Telescope for total newbie

[amigaman]

hello everyone asking about the best telescope did seem like an innocent question at the time but i've come to realise that choosing a telescope is not as straight-forward as pointing at the sky and seing stars. your help has been very welcome and over the last week i'm certainly more informed about the choices i can make. thank you to everybody who has responded. all input has been very helpful, no matter how small an when i finally make my purchase i'll be sure to let you all know and hopefully meet some of you along the way. you all deserve a pint on me or a wine for astro_baby. the NS8 and HEQ5/SKYWATCHER both have great potential and i am finding hard to choose one over the other i think the NS8 will be an easier setup to get into the skywatcher is more demanding to understand but i think i'll enjoy the challenge (famous last words)and maybe be more suitable in the future but weght ease of use and size are all relevent as i may take it into the school i work at to inspire some of the kids in the future and NS8 seems to be appropriate for this senario but i do live right next to the school so the skywatcher if understood properly shouldn't be too much of a problem. I think i have got this right but if anybody wants to clarify my understanding a bit more please do. Thanks, despite some of your wonderful equiptment and knowldege you haven't brushed me aside as irrelevant and that is very much appreciated. Thanks again Phil

p.s what is a barlow?

[Helen]

A barlow is just a tube with some lenses in that you put into the telescope before an eyepiece and it makes the eyepiece more powerful (like a teleconverter for a camera). So a 2x barlow will double the magnification of the eyepiece, 3x triple it etc..

Helen

[Astro_Baby]

Its a tough one Phil to be sure - I dithered this way and that. I thought at one point 'oh *beep* it - I'll just go and buy a CPC-800 at £1,800 job done'

It seemed a reasonable sort of approach - cut out all the messing about and upgrade paths and just buy the biggest most sophisticated I could afford. Surely that would do everything wouldnt it ?

Unfortunately the answer was no - it wouldnt - I'd still need a wedge ( even more cash) and a focal reducer, and a CCD camera and, and, and, and - the list is endless

For me in the end I took a different approach which was buy cheap and see what I would actually do, learn, need etc. The baby scope I bought kind of refined the choices somewhat.

There have been moments when I think - lets just blow some of the savings and go mental on a huge telescope. Those are weak moments because I know that whetever I bought I'd still want something else.

I think with kids the Nexstar might be the way to go - most younger people lack patience and the speed of GoTo might appeal. For me I was more worried if I went GoTo I might 'do the tour' and then pack it in having seen it, done it.

I have a simliar issue coming up which is my 11 year olds birthday - what telescope to buy him and even knowing what I know now thats still a hard choice.

[amigaman]

thanks helen can you explain a little about maintaining dew covers and the like as im not sure about some basic requirements a telescope might need cullination or something like that how easy is it to do and when do you decide it needs doing red torches why might seem obvious to most but all a bit foreign to me

thanks phil

[Helen]

OK Phil, I think your referring to AB's list, but here goes...

The front of an SCT telescope has glass in it. This gathers dew quite quickly if you don't protect it. The cheapest/easiest way is to get a dew shield for the scope. These are quite cheap to buy (or people make them even more cheaply using camping mats!) and basically make the front of the tube longer so making it harder for the dew to get to the glass! So far, I've only used such a dew shield and have rarely been bothered by dew. The alternative - more expensive, more fiddly, but more effective - is to buy dew tapes. These are strips with a thin heating element in them which keep the glass slightly warmer and so avoid dew forming, but they need a power supply.

Collimation is just about making sure that all the optical elements line up properly, so all the light gets to where it should be. On a newtonian that can mean adjusting the mirror at the bottom of the tube, and the secondary which is the little angled mirror that directs the light reflected back from the big mirror out of the side of the telescope to the eyepiece. Its like a few things in life, scary until you know how! and easier with some aids (that's what AB wa referring to with the Cheshire etc) With an SCT, there is only one bit of adjustment to do, so a bit easier, and no need for aids. My NS8 rarely needs collimating.

The red torch is for seeing in the dark. You will have noticed that when you first go outside you can't see much, but it improves the longer you're out. If you use a white light torch to look at a chart or something you will destroy your night vision and you'll have to start adapting all over again... A dim red torch doesn't affect your night vision so its safe to use.

HTH - keep asking if it doesn't

Helen

[amigaman]

Thanks again Helen pretty obvious about the torch when you think about it one more thing added to my knowledge

[Helen]

:salute: