Looking for my first telescope

[Candyman]

Hi everyone,

I recently went on a camping trip a few hours from where I live in the French Alps (no light pollution, it's great) and was lucky enough to be pitched up next to a large group of astronomers. I've always had an interest in astronomy but after seeing the rings of Saturn through a telescope my wife and I want to get our own.

 

I've spent the last few days researching telescopes (I've been like a kid in a sweet shop) and I'm still unsure what to buy, our budget is around the £200 mark and these are a couple that I've been looking at

1. Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ Reflector Telescope £181

2. Celestron 130EQ Astromaster Reflector Telescope £120

3. Skywatcher Explorer-130M 130mm (5.1") f/900 Motorised Newtonian Reflector Telescope £179

4. Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 Classic Dobsonian Telescope £212

 

Now as a complete beginner I'm after advice as to what to get, I want to see the usual Saturn, Mars, Moon etc but would also like to do some deep sky observing.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks 

 

Andy

 

 

[Floater]

Loungers far more experienced than I will be on soon, I'm sure, but the general advice is that with the Dob you will get more 'bang for your buck'. 

Welcome to SGL. Have fun with your new hobby.

[triton1]

On your budget I would go for number three because of the aperture and the ability to track which I like(I can feel the wrath of the dob mob venting their spleens)but a big consensus is the sw200p on a dob base.It is slightly more £279? But as Floater says biggest bang for your buck and unless you get aperture fever it will be the only scope you will need.

[bomberbaz]

If your budget really is £200 then get the smaller cousin to the 200p with the 150p https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html  Still a lot of scope for your money and in budget

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi Andy, welcome. As above a 150p won't disappoint.

[rockystar]

Or keep an eye on the used market, I got the above mentioned SW 200 dob for well under £200, just depends collection thought if you are in France.

[Candyman]

Thanks for the responses so far, had a look at the 150p and it does look great

[Candyman]

Follow up question, with the 150p is it great as it comes or are there any upgrades you'd recommend?

 

[Louis D]

6 minutes ago, Candyman said:

Follow up question, with the 150p is it great as it comes or are there any upgrades you'd recommend?

 

Probably some sort of red dot or circle finder would be helpful for aiming.  I'd also get a low cost, widest field 2 inch eyepiece to help in locating objects.  Something like a 35mm to 42mm 65 to 72 degree eyepiece.  That would blow your initial budget, but 6 months down the road, if you're still into astronomy, you could pick one up.  Check the astronomy classifieds in France for good used deals.

[Charic]

I would advise against the Powerseeker 127EQ, if you lived closer, you could have mine, free! Its far  too heavy to post to France, that's really a non-issue, but it was my 1st  scope  and it took less than 10 days for my next scope to arrive? the 200P Skyliner.

The Powerseeker is ok on the Moon, and during the day on some distant spire, but little else to get excited about. The advice for a 150P is sound, but I think the 200P (8")  should be the minimum aperture if you want to go alone,  fully manual, no electronics, and oh-so easy to use.

There is the task of collimation to overcome? some  telescopes need their optics  adjusted occasionally ( Newtonian reflector telescopes ). Its  a difficult task for  a lot of folk  at first, to be honest, but once mastered, it takes seconds to check and adjust if required.

Can you remember the type of telescope you looked through to see Saturn, that may be your starting point?

 

PS. Dont ignore some 8x40 or 10x50 Binoculars if you have darker skies, the  thousands of extra  Stars you will be able to see that you cant see without optics will blow your mind. they wont offer the magnification of a telescope, but essential for  some folk to take in vast swathes of the night sky!

[Timebandit]

Hello Candyman. The 150p would be a very nice scope to begin with

I also recommend you download stellarium to help you and also get a star map and start to learn the constellations as will be invaluable when location of planets and DSO.

I also recommend a book called Turn left at Orion . A great book for the amurture back yard astronomer and to give you an idea what you can locate and expect to see

I hope the above helps☺

[Candyman]

6 minutes ago, Charic said:

Can you remember the type of telescope you looked through to see Saturn, that may be your starting point?

There was a number of smaller telescopes but the one that blew my mind was a 10" Meade lightbridge...which is really out of my budget

[Candyman]

7 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

I also recommend you download stellarium

Thanks for the response Timebandit, the French guys that I was with mentioned the stellarium program but I had forgotten the name of it until you mentioned it, downloading it now so thanks again

[Charic]

....maybe  just out of you budget today, but Saturn isn't  going nowhere soon, except around in planetary circles!
A little here and there, and you will have the money ( even for a second hand 8" 200mm ) there really is no rush, just choose wisely, but holding back is hard to do, we've all been there! 
Just about any scope that is correctly setup will work at its best from a dark environment, providing the conditions to see your targets are  favorable?
A bigger aperture sees fainter Stars, so although the 10" wowed you from a dark site, a  6" may dismay from your home site?
Its not the easiest task, selecting and choosing, with so many conflicting scenarios and telescope types. If you could look through a few more scopes, that may help, but don't rush in, choose wisely, take your time, enjoy the process, if you can sleep at night 

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, Candyman said:

There was a number of smaller telescopes but the one that blew my mind was a 10" Meade lightbridge...which is really out of my budget

It's also a bit on the heavy side.  Don't forget to take weight and ease of portability into account.

[billyharris72]

Some good scopes on there. Personally, I think 130mm is a great size for a first reflector. They tend to be inexpensive, very portable and powerful enough (though if you stick with it you will want to upgrade).

The first question to ask (vis a vis the first 3 scopes) is whether you want to star with an equatorial mount. Some people find them tricky to start out with, though I have to say I've never seen why (they're incredibly quick and easy to set up for visual use). But they are more costly, and a Dobsonian will get you more optics for your money.

At 130mm I'd be inclined to look for an f5 scope (so 650mm focal length) with a parabolic mirror. The Skywatcher 130P is good (better than the M, which is longer and uses a spherical mirror).

If you do go for the Dob I have to say the Orion looks overpriced. A small apetrure, long (f8), spherical mirror Newt on a Dob base at over £200 makes no sense to me at all. You could get a 150mm Skywatcher dob for less than that, and a Heritage 130p for much less (not too much more than half the price if you shop around). I'd expect both to outperform the Orion comfortably on account of their better aperture.

Best of luck with whatever you do decide to go for.

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, billyharris72 said:

If you do go for the Dob I have to say the Orion looks overpriced.

Orion is massively overpriced here in the states.  The only advantage to buying from them is their 30 day no questions asked, no restocking fee return policy.  That, and their glossy printed catalogs are beautiful and well laid out.

[billyharris72]

The other thing I got from the review was that the base seems to be really well built. But with a Dob, for me, the whole thing is about making the base cheap so the money goes into the optics. From the reviews I've read the optics are standard Chinese fare. By no means bad but with no inherent advantage over Synta or GSO.

On the other hand I've not actually used that scope, so I may be missing something.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, billyharris72 said:

The other thing I got from the review was that the base seems to be really well built. But with a Dob, for me, the whole thing is about making the base cheap so the money goes into the optics. From the reviews I've read the optics are standard Chinese fare. By no means bad but with no inherent advantage over Synta or GSO.

On the other hand I've not actually used that scope, so I may be missing something.

I'd rather invest in a Teeter custom 8" scope with a Zambuto mirror if I'm going to pay big bucks for a solid tube dob.