Help choosing my first scope

[Trollinthewall]

Hello all

 

As the title suggests I need a bit of help choosing my first scope as a newbie

Now I have been looking at some but would appreciate some advice from some more experienced people than myself. I'm not looking to go into astrophotography at all so this scope would be purely for observing, what I would love to be able to get is some good views of planets through it and some good views of DSO's, galaxies, nebulas etc which is what I have a particular interest in, portability is an essential too, my budget is £400.... maximum £500. This is the scope I've been looking at for some time now. A Skywatcher star discovery 150p go to reflector. http://m.skyatnightmagazine.com/review/telescopes/sky-watcher-star-discovery-150p-go-reflector

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated

Cheers 

George

[kev100]

Hi there, if it's purely visual why not go for the sky watcher 200 dob? Personally, I'd recommend sacrificing go to capability for the quality of the view ...

It's within your budget, and you'd have change to upgrade the eyepieces: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

Kev

Edited July 5, 2017 by kev100

[Galen Gilmore]

+1 for 200p dob. You might outgrow the 150 go-to, but the 200p dob will stick with you for a much longer amount of time.

[Ricochet]

I would go for an 8" or 10" dob if you have the space and can easily handle the weight. 

[vlaiv]

+1  8" dob, have it, love it

[ronin]

The scope appears a bit on the big size for the mount that it is on, agreed a lot of it is hollow tube, but still appears big.

Have you seen one in the fleash? Makes a fair difference but not sure how common they are. Any clubs: http://www.astronomyclubs.co.uk/  Clubs are always worth a visit and the sky remains light until about the end of theis month and into a bit of August so in a way use may be a little restricted/limited.

Be careful of "reviews" basically never seen a poor review even for scopes I think are appauling and one that should not be sold as such.

Get the scope that you want as then you might actually use it, Goto is no problem as long as you understand the limitations = You supply data, You set it up, You perform the alignment, if all the previous is done fairly well the scope might go to the object you request. Basically it is not "automatic". There is actually very little "automatic" in it at all.

Budget for eyepieces, I generally suggest just forgetting the supplied items and plan on your own. The 20mm supplied will allow a view but a reasonable 25mm plossl will be better and the other 2 itms seriously ignore them and consider either another 10mm plossl or an 8mm or 12mm if you did not want a 10mm "copy/duplication".

My preference is for a smaller less expensive scope to get familiar with it all, likely manual Alt.Az mount therefore. But spending £400-£500 in a first go at this seems a bit much. I "jumped" in with a £200 one (ETX goto) glad I did  not go for the 8SE which was my other thought.

[alanjgreen]

George,

I say, "go for it" as it looks a great scope for the money.

I started out with a celestron sky prodigy 130mm at nearly £700 so this is a great price for a larger 150mm with goto. My 130mm used to go in the car easy and come on weekends away.

Make sure you buy a power supply with decent capacity such as a 17Ah (amp hours) powertank from First Light Optics! Goto scopes can act up if they are not supplied with a constant voltage so cheapo power packs can be a waste of time. And you dont want to run out of juice in the middle of the night!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks.html

I eventually moved up to an 8" scope which provided better views and more stability but I only got the astronomy bug BECAUSE of the goto! It allowed me to find and SEE so many objects that I wanted more...

Check out youtube for some videos, the 8" dob is a great scope too but is a much larger scope and also consider where/how you will store your scope when not in use.

I am not one who agrees with this idea of spending the limited UK viewing time scouring the skies trying to find a target when I could be viewing them.

Alan

Edited July 6, 2017 by alanjgreen

[Cosmic Geoff]

As before, I would suggest starting with something smallish and easy to manage and store. Lots of people recommend Dobsonians because they are big and cheap, but without GoTo you will be spending a lot of time trying to find faint and deep-space objects instead of looking at them.

 For galaxies and nebulas you ideally want a dark sky site and an aperture of 8" or more, and GoTo so you can find them in the time available to you. And portable - all this racks up the cost so that's why I suggest a smaller GoTo as a compromise to start with.

[Wpit]

Hi

I would recomend the skywatcher skymax 127 with goto, this will be in your prices range and you may be able to pick one up for half your budget for second hand (second hand is good as astronomers tend to look after their babies). This is portable enough to take on holiday and gives good views. This way you will learn to use the goto on a smaller setup before you get the upgrade bug for more aperture (it happens to everyone). As it is a MAK is has little or no maintenence required.

Regards Will

 

 

[Wpit]

Just wanted to add that when getting started part of the fun is learning to use the kit, this includes using a simple goto which I find can be a fun way a novice can get to know the sky.

[Trollinthewall]

2 hours ago, alanjgreen said:

George,

I say, "go for it" as it looks a great scope for the money.

I started out with a celestron sky prodigy 130mm at nearly £700 so this is a great price for a larger 150mm with goto. My 130mm used to go in the car easy and come on weekends away.

Make sure you buy a power supply with decent capacity such as a 17Ah (amp hours) powertank from First Light Optics! Goto scopes can act up if they are not supplied with a constant voltage so cheapo power packs can be a waste of time. And you dont want to run out of juice in the middle of the night!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks.html

I eventually moved up to an 8" scope which provided better views and more stability but I only got the astronomy bug BECAUSE of the goto! It allowed me to find and SEE so many objects that I wanted more...

Check out youtube for some videos, the 8" dob is a great scope too but is a much larger scope and also consider where/how you will store your scope when not in use.

I am not one who agrees with this idea of spending the limited UK viewing time scouring the skies trying to find a target when I could be viewing them.

Alan

Yeah it does look a great scope for the price yeah I'd love to have an 8inch don't but space is at a premium in my house to store it and I don't know how portable it'd be as Ronin said, I'm sure the views are spectacular through it but I may have to make a compromise between space and size of the scope. My local astronomy society are meeting tonight so I'm going to pop along and find out more

[vlaiv]

Portability of 8" dob:

Easily carried when split into two pieces by one person, not so easy to carry when assembled - I've done it just once, it is a bit awkward to carry it up/down stairs or over longer distances, and don't really recommend it. Not a problem to move it around observing site when assembled, if you need to change position (dozen or so feet over flat terrain). Fits even smallish car - put OTA on back seats, rocker box into boot.

Storage space:

Yes it will take a bit of storage space, you will need about an half of meter squared of clear space (you might get away with quarter, something like 50x50cm for base if you plan to leave it pointing up), and height is about 1.2m when pointing up, so you will need vertical space as well (something like a floor lamp with a largish base, somewhere in the corner).

[Trollinthewall]

2 hours ago, vlaiv said:

Portability of 8" dob:

Easily carried when split into two pieces by one person, not so easy to carry when assembled - I've done it just once, it is a bit awkward to carry it up/down stairs or over longer distances, and don't really recommend it. Not a problem to move it around observing site when assembled, if you need to change position (dozen or so feet over flat terrain). Fits even smallish car - put OTA on back seats, rocker box into boot.

Storage space:

Yes it will take a bit of storage space, you will need about an half of meter squared of clear space (you might get away with quarter, something like 50x50cm for base if you plan to leave it pointing up), and height is about 1.2m when pointing up, so you will need vertical space as well (something like a floor lamp with a largish base, somewhere in the corner).

Thanks that does put into perspective a bit thinking about that still not sure I'd have room for it but it has got me looking around the house for a potential storage space if I do choose to go with a scope that size also another good point that I remembered was budgeting for eye peices as I take it that the manufacturers are not that great? Also can go to's plug straight into the mains? as my potential scope spot would be right near my door and there's a plug socket right next to it so that may save me on a power pack if I do choose a go to.

[Wpit]

Yes, most goto scopes can use a main (usually 12v 2 A) psu to drive the motors and handset. No need for a powerpack when using from home. I found SW stock eyepieces were fine to get started but eventually you will upgrade and eyepiece is a good place to start spending.