First telescope thoughts.

[Binoscoper]

First and most importantly I'm not in any rush as my birthday isn't until July. So i have plenty of time to think things through. My budget will be an estimated £120-£150. More towards the former though as there might be some non astro stuff to get. 

I've been reading many web pages and bashing the threads on this site and seem fairly settled on the skywatcher heritage 100p. For the moment I'm happy binocularing in my garden in these cold evenings of late picking out and learning the constellations. I envisage a similar use for the skywatcher in which I use it to learn the skies. I may at some point around July, join my local astro club. 

Now, a quick question on eyepieces if I could please? I have limited experience in "bird watcher" style spotting scopes. All i know is when the magnification gets cranked up, the quality of the optics deteriorate accordingly. Would it be worth while to swap out the stock 10mm eyepiece for a celestron x-cel lx 9 0r 12mm? Yes sorry I'm not all that clued up on focal lengths and numbers ect!   I don't have a clue how to work out magnifications or what works with what focal length?.

Thanks in advance.  

Craig.

[alanjgreen]

Magnification = Telescope focal length / Eyepiece focal length

Heritage 100p = 400mm focal length

eyepieces = 25mm & 10mm

400/25 = x16

400/10 = x40

With a 100mm aperture you should be okay up to about x100

It comes supplied with a barlow lens (x2)

If you insert the barlow into the focuser followed by one of the supplied eyepieces then this doubles the magnifcation (x2) so x16 becomes x32 & x40 becomes x80

I would plan to use the supplied stuff for a couple of months before buying more stuff. First thing to think to change is the "finder" and plan to buy the book "turn left at orion" as this will help you find stuff to look at. If you cant find anything then magnification is irrelevant

Alan

[Handy_Andy]

In terms of working out magnifications and such try this 

https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

[mikeDnight]

Hello Craig,

First of all, you're already doing the best thing possible, by learning your way around the constellations using your binoculars. If they are mounted on a tripod you should be able to pick out a few of the brighter deep sky objects in the Messier catalogue, depicted in star charts with a letter M. So the charts will list them as M13, M42,  M31 etc.

I'd say try and join your local astro club sooner rather than later as the guys there will have a wealth of experience that you can draw on. They may also be able to help with choosing your first scope. With your budget don't be tempted to get sidetracked with unnecessary electronics, but spend it on good optics. If you can save a little yourself before your birthday it may give you a greater range of freedom when the time comes to buy a scope.

To work out the magnification all you need to do is divide the focal length of the telescope in millimetres by the focal length of the eyepiece in millimetres. So if a scope is say 900 mm long and the eyepiece is 25mm, then 900÷25 = the magnification = X36. ? You should also be aware that the higher the magnification the dimmer the image and the more sensitive the scope becomes to turbulence.

[HEXZ0R]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SkyWatcher-Explorer-200P-Reflector-Telescope-with-Extras/302650874947?hash=item467765dc43:g:Z~4AAOSw9LlaksMx something like this used would be great for first scope

 

[Binoscoper]

@alanjgreen thank you for clearing that up. Also "turn left at Orion" is on my list of considerations. I just have to try and sneak it under the wife's watchfull nose! 

@Handy_Andy interesting calculator... I'm sure it will come in good use for future reference. 

@mikeDnight I have a velbon ef-61. It does the job. I once had a quick look through a birders opticron hr ed 80mm with a max zoom of 70x. Crikey the image was yellow and could barely focus! So I am a bit cautious of high mag.  

[mikeDnight]

11 minutes ago, Binoscoper said:

@alanjgreen thank you for clearing that up. Also "turn left at Orion" is on my list of considerations. I just have to try and sneak it under the wife's watchfull nose! 

@Handy_Andy interesting calculator... I'm sure it will come in good use for future reference. 

@mikeDnight I have a velbon ef-61. It does the job. I once had a quick look through a birders opticron hr ed 80mm with a max zoom of 70x. Crikey the image was yellow and could barely focus! So I am a bit cautious of high mag.  

Many Zoom eyepieces are not as good as single power eyepieces and some are down right awful, so I suspect the ED 80 was hindered rather than helped by that eyepiece. A quality Zoom by itself can be a pricey purchase. It's worth remembering that the eyepiece is half the telescope, so a top class lens or mirror will only perform as well as the eyepiece allows. Most telescopes today come with a couple of reasonable quality eyepieces that will give pleasing views, so there's no need to worry. 

[Nyctimene]

The Skywatcher Heritage 130 P Flextube is at 137 GBP (First Light Optics) within your price range, and would give you better views than the 100 P. Moreover, it can be fully collimated (AFAIK, the 100 P's primary cannot be collimated). At f/5, it's more forgiving on eyepiece quality and collimation than the 100 P at f/4. Lots of pleased owners on here; look at the review:

Skywatcher Heritage 130P flexitube

and at Neil English's detailed experiences:http://neilenglish.net/a-newtonian-travel-scope/

I bought one last summer, and it's a very decent scope, easy to use, with excellent optics, at an incredibly low price. It would give you fun for years, and could serve later on (when aperture fever has set in) as a compact travel or grab-and-go scope.

Stephan

 

 

[Torin]

On 26/02/2018 at 16:03, Nyctimene said:

The Skywatcher Heritage 130 P Flextube is at 137 GBP (First Light Optics) within your price range, and would give you better views than the 100 P. Moreover, it can be fully collimated (AFAIK, the 100 P's primary cannot be collimated). At f/5, it's more forgiving on eyepiece quality and collimation than the 100 P at f/4. Lots of pleased owners on here; look at the review:

Skywatcher Heritage 130P flexitube

and at Neil English's detailed experiences:http://neilenglish.net/a-newtonian-travel-scope/

I bought one last summer, and it's a very decent scope, easy to use, with excellent optics, at an incredibly low price. It would give you fun for years, and could serve later on (when aperture fever has set in) as a compact travel or grab-and-go scope.

Stephan

I second that. Definitely a great scope at a good price.