears to delight people. Right next to it (relocated) is the "Gloverstone", which may (possibly) be a bit of astro kit from pre-historic times, and is made of the same stuff as Stonehenge.

In case you are interested....

Camera Obscura: http://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/City_Walls#Camera_Obscura

Gloverstone: http://chester.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Gloverstone

More pics: http://www.grosvenorconstruction.co.uk/2013/01/23/camera-obscura/

As for cheap starters, saw a good condition 8-inch SW Dobbo in a "charity shop" just the other day for not much at all - but I don't like Dobbo's (cos they are a bit like stone-circles when it comes to tracking. However, if they had been selling two I might have been tempted to get the welder out and go for a "giant set of binos" - I suspect one of Peter's "dim and distant" ancestors probably designed "Stereohenge" along the same lines. Possibly the best way to work out how to spend "£150" on a "first scope" is to go along to a few  local "star-parties" and have a gawk through the 'scopes that get brought along (ask to see the same object - like Saturn, the Moon or Jupiter). IMHO, simply buying a first 'scope based on "theory" might work out but some "spy before you buy" could work wonders - best of luck!

P

[BeerMe]

I'm gonna have around the same budget (150-200) when it comes the time to make my purchase and despite researching it for weeks now, i'm still none the wiser.

I really love the 6" Dobsonian, it's well thought of and seems to offer the best bang for your buck but is it a scope i'd be happy to drag out of the cupboard and down in to the garden, every time a window opens in the sky?  I'm not so sure, and find myself now looking more and more at the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ which uses a German Equatorial mount which, although needs to be polar aligned, seems less wieldy to me.  It also looks easier to customise with the addition of motors and GOTO systems (can someone confirm this is the case?).

I can only echo what has already been mentioned above and it's what I will be doing myself - look online for any local clubs, observatories or star parties and get yourself along to one and check out the range of scopes on offer and see what size they actually are, what each one does, etc.  I found out through this place that the library in the next town to me has an observatory!  Who'da thunk it?  I can't wait til it reopens next week and hopefully get my first proper experience of stargazing.  In my area there is also the ASG (Astronomical Society of Glasgow) and they have a stargazing event planned in the botanic gardens for the 19th January.  I'm hopeful after those 2 sessions I will be closer to making my own big decision

Good luck with yours!

[brantuk]

The 6" dob will be a lot less fuss and bother to set up than the Astromaster 130 - and it has more aperture of course. Given that they're both manual - the dob will be far more solid and stable - and infinitely easier to use. The 130 really is a wobbly thing with a lightweight alloy tripod and dodgy finder.

If you have a specific reason to get a 130mm scope - go second hand - you'll get a good Skywatcher 130P tube for around £100 (with a d/s focuser if lucky) and a CG5 or EQ5 mount/tripod for just over £100 (depending on age and condition). This would be a much more substantial setup and ten times more stable and usable than the Astromaster (which is really a kids toy imho).

And it'll leave you with £50-£100 spare budget for accessories and extras. Hth

[BeerMe]

The 6" dob will be a lot less fuss and bother to set up than the Astromaster 130 - and it has more aperture of course. Given that they're both manual - the dob will be far more solid and stable - and infinitely easier to use. The 130 really is a wobbly thing with a lightweight alloy tripod and dodgy finder.

If you have a specific reason to get a 130mm scope - go second hand - you'll get a good Skywatcher 130P tube for around £100 (with a d/s focuser if lucky) and a CG5 or EQ5 mount/tripod for just over £100 (depending on age and condition). This would be a much more substantial setup and ten times more stable and usable than the Astromaster (which is really a kids toy imho).

And it'll leave you with £50-£100 spare budget for accessories and extras. Hth

Thanks brantuk.  I think it's the big tube of the Dob that scares me, I really want to see one up close before I decide so i'm hoping someone at one of these events has one or something similar.  Are they really that much easier to set up?  Having to mess around with the mirrors to realign them is kinda offputting too - how often does this need done?

My missus wants me to get the (more expensive of course) 6" Dobsonian!  She says it just looks so much better...typical lol, always aesthetics

[Astro Imp]

I have been using a 150P on an equatorial mount for some while and wouldn't recommend a Newtonian on this mount for visual. It's not the polar alignment that's the problem as this only needs to be approximate but the need to move the scope in the rings each time you observe a different portion of sky.

If I was starting again with the experience I now have I would go for a Dob.

Collimation isn't a problem with these comparatively small scopes, mine came out of the box spot on and hasn't needed adjustment since.

Your idea of seeing some scopes in action is excellent and will give you more insight than reading all the opinions of others' on the forum.

Good luck.

[brantuk]

I did write a big reply but lost it cos I got snarled up in the forum update just as I hit the "post" button lol. But Alan covers what I was gonna say pretty well in post #10 above.

All I would add is that "EQ" and "Dob" refers to the mount type only - both scopes are Newtonian type reflectors which need periodic mirror alignment - just as do glass scopes. So I'm afraid you're stuck with collimation - can't be avoided in astronomy lol. But as Alan mentions - it's not so much of a problem with smaller scopes of 6" or less.

[BeerMe]

Thanks again gents.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

For the above scope, there is little I can find in the way of online tutorials about setting up, etc.  I did watch a video on yt about setting up an 8" of the same type, where the tube rests in a cradle on the assembled base, and you just screw in the 2 "handles" at the side to secure it.  So, after the initial assembly of the base unit, is it really just a case of taking the tube and base out in to the garden and screwing in the handles and, after allowing it to cool, it's good to go?

Sorry for hijacking your thread snowy, just thought it better than starting a new one when we're at the same stage of our stargazing evolution

[miguel87]

At that price point my personal vote would be a 6inch newt on eq mount. Something like a 130p eq3

[Ricochet]

Thanks again gents.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

For the above scope, there is little I can find in the way of online tutorials about setting up, etc.  I did watch a video on yt about setting up an 8" of the same type, where the tube rests in a cradle on the assembled base, and you just screw in the 2 "handles" at the side to secure it.  So, after the initial assembly of the base unit, is it really just a case of taking the tube and base out in to the garden and screwing in the handles and, after allowing it to cool, it's good to go?

Sorry for hijacking your thread snowy, just thought it better than starting a new one when we're at the same stage of our stargazing evolution

Depending on how far you have to move it you might find that you can just carry a 6" dob as one unit but if you move it as two parts yes it will be that simple. However, I would suggest some sort of height adjustable chair (I use a drum stool, some people use ironing chairs or you can splash out on an astronomy/observing chair) so there will still be at least two trips in/out of the house,

[BeerMe]

Depending on how far you have to move it you might find that you can just carry a 6" dob as one unit but if you move it as two parts yes it will be that simple. However, I would suggest some sort of height adjustable chair (I use a drum stool, some people use ironing chairs or you can splash out on an astronomy/observing chair) so there will still be at least two trips in/out of the house,

Thanks Ricochet.  One more question about Dobsonian mounts....how level does the ground have to be?  Does it make a big difference?

My back garden has a slight downward slope and is all grass.  It wouldn't be a problem to lay a few slabs and level them, would it be necessary for best use of the scope?

[brantuk]

Yup - it's sits pretty low on the ground like the 8" dob so you will need a seat. You may also need a solid crate or something to stand it on - at least something to get it off the floor so it doesn't soak up ground moisture and warp the base wood. Some folks put self leveling shed feet on (I did my 16" dob with only three of them) :

http://www.diy.com/departments/plastic-shedmate-shed-base/257692_BQ.prd

But don't pay the BnQ price - you can get them for a fiver a pair or less if you surf around a bit. The other thing you'll benefit from is a right angled finder (I use a correct image one - raci).

(Slabs are a good idea to make a level area to set up - accurate leveling is only necessary if you add setting circles - but that mod's for another day I think lol)

[BeerMe]

The only thing that puts me off about FLO is their lack of spec for this product.  As far as I understand it, this is actually their product but they provide no spec as to size, etc 

What size is the base unit?  Would it fit on a single square slab?

[BeerMe]

I can't edit but I realise now this isn't FLO's own product, my apologies

[brantuk]

Here's a picture of one at a hire place - it's got a 53cm diameter and it's sitting on a single slab. Stick with FLO for problem free astro shopping and superb pre/post sales service - especially on your first scope.

http://www.darkskytelescopehire.co.uk/course/6-skywatcher-150p-dobsonian-telescope/

[Dave In Vermont]

Agree with Brantuk above. The reason for being careful about who you buy from is the aftercare of the customer & product. If problems arise - or questions - a good shop will take care of you. Or, in this instance, take out a tape-measure for their potential-customer. But Brantuk but them to it!

Sounds and looks to be a fine instrument by the by. If you do get the Dob, we'll be here as well. That's a scary word waiting for every new owner of a reflector-telescope, collimation, as has been pointed out. We can smooth it out pretty well these days. But as stated - this scope will be easier. So it's about as much trouble as going over a speed-bump.

Enjoy!

Dave