Help in picking out a begginer's scope?

[chitchatjjj]

Ok, from the replies to my prev. topic, I've decided to go for a scope instead of a software. So, can someone please suggest a good scope? I don't intend to go deep sky. Just the moon, planets and the sun. I'm also looking forward to astrophotography. My budget is around $200-$400. Gimme some details guys!

[russ]

What sort of budget do you have? Depending on budget there's quite a lot to choose from.

[chitchatjjj]

$200-$400

[russ]

When you say astrophotography, do you mean lunar/planerary imaging or are you hoping to do deepsky?

If you have no interest in deepsky whether it be visual or imaging, then the scope choice could be narrowed right down to a maksutov perhaps.

Normally it's recommended going for a dobsonian with that budget as you get max aperture for the money. Your budget would easily buy an 8" dob. But in this case that would be a poor recommendation. You'll want a setup that tracks at higher mags and imaging would be a no no with the dob.

I suppose your budget of $200-400 translates to £130-250 in the UK. That would just about buy a Skywatcher Skymax 127 on the Supatrak mount. That setup would serve you very well for your intended targets and also for some lunar/planetary imaging later.

If you plan on doing some deepsky imaging later your choice is going to be limited for that budget. In the UK i suppose a Skywatcher 150P on the EQ3 would be a good starting point. The optics are good, it will give nice views of the moon and planets and the EQ3 can be equipped later with either dual drives or Synscan for some imaging.

Hope that helps

Russ

[AstroDonut]

I got the Skywatcher 150 on an eq3-2 mount with a couple of eyepieces, feedback from other forum members stated that it is an awesome piece of kit for a first scope.

I have seen some amazing views of the moon, orion nebula, andromeda galaxy and pleiades...

I would most definitely recommend this scope for anybody wanting to get into astronomy (current price in the uk is £200, I got mine 2nd hand and paid £140)

Also worth bearing in mind is that additional kit required for astrophotography can be quite expensive, I am yet to purchase this equipment as the prices for decent kit can be several hundreds of £'s (or $'s in your case).

Personally I would get the best scope you can afford, learn to navigate around the sky and progress to astrophotography a little later on.

Hope this helps.

Brian

[Tiny]

Not knowing much about what is available in India or shipping costs there are a lot of Skywatcher scopes in this country (UK) that are ideal for 1st scopes. Keeping the scope simple rather than going for computerised you could, for example get a 130pm as seen on the firstlightoptics site. This comes with all that is needed to get you started and costs £149. Alternatively you can get the same scope on an System AZ goTo for £250 - an amazing price.

In each case that price is what we have to pay in UK pounds - a price that includes a big slice of tax so you may be able to find the scope cheaper elsewhere. One thing you should beware of is buying a bargin cheap scope. Most of these are more likely to put you off than help you look at the sky.

Looking on an Indian dealer site the equivalent of the 130pm costs nearly $400 (19,200 rps) or around £300 so guess we (who complain at US prices being half ours) do better than you do. As for the computerised scope you seem to be just getting the early versions of them - or maybe the sites are not up to date.

Hope the above helps