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Reflector or Refractor?

Mach2k5

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Uplooker

Uplooker

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Hi Mach,

It would help people no end to know what your budget is and what it is that you hope to do with whatever scope you get. Are you interested in DSO, planets, lunar? Will you want it for visual only or are you planning on doing some astrophotography? Best not to say everything as with scopes it is certainly horses for courses.

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Mach2k5

Mach2k5

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Just now, Uplooker said:

Hi Mach,

It would help people no end to know what your budget is and what it is that you hope to do with whatever scope you get. Are you interested in DSO, planets, lunar? Will you want it for visual only or are you planning on doing some astrophotography? Best not to say everything as with scopes it is certainly horses for courses.

Hi Ian,

Upto £200 for starting, all round planets and celestial watching.

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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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Perhaps the best entry into astronomy is a Reflector telescope on a Dobsonian mount. Ideally the more aperture (diameter of the tube) you have the better for viewing fainter objects, at your price range a 6 inch Dob will cost a little less or an 8 inch Dob a little more. This scope design is very simple to use but at the same time gives you a lot of possibilities for visual observation - for photography however it is limited. Have a look at these two links:

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

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

Refractor telescopes tend to fall between two stools. It is cheap to make simple small lenses but much more costly to make larger quality lenses. A refractor with a 6" aperture, for example, will cost over 600 pounds and a top of the range Apochromatic will cost several thousand! Small refractors with short tubes are however very portable - there are versions for example which will fit in a backpack - in general though, magnification is limited, for some types of observation this is not necessary but for Lunar and planetary the ability to achieve good views at x150 to x200 is a big plus!

If you get smitten by astronomy, you may probably change scopes as your experience progresses and you find a particular niche which interests you. Meanwhile, for general observation, Dobsonian reflectors do represent the best value for money.

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brantuk

brantuk

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If you don't know what you want or what you're gonna do with it - then for a budget of circa £200 the easiest scope to set up and use, with by far the best value for money you'll get, is the 200P Dob bought second hand (they're around £300 new).

It'll show you everything you need to see as a beginner, and you'll learn enough to know which direction your astronomy will be taking you after the course of a year. And if you decide it's not for you - it'll retain enough value to sell on so the whole exercise has cost next to nothing. Otherwise it'll go towards financing your first upgrade lol :)

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matt-c

matt-c

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My head has always said dob, but my heart.........likes refractors :p

I initially went frac with a wobbly mount and it ruined the hobby for me,  the dob will be best I think and for the money it's hard to beat.   Just to throw a curve ball into this,  have you thought about a pair of bins? I know you're looking for a scope but the freedom of bins is quite liberating :D 

Best of luck

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Jimtheslim

Jimtheslim

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I just bought a 250p reflector and not had chance to use it properly to give a fair comparison. I also have a 90mm refractor which was my first scope over a year ago. I still love this scope and would happily recommend a refractor to someone who is starting out. You'll not bag as many galaxies and other DSO's, but you'll get lovely views of planets and lunar viewing. It's alos more portable and you don't have to deal with collimation. Many on here will tell you collimation becomes second nature, and hopefully they are not lying, but it is daunting to do for the first time especially if you've never had your hands on any astronomy equipment before.

I will post again when I start getting used to the 250, if the skies ever clear!

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brantuk

brantuk

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" I am looking to attach to a laptop to record images"

Ok well you just pushed your budget up by another £1000+ for an equatorial tracking mount with a basic imaging scope - and that's without the camera, laptop, guiding set up, dew control, and other ancilliary equipment you'll need. I would suggest you get the book "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards which will tell you everything you need to know about astro imaging. :)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

 

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Mach2k5

Mach2k5

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On 17/04/2016 at 01:02, brantuk said:

" I am looking to attach to a laptop to record images"

Ok well you just pushed your budget up by another £1000+ for an equatorial tracking mount with a basic imaging scope - and that's without the camera, laptop, guiding set up, dew control, and other ancilliary equipment you'll need. I would suggest you get the book "Making Every Photon Count" by Steve Richards which will tell you everything you need to know about astro imaging. :)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/making-every-photon-count-steve-richards.html

 

I bought a Celestron 130EQ, £136, Lens Kit £58, Canon T-Ring £10. Dual Motor Drives £88 for RA & DEC with free downloaded Software to control it. The SLR Mount I found in a second hand shop and got for £20. so all in all £308. Now waiting for a clear sky as I got it all together delivered today and as per normal after 4 clear nights its bloody cloudy and raining...lol

Oh and using my wifes Canon 350D... shhh don't tell her!

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