Advice needed

[James86]

Hi everyone I'm just looking for a bit of advice and luckily stumbled upon  these forums.

I enjoy watching the stars and used other people's equipment before and now looking to get my own, looking round the Internet has confused me on What to get.

I know nothing about telescopes and want to buy something that will last, I don't want to buy something that needs replacing straight afterwards.

[D4N]

Ok, we will need a little info to be able to advise you.

 

What do you want to see? (Planets, the moon, the sun, galaxies, nebulae, double stars etc)

Do you live somewhere dark (not light polluted, ie can you see the Milky Way?) or able to travel somewhere dark?

Are you able to handle heavy objects?

Budget?

[James86]

Hi Dan

I'm not really sure what i want to see i just enjoy looking at anything.
 

There is very little light pollution where i live, can travel and handle heavy items.

Budget wise probably upto £200

[sharkey93]

If you could stretch past £200 the Evostar range is a good Scope I started with one https://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-102-eq3-2.html

[Guest Tuomo]

8" Skywatcher Newtonian reflector, with dobsonian mount. I would not go for EQ road just for visuals. 

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

One of the most important rule in visual astronomy goes like this: Aperture is the king. Means, bigger the mirror/lense the better. This scope will give you more than enough. Dobsonian mount (that rocker mount) is WAY easier to handle than equatorial mounts (those with the counter weights).

 

 

[Mr niall]

Hello! I'm reasonably new too and think I've made the exact mistake you are describing! I got a 70mm refractor with a fancy looking GOTO computerised mount - however the scope isn't powerful enough to really see anything that is in the database! The one thing I'm being told over and over again is that aperture is king! If you've got the space maybe a dob would be good? 

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

it turns out that yes, you really need to have a type of observing in mind before you buy a scope (wish I'd known that) but I was looking at an evostar too recently and the reviews are great, and skywatcher dobsonians are fab but quite big.

[James86]

i dont think i would be able to strecth that far at the minute my wife would go mad me spending nearly £300

[sharkey93]

4 minutes ago, Tuomo said:

8" Skywatcher Newtonian reflector, with dobsonian mount. I would not go for EQ road just for visuals. 

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

One of the most important rule in visual astronomy goes like this: Aperture is the king. Means, bigger the mirror/lense the better. This scope will give you more than enough. Dobsonian mount (that rocker mount) is WAY easier to handle than equatorial mounts (those with the counter weights).

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Mr niall said:

Hello! I'm reasonably new too and think I've made the exact mistake you are describing! I got a 70mm refractor with a fancy looking GOTO computerised mount - however the scope isn't powerful enough to really see anything that is in the database! The one thing I'm being told over and over again is that aperture is king! If you've got the space maybe a dob would be good? 

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

it turns out that yes, you really need to have a type of observing in mind before you buy a scope (wish I'd known that) but I was looking at an evostar too recently and the reviews are great, and skywatcher dobsonians are fab but quite big.

Can't say I had any issues with my 80ED. with a 2X barlow and 6mm eye peice I was easily seeing Jupiter and its bands and Moons

 

I don't disgree with Apacture is King because it is but at the same time I had no issues seeing some objects

[Mr niall]

6 minutes ago, sharkey93 said:

 

Can't say I had any issues with my 80ED. with a 2X barlow and 6mm eye peice I was easily seeing Jupiter and its bands and Moons

 

I don't disgree with Apacture is King because it is but at the same time I had no issues seeing some objects

Yes - should probably rephrase that; can see Jupiter and Saturn ok and split the big doubles etc but struggle with anything fainter, could be a light pollution thing although I did have a look through a 70ed recently and it was indeed about a billion times better, reckon I may just have a Friday afternoon scope!

[ronin]

There is no easy first scope, unless you are very lucky. So it is take a bit of a chance or accept that you will change scope (or buy a second) within a short length of time.

I tend to use a 70mm goto most of the time, previous person says not a good idea. My biggest scope is 102mm, a lot less then the almost standard idea of a 200P.

Biggest problem is knowing what you want now and in 6 months time.

Often ends up as buy the 200p, then after 6 months or less you ask "How do I atttach a DSLR for images". The answer is simply you don't. A manual dobsonian is a decent, inexpensive MANUAL scope and not suited to taking images. People do get the occasional image but an imager gets in effect images every night they go out.

So is there the intention to get an image of anything ever?

Do you drive, where will you use the scope, is it just you or are children involved, any injuries, what are your expectations? 

Following the prior comment. There are 2 thoughts: Aperture is king, or, Your best scope is the one you use the most. Generally they are not necessarily the same. People buy bigger scopes, but people also downsize a lot. I suspect more then people increase their scope size actually.

Do not go complicated, happily budget sounds as if it will restrict that - well the financial manager will. A goto need not be complicated, I estimate I could set up and align mine in 5 minutes or less.

One awful aspect is expect to eventually spend about the same on eyepiece and a few odd bits as the cost of the scope. an example is 3 BST eyepieces will be £150, 4 therefore beng £200. And you will need about 4 of one variety or another.

Any clubs within reach: http://www.astronomyclubs.co.uk/Clubs/Default.aspx?CountyId=49

[James86]

is there a scope that doesnt cost too much but can be upgraded as i can go that route. 

[N3ptune]

Used you can find plenty of reflectors, Dobson mount or equatorial mount, they are popular and the best bang for the buck. I would choose a safe size, a 6 inches minimum good quality optic. You can see many things with a 6 inches Newtonian. I have an 8 inches and it's lasting so far, 2 years and I am still fascinated by it's capabilities.

--> You have to spend time looking at the eyepiece, is all about the observation of faint details: This goes for the planets, the deep sky objects, the stars, the double stars, the carbon stars.

[ronin]

Going to say No, or Not really.

What happens is you buy a scope+mount combination, and the mount tends to just be enough for whatever scope, so anything bigger is too much for the mount and so you need a new mount.

Example: 150P on EQ 3-2 package, if you get a 200P later then you need at least the EQ5 mount as the EQ 3-2 will be far too lightweight for it.

The "solution" to that is to buy initially a bigger mount then you may need that will take a bigger scope. But bigger mount means more money and you are buying seperate items and that costs more.

The starter I would half suggest simply is not available in the UK, ES seem to have chosen not to offer it in UK/EU, US only it seems.

[D4N]

55 minutes ago, James86 said:

Hi Dan

I'm not really sure what i want to see i just enjoy looking at anything.
 

There is very little light pollution where i live, can travel and handle heavy items.

Budget wise probably upto £200

Based on that the 150P dob is probably best if you can stretch to £209.

The dobsonian mounts are very easy to use, EQ mounts can be quite confusing to start out with and low end ones aren't very stable.

I wouldn't plan ahead for an imaging setup based on a starter scope, that will just waste money that would be better spent getting a nice starter scope.

[Stu]

8 minutes ago, D4N said:

Based on that the 150P dob is probably best if you can stretch to £209.

The dobsonian mounts are very easy to use, EQ mounts can be quite confusing to start out with and low end ones aren't very stable.

I wouldn't plan ahead for an imaging setup based on a starter scope, that will just waste money that would be better spent getting a nice starter scope.

This sounds like a good plan. The 150p is a great starter scope, not too big, not too small and will show you plenty.

Upgrades come via better eyepieces, finderscope or telrad etc.

The dob is so easy to use for a beginner and much more stable than a starter EQ mount.

[Cosmic Geoff]

No easy answers. Good equipment costs £££. Aperture is good, but so is usability - it's no good having a large aperture scope if it is a pig to use and you struggle to find objects with it.  GoTo is good, not least for beginners, but it adds cost and some people clearly can't get on with it.

I suggest that even a small aperture scope of good quality, on a stable mount, will give you hours of pleasure. It will also let you find out what aspects of astronomy most appeal to you, and what kind of more capable equipment you would like to get when circumstances permit.

[James86]

I have chosen aCelestron Powerseeker 127eq Reflector Telescope as i got it cheap and thought it would be good to start with

[JOC]

Keep an eye on the SGL classifieds, good Skywatcher 150P and 200P on Dobsonian mounts seem to frequently come up second-hand.  Then you can probably shop within your budget and get something really nice that will last you.  You could even post in the 'Wanted' area.

[Waldemar]

On 2017-5-7 at 23:05, D4N said:

Based on that the 150P dob is probably best if you can stretch to £209.

The dobsonian mounts are very easy to use, EQ mounts can be quite confusing to start out with and low end ones aren't very stable.

I wouldn't plan ahead for an imaging setup based on a starter scope, that will just waste money that would be better spent getting a nice starter scope.

I think this is the best advice you can get...
If you save for an EQ mount you can put the OTA on, you can do some imaging with it in the future as well.