Hi all :-) Looking to buy my first telescope!

[Ascended Stargazer]

Hi everyone, I've been bitten by the astronomy bug recently and I have been on the look out for my first real telescope. I have come up with a shortlist of telescopes.

My budget is about £130 

1. Sky-Watcher Evostar 90mm Refractor

2. Sky-Watcher Heritage 100P

3. Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P

4. Celestron Astromaster 130EQ

Which one of the above would you guys recommend? any tips or advice I would greatly appreciate. Thanks.

 

[Knighty2112]

I own no;4, but don't recommend it really as it has more cons than pros. No;1 should be good (but I like refractors!). Between 2 & 3 I would go with the larger 130P. So my personal choice would be between no;1 & 3. 

[pipnina]

I vote 3

[Dave In Vermont]

3. Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P is one of the most common telescopes that people here go for, and for very good reasons. They work well for visual applications. And from accounts read here - the optics are very good indeed.

All the best -

Dave

[Ricochet]

From that list I'd go for the 130p but if you can stretch to £145 there's currently a 150p dob on astroboot. 

[pipnina]

Just now, Ricochet said:

From that list I'd go for the 130p but if you can stretch to £145 there's currently a 150p dob on astroboot. 

I wouldn't get that as a first scope. As the OP hasn't mentioned that they want to look at anything specific, we should assume they want to look at anything- f8 in the 150p dob is just too slow for deep sky viewing IMO

[Ascended Stargazer]

5 minutes ago, pipnina said:

I wouldn't get that as a first scope. As the OP hasn't mentioned that they want to look at anything specific, we should assume they want to look at anything- f8 in the 150p dob is just too slow for deep sky viewing IMO

I'm mainly interested in observing Mars, the Lunar Craters, Jupiter/Saturn and their moon's and along with deep sky objects. 

[laudropb]

Then go for the 130p or better still the 150 Dob.

[John]

31 minutes ago, pipnina said:

I wouldn't get that as a first scope. As the OP hasn't mentioned that they want to look at anything specific, we should assume they want to look at anything- f8 in the 150p dob is just too slow for deep sky viewing IMO

Don't forget that 150 F/8 dobsonian has the option to use 2" eyepieces if and when the poster wants to use them - it's going to do better on DSO's than any of the other scopes listed and be superb on the moon and planets as well.

A great all rounder for visual astronomy IMHO

[avtaram]

+1 for the 150 f8.

As John says,  a great all rounder for visual astronomy.

Avtar

[Dave In Vermont]

Agreed - aperture rules! If you can swing the £145, by all means do so. Of course.....A 200mm, well, you know!

Have fun -

Dave

[billyharris72]

From the list, I'd go for the Heritage 130P too. Great little scope with good optics. Easy to store and transport and at a good price.

As others have said, the 150 Dob would be better, if the budget is there.

[happy-kat]

The astroboot 150p is tube only, not going to be in budget as need to build a mount and add a finder to the already over budget price.

I would pick 3 as it is an all-rounder and very portable to start with. I sometimes place mine on a bucket to raise it. Add £5 for a collimation cap to go with it.

Also like 1. Really enjoy my little 80mm refractor but it is not so good on the Moon as my heritage but the 90mm evo would be better than my 80mm.

[Joe12345]

If not one on ab, there's always abs - http://astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=110141. if budget allows, dob, if not heritage, as others have said.

[iPeace]

For what it's worth - I started out a short while ago with a bit more budget, and got into small refractors. They are very portable and a lot of fun, and have denied me the pleasure of learning to collimate . As such, this route was a good match with my situation and priorities - extreme portability and zero maintenance (insert grain of salt of appropriate size here).

HOWEVER (that's right, people, hold off jumping on me for this one...)

I have come to believe that it's a LOT easier to spend "too little" on a refractor than on a reflector. The design of a reflector is so much less complicated and so much cheaper to actually manufacture that you're easily getting a lot more value in terms of actual astronomical observing for considerably less money. You're less likely to get a reflector which doesn't perform to your satisfaction and enjoyment when you're on a budget.

I'm convinced I will someday get myself a nice dob, learn to collimate, and share in all the joy that's out there to be had with a "light bucket". In fact, I'm looking forward to it - but don't tell my refractor...

So - it makes sense to me for someone in your situation, as I understand your description of it, to get the nicest reflector your budget will stretch to. Others have already advised on this, and they are wise people indeed.

[Ricochet]

2 hours ago, happy-kat said:

The astroboot 150p is tube only, not going to be in budget as need to build a mount and add a finder to the already over budget price.

 The one I suggested is the full kit.

Quote

SW 150P SkyLiner Dob
A1 tube and A2 base with a few marks here and there with a small amount of marking around assembly screw holes. Sky Watcher 150P Parabolic Dobsonian telescope complete with all standard accessories. 12 month new goods warranty. Returned to importer due to damaged base part. The faulty part has been replaced and the telescope has been fully checked and is in perfect working order. Supplied in original packaging with all standard accessories. Normally about 200 to £210 online.
£145.00 IN STOCK 

 

[jaygpoo]

Hi , Good topic but after having 8 scopes and settling for the 2 I have now I can say with hand on heart that I regret selling my skymax 127 , Small light weight and no problems to use as in cool down/collination etc. Great for planets and I took some great images from it with my canon camera. They come up on ebay and finally ,just remember that apart from a dob the scope is only as good as the mount. Mounts come first as I learnt the hard way. Jay