Complete Newbie

[Astro_Baby]

I think a rethink is good - especially for the girls. One of the downsides to a non-GoTo is always going to be finding stuff. Dont know how old your girls are - my boys are 11 and 16 and my 11 year old has a low boredom threshold so would get bored while I locate stuff.

I intend to take him out with me this winter if we ever get a clear sky but I am under few illusions that he'll be bored quite quickly.

The other thing with a biggish newt is the eyepiece can end up 5' off the ground. If the children are small it makes life a bit tougher. Its great your girls are interested though.

[tarqs101]

I've never used one myself but I've read some very good reviews. I'm sure someone here will have used one though...

[scotastro]

The EXT125 can have problems with locating objects accurately. While the smaller versions work well in my experience the 125 not good. Unless you can get your money back without hassle if there was a problem, it is a scope to avoid. The Celestron Nexstar 6SE is a much better, but not cheap at £700.

A few months back there wa a thread where members said what they wish they had known when buying their first scope. A lot of posts were along the lines of would have gone for a larger aperture.

Please take your time before buying a scope - there is a huge range available some bad, but a lot of good ones and it need not cost the earth. Almost everyone on SGL will recommend their own scope because it meets most of their personal requirements for their budget. These requirements may not be the same as yours so by reading widely (the net is full of scope reviews) you will be in a better position to narrow down the scopes you like to just a few.

Mike

GAC

Galloway Astronomy Centre

www.gallowayastro.com

[timetraveller]

Thats really good advice saxony I have also heard and indeed read bad reports on that particular scope better to take your time than to end up with something you may wish later you hadnt bought regards Pete

[Vega]

Also good point about the height of the eyepeice on Newtonions. At certain angles it really can get high. On my 250px step ladders are required for objects in the NW or NE sky (admitadly its a larger scope and would get much higher than the smaller cousins, but im talking second step on the ladder here!). Would be well worth having someone demo a 150mm or 200mm Newt (or visit an astro store)just to check how high the eyepiece gets.

Matt

[Astro_Baby]

I think thats good advice - its why I am nervous of ever tyring to advise anyone myself. I can relate my own experience only.

I think though that in some ways sooner or later you have to jump in and see if it fits. Rationally as I said in an earlier post an SCT would have been a better choice for me but I wanted a newt. Its completely personal and emotion driven and very little to do with practicality.

Other people will have their own prejudices and foibles just the same as me.

The problem is you could spend ages looking around and whetever you buy may end up being a bad choice for you.

I almost bought a small Meade ETX type thing on a whim - think it was an ETX90. It seemed very good but I look back and see it would have been an expensive toy.

The 130 had its own share of 'issues' ie like any newt its EP moves around and you end up having to rotate the tube. Thats a hassles I had forgotten about.

A refractor can end up with you laying on the ground when you want to look at stuff near the zenith - thats just part of the charm

The problem is you dont know what issues are important to you personally until you have some use of a telescope.

When I was at Salsibury I commented to a Dob owner that in some ways I wish I had just said 'forget the clever stuff with the EQ mount) wish I had just bought HUGE aperture. Not half an hour later they were commenting to me that they wished that had an EQ mount cos tracking with the Dob was being awkward.

I think whatever you buy will have its own issues ( or is it charm ? ) its what you can live with.

[rusirius]

Just spotted this, complete with GOTO!

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=20998

[Casus belli]

Hello Saxony and welcome to SGL. I can see you have already had some excellent advice from everyone on here. Keep asking questions, they are an increadably helpful bunch on here.

Meade etx 125. I have a Meade etx 90. It was my first scope and it was recommended as a good all-rounder (not by the good folk on here) In hindsight I wish I hadn't. Nice optics, shame about the mount. It gives nice clear views but its tracking isnt very good and its gearing may struggle a bit with the wieght of your camera. Its a bit expensive and general opinion is that you can get better value for your money.

A lot depends also on your viewing area. Light pollution will play a big part on what you can see, especially DSO's (galaxies and nebulae) Planets and the moon are less affected.

There is no such thing as the perfect scope. The aforementioned light pollution, weight, ease of use and what you plan to do with the scope all come into the final desision.

I will say however that reading through many threads exactly like this one that the skywatcher always seems to get recommended the most. (I've never had a look through one so I cant say, but I respect the opinions of SGL members)

Astro photography is a steep learning curve. I'd suggest you learn the sky first and then study the black art that is astrophotography. But you do have an excellent camera for it.

Had I known what I know today and taking into consideration my viewing conditions and what I like to study (DSO's) my first scope would have been the second scope I bought, a 10" meade lightbridge. Its easy to set up and I love the thrill of the hunt. Its a dobsonian scope which means that all the money you spend is going on a large mirror and not on computerised go-to's.

Its a fantastic way to learn the sky if you have fairly good viewing conditions.

Invest in warm clothing. A cold astronomer is not a happy astronomer. It takes 30 minutes for your eyes to get properly dark adapted and in January (Cold nights give the best viewing) it gets really cold very quickly. Gloves and a silly hat are de-riguer for astronomers.

BTW if you start typing a post on here try and finish it within 2 hours(? or is it 1?) or the post gobblins will eat your post. Its a software issue.

Have fun and keep asking questions

[Saxony]

Hello everyone,

Well I went with the ETX125pe in the end, only time will tell if I made the right choice I guess. My deciding factors were size and price, it usually retails at £689 but I bought a demo model for £399 it comes with a years full warrenty so I felt at the reduced price it was the one to go for.

It arrived today so now I just have to work out how to use it So far looking out of my garden I have had a good view of some cows and a farm that I didn't even know where there, I just thought it was trees and fields lol. Just have to wait for tonight now, hopefully it will be clear.

Thanks for all your help in this thread.

Sax

[Viking]

Sax,

Given that you have a 350 canon with two lenses. You can simply take photographs of the moon and try to identify many of the craters. Leave the telescope until you are certain that's the way you want to go. Over the months you will see many items of s/h equipment offered for sale.

Astrophotography, even with webcams cost much more than visual because of all the peripheral things you require. Attaching your 350 to a telescope is only the start. If this is where you intend to go then invest in a good (sturdy) mount.

Summary, binoculars with Turn Left at Orion together with your 350 canon either hand held or mounted on a camera tripod. Sturdy mount and telescope for another day. Finally, be patient with your purchases.

John

[Saxony]

Maybe my last post wasn't clear viking, but I decided on the Meade etx and it arrived today. I do eventually want to get into astrophotography but at present I am more interested in learning about whats about and where to find it and everything in between, I am completely new to astrology so it's all new.

Since my girls are interested too, was one reason I went for the discounted ETX, since it has goto the girls will be able hopefully be easily able to find things of interest and not get board, once we have learnt more if the ETX isn't so good for astrophotography then I might upgrade at that point.

Sax

[Viking]

Sax,

That's fine, but my post still has value and I hope you point your canon at the moon and enjoy the experience.

Also, astrology often gets mixed with what we are about, astronomy.

John

[Psychobilly]

Good Price

The ETX125PE should fit the bill quite nicely the optics are usually very good and will give some nice views. It's also about the right balance of aperture and grab and go...

What tripod did you get with it?

If its the #884 then you will have the option of using the built in "wedge" to mount equatorially at some point in the future - when you want to start with the astrophotography. In the short term use it in Alt/Az for visual use as itsa lot easier to setup.

Billy...

[Saxony]

HAHA Viking that was a complete typo when I put astrology no idea why I typed that as I have no interest in astrology at all, I do have a really bad cold and generally feel a bit crappy at mo so will put it down to that lol. I will for sure take on board the moon pic idea.

It is the 884 Psychobilly, but yes at the moment I have it set to Alt/Az till I know what I am doing.

Sax

[Psychobilly]

Best online resource - well 2nd best after sgl - for all things ETX is....

http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html

Billy...

[Saxony]

Hey guys, it's been a while since I posted here so I thought I would write a little update about what we have been doing.

Shortly after buying the ETX I decided I had bought the wrong scope for us lol. However luckily for me my brother said he would have bought it if I hadn't so I sold it to him.

Alot of the fun for me and the girls is going out and finding things for ourselves and actually learning the night sky, the etx would take all that fun away once it was actually set up, so I am going to go back to getting something alot more basic. We are going up to David Hinds this afternoon and actually have a look at the scopes there before I make another decision.

On a good note though, we had a really good night with the bins last night, which I have since bought a tripod for which helps no end. When we were looking at Jupiter, we could see 3 of it's moons although very faintly. We can easily find Polaris now, after working out it isn't as bright as we thought at first, and it was the star I thought all along, I just expected it to be brighter for some reason, which is where we kept going wrong.

We then starhoped to Cassiopeia and then onto M31, which was our goal last night, (after looking at Jupiter), so we were very pleased with our efforts, although it actually took us probablly close to an hour to find M31. Later on I also found Pleiades, well I am pretty sure that was what I was looking at anyway, going to double check that next time we get out.

So although I am back to the drawing board re scopes (I am really edging towards a simple point and go set up at the moment) we have been having great fun just with the binoculars.

Sax

[Astro_Baby]

Hi Saxony, glad the ETX experience hasn't put you off. Its as I said in an earlier post that when your new its so very hard to know whats going to be good. You almost have to take a punt and find out firsthand because EVERY scope has issues - its really what issues suit you the best.

I just bought a small GoTo myself ( :oops: ) but I got so fed up dragging a giant tube about only to get A1 views of clouds that if I didn't do something to correct a huge dose of negativity I might have chucked the hobby in.

I think what you found - ie the GoTo takes the fun out - is also what I kind of suspected about GoTo. Its probably a boon when you know the sky really or if you arent interested in learning it but my astro navigation is appalling and I know if I went GoTo I'd get bored cos there would be no challenge. Its kind of like ready meals I suppose. You can eat quicker but loses some of the flavour

Anyway really glad the ETX didn't put you off and its fantastic your girls are so into the hobby as well. My two boys see me as geeky and weird with my telescope

Mel

ps - EVERYONE thinks Polaris is super bright - no idea why but they do.

[kniclander]

hurrah :cheers: someone wants to go out and find things! think about a dob (ie a newt on a really simple mount that you just push around - also, zero set up time and no probs with eyepiece being too high). ps I think David Hinds only sells Celestron. Skywatchers are generally a bit cheaper for the same thing (although I have been very pleased with my skywatcher, I don't know if a comparable celestron would be much better - I suspect not).

you should be able to get a 6" skywatcher dob for about £150.

Dan

[Astro_Baby]

Well you could also go with a manual EQ mount - you still have to find stuff but once your there the EQ mount makes it easier to track.

My sister just bought herself a SW150 ( the long one ) on an EQ3-2 second hand and although she cant find a thing at the moment she is loving it.

[Saxony]

Astro-baby I love that analogy about the fast food. It definatly sums up how I feel. I am so new to this I think I went for the "fast option" when really I needed to taste the flavours lol.

Seriously, I think the best thing for me, and my girls, is having fun, and to do that we need to spend time looking for things ourselves. Like I said to one of my daughters today, yeah we could press a button and see something, but then what do we do? It's far more fun sitting out there freezing our butt's off for an hour looking for a misty splodge, (i.e M31), it's just nice spending time together even if we don't actually find anything, but when we do it makes it even more worth while.

Even with our bins we had loads of fun last night and learn't alot too.

So given that we have gone for a very simple scope for starters, fully aware that in probably 6 months I will want something better, but in the meantime we have just bought a astromaster 90 on a AZ mount, for some reason I am a little scared of an EQ mount. I realise we are not going to see as much as most other scopes suggested to me, but for now it's a step up from the bins, and when I feel more confident I will get something bigger. The plus side to this as well is that I have a 3 year old, hopefully she will be interested too when she is a little older, so when I have my 10" newt, the little un can use the astomaster lol.

Sax

Oh Astro-baby, I meant to say, it's a shame your boys are not so keen, I really thought boys would be more interested than girls. Maybe it's an age thing, my middle one is definatly more interested than my oldest, she will come and have a look, but gets back to her laptop as soon as she thinks it is appropriate :scratch:

[Astro_Baby]

Too late now but theres not much to be scared of with an EQ mount. Honest they aren't that hard to cope with. Wish you were closer than I could show you.

My sister just got a 6" SkyWatcher on an EQ mount and hasnt had any problems at all with it. I was a bit surpised because she has never had any interest in astro at all.

My boys are 16 and 11. The 16 year old is just very off anyting thats not online. The 11 year old tends to take his cue from my eldest but when he is on his own he will show some interest.

Who knows maybe one day they will come round to it.