Telescope for beginner

[rvnandha]

Hello! I'm looking to buy a telescope as a beginner, with a budget of around £100-150 to observe the moon, a few planets and some stars from my bedroom and garden.

I've seen an advert for a second hand Sky-Watcher BKP1145EQ1 in excellent condition for £80 in my area, is this suitable as a first telescope?

I'm a complete newbie to astronomy, therefore any advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Ravi

[Demonperformer]

Hi, Ravi, and welcome to SGL.

For a first scope to just observe a few bright objects, I suspect the EQ mount will be more trouble than it is worth ... particularly an EQ1, the abilities of which are (shall we say) limited.

I would go for one of the smaller dobsonians - something like this would be within budget. Yes, you will need to find things yourself (no GOTO) and will need to keep them in the field of view by "nudging" the scope. But I don't think you will do better for the money.

Enjoy the journey.

[rvnandha]

Hi there,

Thank you for your response, I appreciate it.

I don't mind having to control and find things myself, I think it'll be a good learning experience.

It's more useful to get a Dobsonian as a starter? Also, what sort of view would I be expecting to see? A decent close up view, or something from quite a distance?

Thank you once again.

[happy-kat]

I'm sure I read it is possible to set an eq mount like that so it only moves left right up down which is easier to use like a dobsonian mount works. The tripod will be wobbly but improved I think if don't extend the legs fully so sit to observe.

What can I expect to see is an excellent thread to read.

[Charic]

1 hour ago, rvnandha said:

I've seen an advert for a second hand Sky-Watcher BKP1145EQ1 in excellent condition for £80 in my area, is this suitable as a first telescope?

 

I spent £30-£40 on a similar scope and wished now I hadn't, but it was still a good learning curve, but at the wrong end of  the learning curve when starting out in astronomy?

I would suggest  a simple, no-nonsense but adequate and capable scope like my Skywatcher skyliner in either 6" or 8" aperture.

But even before that, check this out, maybe you could look through a scope or two at Regents Park, to get a feel for what's available, and whats achievable when observing from London. https://www.bakerstreetastro.org

[Stu]

I would go for a heritage 130P for that sort of budget. I have one and it gives surprisingly good views. The focuser can be tightened up with some plumbers tape and I tend to use mine on a tripod mount as that puts it at a more convenient height, otherwise a table will do fine.

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, rvnandha said:

Also, what sort of view would I be expecting to see? A decent close up view, or something from quite a distance?

The moon will look quite large and up close.  The planets, not so much.  Beginners are most shocked by how small the planets are even through a telescope.  With the proper solar filter, the sun also appears large and in charge.  Star clusters like the Pleiades and Collinder 70 (in Orion's Belt) also appear quite large and brilliant.  The Orion Nebula is also quite nice if you can get to at least suburban skies, especially with a UHC or OIII nebula filter.

[rvnandha]

Thank you all for your reply.

The Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p seems to be the recommendation so far!

What about spending a bit less, close to half the price, and buying a set of binoculars instead? Seen some good reviews regarding the Celestron 71198 on Reddit and other websites online, but I'm not sure what sort of view I'd be able to get with those.

[happy-kat]

The thing to watch out for when buying a telescope second hand is you want to check that the label on the telescope fits the size of the telescope. For example the 114mm is the mirror so I would want the label to say 114mm 500mm the second number is the focal length of the tube so I would steer well clear of a 114mm 1000mm where the tube's actual size was only 500mm, that is one too avoid and is the telescope Claric had I think. Eq1 is flimsy but you could make it a bit better in a few ways or make a dobsonian base for it.

The heritage 130p is a bigger mirror so would capture more light and see more.

You won't see as much in binoculars but Lidl do 10*50 every now and then for about £16.

[Demonperformer]

Horses for courses.

Binoculars are great for wide field views and "learning" the sky. But you say one of your main interests is planets and most of the discs are fairly small ... the maximum is about 1 arc-minute (3% of the moon). With a pair of hand-helds (e.g. 10x) that is going to leave you with a planet that is maybe 1/3 of the moon (for Venus as a crescent), nearer 25% for Jupiter, and about half that again for Saturn. Without wishing to fall into the trap of "magnification fever", you are going to want greater magnification to see any sort of detail on them. The heritage will give you discs that show some sort of detail, 10x50s won't.

[Alan64]

4 hours ago, rvnandha said:

Thank you all for your reply.

The Sky-Watcher Heritage 130p seems to be the recommendation so far!

What about spending a bit less, close to half the price, and buying a set of binoculars instead? Seen some good reviews regarding the Celestron 71198 on Reddit and other websites online, but I'm not sure what sort of view I'd be able to get with those.

You'd have a lot more fun with a telescope.  The mere thought of holding up a pair of binoculars for any length of time makes my arms ache.  Even that 114mm f/4 Newtonian on an EQ-1 would be preferable.  Yes, it might teeter and totter a tad, but not too badly.  The 114mm f/4 is designed and intended for low-power wide-field views, primarily, like a pair of binoculars.  But you would have the ability to change the magnifications, and in bumping up the power a little.

[rvnandha]

Thank you, Alan.

Been doing some research online and the Heritage 130p seems like the perfect choice for a beginner like me, especially considering how compact it is. Are there any threads/links which give a detailed review or explanations as to the sort of view I would be expecting to see from the 130p?

As well as that, I've seen a number of recommendations to pick up 'Turn Left at Orion', which provides a lot of information on what to look out for in the night sky!

[Louis D]

I find binoculars best for dim comet hunting and taking in wide views of constellations.  Otherwise, telescopes win out.

[Alan64]

1 hour ago, rvnandha said:

Thank you, Alan.

Been doing some research online and the Heritage 130p seems like the perfect choice for a beginner like me, especially considering how compact it is. Are there any threads/links which give a detailed review or explanations as to the sort of view I would be expecting to see from the 130p?

As well as that, I've seen a number of recommendations to pick up 'Turn Left at Orion', which provides a lot of information on what to look out for in the night sky!

I myself like books on astronomy.  I'm having a tough time however finding older ones by Patrick Moore, but I keep looking.  I don't require my books to be up-to-date; give them to me from the 1930s to the 1970s even.

There is a very long running thread on the AWB "OneSky" within Cloudy Nights, which is practically identical to the "Heritage"...

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/463109-onesky-newtonian-astronomers-without-borders/

[Pankaj]

For planets you would need a longer focal length. Aperture of 130 on a newt should be ok for a biggener. However the equation changes with DSOs where aperture rules. Here a 200 to 250mm dob would put almost all DSOs within your reach. The good resolving power of these would show even the tightest binaries.

When I got my first 250mm dob, resolving the binary stars became an obsession. DSOs like Orion Nebula, M45, Ring Nebula, and plenty of other clusters were a pleasure to watch even from a Bortle 9 sky of New Delhi. 

[Alan64]

As long as the focal-length of a telescope is not exceedingly short, which is not the case with a 130mm f/5, and at 650mm, quality 2x and 3x barlows extend the shorter to the longer, and satisfactorily.

[Stu]

17 hours ago, rvnandha said:

Are there any threads/links which give a detailed review or explanations as to the sort of view I would be expecting to see from the 130p?

There is a first light review here:

A YT video here, just bear in mind that the planets are not so well positioned currently but the scope is surprisingly capable.

Neil English's blog review here:

https://neilenglish.net/a-newtonian-travel-scope/

Finally, our very own Mark at Beaufort has used and modified his 130p very successfully.

Plenty of other well regarded observers who think these little scopes give genuinely decent performance for a very low price. Yes, they have compromises such as the focuser, but actually it is relatively easy to mod this with a wrap or two of plumbers tape and make it very useable.

I've used one of these scope a for quite a while (alongside some much more exotic kit) and it can hold its head up high. So long as they are collimated correctly the views are very nice, splitting the double double relatively easily which not all scopes will do by any means. 

[rvnandha]

Thank you, Stu. I appreciate you posting some links, I shall take a look at them.

Alongside this, I've seen that the Heritage 130p comes with a 10mm and a 25mm eyepiece.

Are these both suitable for my purpose, or would I need additional eyepieces? Doing some research online, I've come across Barlow lenses quite a few times, which seem to be useful for increasing the magnification.

[Demonperformer]

The eyepieces that come with the scope will get you started.

Eyepieces can be a money-pit, so I would suggest you start with those. There will come a point when they are (for one reason or another) unsatisfactory - you may want more magnification for some targets (but don't get sucked into the 'bigger is better' myth of the department store scope - you will always see more detial on a small bright image than a big faint one) or you may want a wider field of view on something. Whatever it is, you will then know why you are buying the new eyepiece (or any additional piece of equipment) and so it is less likely to be left in the cupboard doing nothing.

Barlow lenses are useful (cheap) for doubling your eyepiece collection ( a 10 & 25 become a 5, 10, 12.5 & 25) but at the loss of some quality.

[rvnandha]

After some careful consideration and a tonne of research, I've finally ordered a Heritage 130p which should be arriving tomorrow!

Thank you all for your advice and tips, I really appreciate it. Can't wait to get started!

[Astro Imp]

Nice one, you'll see a lot with that scope if these damn clouds go away.
Good luck.