Little bit of help needed for the wife...

[PhilJDJ]

Hi all, 

I do apologise for hijacking your forum for what most of you will undoubtedly roll your eyes for, but I do require a little help in purchasing some upgrades for my wife's telescope. 

She bought herself a Celestron PS1000 I believe, and has absolutely loved using it for the past year, when she can... 

I wanted to buy her some useful upgrades for the telescope as part of her Christmas box, and what I have found is the most useful thing would be to buy some lenses for her...?

I have tried to research what is best to do in terms of individual lenses and kits, but I keep finding pro's and con's for each.  A great deal of the terminology used is far beyond my very limited knowledge and I can't ask her as she would know... we have a strict surprise policy in our house at Christmas

So... I come begging for help, advice and products that would be suitable for this telescope. 

I have thought about a brand new telescope, as I am now learning that this may not be the most ideal beginner telescope on the market... however; main presents are already purchased and I only thought about this when I ventured into the spare room and saw the telescope and thought "bingo".

Any help appreciated, if you can...

Phil

[alanjgreen]

Hi Phil,

just looked up this scope...

https://www.jessops.com/p/celestron/ps1000-newtonian-reflector-telescope-97399

It looks like it has a focal length of 1000mm (we need to know this to calculate Magnificaton of eyepieces) and came with 3 supplied eyepieces 

The scope has aperture is 127mm (or 5")

The supplied eyepieces are x50, x80 and x277 magnifications.

The small aperture means x277 is a waste of time (way more than the scope is capable of) but she should get decent views at x50 and x80 though.

I would suggest you don't bother with other lenses (eyepieces) as decent ones will cost £50 each and the scope only cost £150. Better to let her upgrade in the future to a scope with more aperture (when she feels ready).

My suggestion for a xmas present is a book of objects for her to find with her scope. Here is the link & it's a great book (200 pages of objects and how to find them, pics of what you will see)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

you will find it on amazon and good book shops too!

Alan

[PhilJDJ]

Alan 

Thank you so much!!! 

What an utterly helpful reply

This post in a vehicle forum would have been met with... "read the other posts" etc... 

I am going to take your advice and I am going to get that book, you have saved me a great deal of time and wasted money... I thank you greatly for taking the time to research for me and reply. 

I have been researching the SkyWatcher scopes, but this is a different type of scope, so I am guessing the different types of scopes reflect what you are looking for in the sky?

Maybe I will let her find her feet a little more and then help her purchase a new one as you suggested. 

I would love to surprise her with a new one, but it may not suit her requirements... 

Thank you

[Peter Drew]

@Phil. I've also just looked up the telescope. From the illustration it appears to be of the Bird-Jones design, these telescopes can be a little difficult to get the best out of. On those grounds I agree with Alan that it is probably not worth adding extras. The suggestion for a book of objects to accompany the telescope is an excellent one. 

[PhilJDJ]

Its a wonderful idea and I'm tracking it down now

[alanjgreen]

Skywatcher make some nice scopes (as do other manufacturers). But you only really  get to know what you want by learning what you like/don't like about the scope you have.

With this info you can seek out a scope that does not suffer from the things you don't like but still has the things you do.

when she is ready to change then she only needs to post details of what she likes/didn't like and people will be happy to help with scope ideas moving forward.

If she is happy with what she is using AND she is using it then there is no need to change just for the sake of it.

A good scope is one you use!

Alan

[PhilJDJ]

I will point her in the direction of this forum after Christmas for sure!

What a great bunch of people, she will find this forum most helpful. 

Thank you for being understanding!

[carastro]

Yes when she or you are ready to buy her a new scope, she would most certainly benefit from having a different type of mount to the one she currently has which is quite difficult to use, find objects,  and keep them in the field of view as the Earth rotates. 

If she is still keen on observing, then a dobsonian telescope would be a good buy.  Or if she fancies a motorised mount then a GOTO type of telescope would be better.

If she fancies getting into astrophotography, it is very specific and better start saving now.  (The sky's the limit).  

Carole 

[Helen]

Can I suggest you add a red light torch to your package so that she can see the book without ruining her night vision?   While a standard redlight head torch works fine, this https://www.365astronomy.com/Celestron-FireCel-Red-LED-Torch-USB-Rechargeable-Power-Pack-and-Hand-Warmer.html   adds a handwarmer and a usb charger.  You could also include a small notebook too - recording what you see turns 'looking' into 'observing'.

Helen 

[PhilJDJ]

I've spoken to her about the scopes, I came clean and explained I was trying to get her some upgrades, but this isn't possible with the scope she has. 

I told her I'd been looking, but I don't understand it very well, so I sought advice... but I will learn for her. 

Many times I have been called out to the garden at 11pm in the cold to have a look at various things. 

I mentioned I'd looked at these "big white ones" (knowing it was a skywatcher) and she said a "oooh a Dobsonian, that's the next step!" 

I have to admit, lots of the times the object had passed by the time I got my coat on, and I have noticed that the current scope seems incredibly fiddly.  The finder sight (excuse my terminology) is not very good, and I don't think the stand is particularly well engineered, but you get what you pay for and she wanted this because it was cheap... but it was a good starting point for her, she absolutely loves the sky at night and has all sorts of apps on her phone etc. 

I'm not entirely sure if she would like to get into the photography aspect, but who knows? 

[PhilJDJ]

Helen, what a great little gadget!!!

I'll get one of those too

 

[Helen]

Sorry, just had another thought... You could buy a red-dot finder like this https://www.firstlightoptics.com/finders/rigel-quikfinder-compact-reflex-sight.html which would make finding things much easier (when you look through it it shows a bullseye on the sky so you can see where the scope is pointing).  It could easily be taken off and put on any upgrade scope too, so an investment for the future.  For me, this was the accessory that changed dramatically my observing as at last I could find things, and if I spotted something by accident I could look at charts to find out what I'd seen

Helen

[Helen]

A dobsonian would be a GREAT upgrade - your wife has good judgement

Helen

[furrysocks2]

A decent pair of binoculars is a great accompaniment to any scope.

http://binocularsky.com/binoc_choosing.php

 

[Charic]

1 hour ago, PhilJDJ said:

......she bought herself a Celestron PS1000............

I had the Celestron 127EQ........(very similar) was not a greatest experience,  and quickly upgraded within days to the 8" 200P Skywatcher Skyliner, check it out here......

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

Now not the cheapest Christmas present, but clearly a serious upgrade, and to be honest, nothing you buy for the present scope will improve that scope? however eyepieces can be transferred, but a new scope like the Skyliner, I think mrs PhilJDJ would be amazed at how much easier this scope is to use and operate, and the views are just much better, under the right conditions.
 

[PhilJDJ]

Great ideas! thank you!

I have had a rummage through the lenses she has here and I have found the following... 

3x Barlow (looks very cheap) I suspect an ebay special
12mm Celestron 
3.6mm Celestron
20mm Celestron

I'm seeing big gaps here given the threads I have been reading all night on this forum, and a 3x Barlow seems overkill... 

I'm thinking maybe a better 2x barlow lens that she can carry on using when the new scope is found???

[N3ptune]

You can pick Starguiders eyepieces or Xcel LX they both are very good and not too expensive, they will transfer easily to the next telescope. I would definitely not buy another 3x barlow, for me it's useless.

I would pick this for a 127 x 1000

25mm = 40x
12mm = 83x
8mm = 125

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

(Starguiders and Xcel LX will have a better field of view then supplied eyepieces and better optical quality)

[ronin]

Going to slightly disagree, eyepieces may be a good idea. You say she has the following:

3x Barlow (looks very cheap) I suspect an ebay special
12mm Celestron 
3.6mm Celestron
20mm Celestron

To my thinking only 2 of those are any real use, the 20mm and the 12mm, additionally I guess they are very basic as in Huygens or Ramsden eyepieces. I would suggest a couple of inexpensive plossl eyepieces. The idea is to improve the quality and so enjoyment of standing outside freezing to death on a cold bleak night. A down jacket with a down hood is an even better option. As are snow boots.

Being the design it appears to be - Bird Jones - it wipes out high magnifications. They work best on low to medium. Lets say up to the 100x area, often 80x is the most used.

So 100x = 10mm eyepiece, 80x = 12.5mm eyepiece and a wide eyepiece is the customary 30mm or 32mm.

I would go for a 30/32, then 15 and a 12, basically steering you away from the high end, although 100x is tempting.

The "only" one I know of for items along these lines are StL, Skys the Limit. Run from ebay but Alan who operates it is an astronomer himself at Hertford. Have a look at his Premium Plossl's. Rats!!! I can only see 1 such item on Alan's site. You may need to search other retailers.

Where about are you? It is possible there is a retailer within reach of you. A location is very useful.

Books are really something I think she may need to have input on. I use The Monthly Sky Guide by Ridpath and Tirion, I never clicked with TLAO. Think I opened it twice and gave it away.

If she has a reasonable phone then maybe in future consider Skysafari 5 Plus. You/she does not need the Pro version so don't get it.

PC software is the standard Stellarium.

[CFC]

Buy her a nice new DOB. Great views, nice and easy to use and not too expensive. I also love my Celestron Nexstar 4 SE which takes you like magic to whatever you want to look at and either the 130p heritage DOB or the Nexstar are not too heavy for her to carry downstairs on her own.

Any scope kept upstairs has to be easily portable. I have to trek mine up and down steps to the garden myself. My 150p DOB is great but I wouldn't want to cart it from a bedroom upstairs.

 

If it's too much because you've already spent the budget, birthday!!

[PhilJDJ]

Her Birthday is on the 3rd January hahahaha

To be honest, and not to sound like a plonker, she asks for nothing during the year, she is probably the cheapest wife anyone has ever had hahaha, so spoiling her is easy! 

I would love to get her a new scope, but the element of surprise could be lost if she has to have involvement... 

I love the look of the Skywatcher, especially the 10", but I'm guessing I would still need better eye pieces? 

[ronin]

The 10" is likely about f/4.7 and so classed as "fast" thei brings in other complications. It will need more collimating and eyepieces will be more costly in order to get good performance.

Not sure if anyone does an 8" f/6 but that would likely be a better all round option. Afraid that more aperture sounds good but it can also have a down side. You will get told the good ones but half the time you need to know the not so good ones also.

It goes along the lines of the nice big V6 engine in that car is really nice, very smooth and responsive, the downside is it uses twice the fuel of a reasonable tune staright 4, servicing is a high cost annual occurance, the insurance is eye wateringly high and so is the road tax.

[alanjgreen]

5 hours ago, PhilJDJ said:

Her Birthday is on the 3rd January hahahaha

To be honest, and not to sound like a plonker, she asks for nothing during the year, she is probably the cheapest wife anyone has ever had hahaha, so spoiling her is easy! 

I would love to get her a new scope, but the element of surprise could be lost if she has to have involvement... 

I love the look of the Skywatcher, especially the 10", but I'm guessing I would still need better eye pieces? 

Phil,

I think she MUST be involved in a new scope purchase

Try to find a local retailer (proper scope retailer that is, not Jessops!) and try to find local astronomy clubs in your area, find out when they next meet and drag her along to a meeting where she can see other peoples scopes and ask plenty of questions...

- if you update your profile to add the city/area/county where you live then we can provide "local" info for you ...

Sure, an 8" DOB is great but its big and bulky (she needs to see one in the flesh).

To get the next scope right then one needs NOT RUSH IN... Take your time, ask questions, watch youtube videos and just let her choose what she wants... (only she will recognize it when she sees it )

I am sure that she will appreciate all the help and effort on your part in this process...

Alan

[Astro Imp]

5 hours ago, ronin said:

Not sure if anyone does an 8" f/6 but that would likely be a better all round option. 

Skywatcher flextube matches this spec. 

[Mr niall]

Definitely agree with Turn Left @ Orion, that book was the difference between me getting hooked and giving up completely!

Dobs are amazing, but I would take the time to physically look at one first, they are massive! And once you get to about 10 Inches and bigger they can be a real nightmare to move around! 

[M Astronomy]

Hey, sounds like your wife is going to have a great Christmas. An 8" Skywatcher Dobsonian is a great choice but as other people have said she needs to be a part of it. If you don't want to spend the cash, or you want to keep it a surprise, here are my list of good pretty inexpensive gifts:

Turn Left at Orion - Good book to help her find objects 

Making Every Photon Count - Great book for anyone interested in getting into astrophotography and even if she ends up not wanting to in the end, not too cash lost

Moon Phase Clock - Great little gadget, very helpful in telling you when the prime time is for viewing deep sky objects 

Red Torch - Keep those eyes dark adapted 

Plossl Eyepieces - Doesn't matter if she has a poor scope for now as you can transfer them over

Trip to a Place with a Dark Sky - Maybe offer to drive her to a place with a really dark sky for a night of observing, sure she'd absolutely love that, especially if you get involved

Hope this really helps and you have a great Christmas!