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hello from a new scope owner


darren west

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my daughter has been asking for a scope for over 2 years and she is 10 years old 

so a month ago i decided its something i should help her with and learn myself also

we have purchased a 8" skywatcher dobsonian scope second hand for £150 ,

we have joined the neas club and have attended 1 of their star watching evenings and a telescope workshop night , had a great time on both occasions and obtained some fantastic advice from some of the guys there 

so thought id join here also to say hi

ant help and tips always welcomed , we are looking currently at some new eye pieces of a higher quality 

thanks

darren and Darcy

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Hello and welcome to the SGL community.

If you have the chance, maybe try some of the eyepieces that members have at the local club, this will give you an idea of what they can achieve in your scope.

I can also suggest without hesitation the 8mm BST Starguider as a great value first upgrade to the  scopes supplied 10mm, then see how you get on.
I own a 6mm William Optics ( in favour of the non-available BST Starguider and a 12mm eyepiece. Does not matter what brand, but these two  focal length eyepieces  work well in the f/6 8" Skyliner. The 12mm  can also  be 2x Barlowed to provide the 6mm option!

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Hats off to you sir. Always great to see a parent willing to step up to the plate for his/her youngun
Welcome aboard, we do our best to keep sgl a family friendly place so your daughter is welcome also (Probably with a bit of dad supervision). :D

 

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Welcome to SGL both of you.

I had my interest set for life by my late father when the Moon landings were happening.
We Moon watched together with his binocular, wonderful memories that I cherish.
That has allowed a life long interest to develop and I now spend time with my Daughters doing much the same.
Every minute of special time spent with your children is very well spent.

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11 minutes ago, Charic said:

Hello and welcome to the SGL community.

If you have the chance, maybe try some of the eyepieces that members have at the local club, this will give you an idea of what they can achieve in your scope.

I can also suggest without hesitation the 8mm BST Starguider as a great value first upgrade to the  scopes supplied 10mm, then see how you get on.
I own a 6mm William Optics ( in favour of the non-available BST Starguider and a 12mm eyepiece. Does not matter what brand, but these two  focal length eyepieces  work well in the f/6 8" Skyliner. The 12mm  can also  be 2x Barlowed to provide the 6mm option!

please can you explain the upgrade in idiots language ,, thanks

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Most of the images are small in the 8" Skyliner, its the only reason I wanted to upgrade to a 12", but that brings along other issues to overcome, some expensive.

Upgrade - Simply buy another eyepiece to use instead of the supplied Skywatcher 10 mm eyepiece. Their 25mm is ok for now, that works ok.

The BST Starguider i suggest will have a wider field of view, 60° over the 50° of the 10mm eyepiece. The image size will be  just a tad larger, due to the higher magnification, but the 8mm Starguider will feel more comfortable in use due to its wider field of view and greater eye-relief, the distance your eye needs to be to the eyepiece.

I have some very expensive Delos eyepieces in my collection, they have an even wider field of view, 72° but the image of say Jupiter will still be the same if I use the 8mm Delos or the 8mm Starguider. 
Having wider fields of view come into effect when you want to better frame your target, or, as you will soon discover, whilst looking at the Moon, the Moon will not stay still, it appears to move across your field of view. Having a wider field of view allows you to view the target for longer without having to nudge the scope a little.

As for larger images, higher magnification has the effect of enlarging your image scale, the size of  the image your looking at, but also reducing the image quality, due to the higher magnification. (nothing is simple/straight forward with astronomy, it takes time to learn and understand.) A bigger scope, having more aperture, provides better resolution, more detail, larger image.

The 8" Skyliner is a stunning scope, more so if you can view from a darker environment, ie no street light or city glow. Its eerie when away at darker sites, but together, I`'m sure your daughter will keep  an eye on you!

 

Learn about collimation, collimating your scope, making sure the optics are properly aligned, and cooling the scope, upto 30 mins, can make all the difference to how the scope performs?  then just enjoy the scope in its basic form. There's no rush to spend, and some upgrades can be  very costly, producing no real improvement, especially if you have spent over £300 on a new eyepiece, don't expect Hubble quality images. 

 

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Hi and a big welcome to both on joining this forum. Please don't hesitate to ask any question that comes to mind by posting them under the relevant section. There is a lot of experience here for you to share along with the search facility in the top left hand corner of this page. Remember there is no such thing as a daft question - just the one you didn't ask!

Clear skies

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Welcome to SGL, Darren and Darcy! It's very nice to have you two aboard!

As stated, we love questions and finding their answers. Soon you'll be the one's who are answering them, as well as asking!

I shall put you on my 'special list' to explain Stellarium to - a wonderful way to help you learn your ways around our night sky.

Have fun!

Dave

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Hi Darren and Darcy welcome to SGL. Your 8" Dob will serve you both well and should give some great views of the night sky. You have done the correct thing in joining your local Astro club, first hand help and guidance from knowledgeable club Astronomers will be invaluable to you, enjoy the forum :)

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Hello and welcome!

You have got a scope, which may give you both fun for years.

Many newcomers have problems with finding objects in the sky; so go at first for the bright, easy to locate heavenly bodies - Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Pleiades, Orion nebula (M 42). Download Stellarium, as Dave mentioned above, the Virtual Moon Atlas (both free), and play with them. You can try to locate some of the Messier objects and find them later with the scope; have a look at the sticky "Collimation and Star- hopping" by moonshane (Getting started with observing forum).

Get a Telrad/Rigel or Red Dot Finder (later on you may add a Right Angle Correct Image = RACI finderscope) and a star map; many members on here use the Pocket Sky Atlas.

I'd suggest that you take yourself time, as far as new eyepieces are concerned, and, as was suggested above, look through the club's members scopes and eyepieces, until you decide. So you can avoid filling the drawer for unloved eyepieces.....

Keep on asking here, and share your observations - we love them!

Stephan

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9 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

Welcome to SGL, Darren and Darcy! It's very nice to have you two aboard!

As stated, we love questions and finding their answers. Soon you'll be the one's who are answering them, as well as asking!

I shall put you on my 'special list' to explain Stellarium to - a wonderful way to help you learn your ways around our night sky.

Have fun!

Dave

so when do i get my explanation ?

thanks

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