What telescope?

[Darron]

Lee

These are my experience's of using a telescope, which are limited to around ten nights viewing. In January I bought an 8" reflector it has an EQ4 mount i.e. non motorised, I have various eye pieces from 40mm to 4mm and a couple of Barlows. I also have a copy of Starry Night for learning the skies and planning what to look at. I had only thought of using the scope in the back garden.

What I did not take into account is the amount of light pollution that is around my house. The point being, the bigger the scope the more light it lets in, this includes the light pollution! So be aware that you might have to lug the scope to a darker location to get the best use of it. I have bought a couple of filters, a narrow band and a broad band, but not had the opportunity to use them yet. This means that the view I have of M42 is nothing like the pic on this forum, while the stars are resolvable there just looks like a haze around them with absolutely no colour.

Also the images through the eyepieces are smaller than the pics you see posted. Saturn in the south east in the evening is a glorious sight, but it is not going to be huge in the eyepieces, this I think was my biggest disappointment.

The other consideration is the smaller the size of eyepiece or the more mag with a Barlow the quicker the image moves across the field of view, which if you are clumsy like I am, means tracking the object, may be some refocusing, moving of position and touching the scope - VIBRATION and fuzzy images.

I have a 70mm refractor that is better in the garden than the reflector. I have found a position to use the reflector a couple of miles away from the house, not tried this yet but itching to.

Hope this has been some help.

Darron

[McMoon]

Blimey :shock:

A very similar requirement for what I had.

After weeks of google, books, forum questions, I ended up with the Skywatcher Explorer 200 HEQ5 top of my list. Circa £500.

I was chuffed as ''I'' made this decision in the main and with posting on here and other forums, popular opinion supported what I had found.

I still haven't got the scope as I upped my budget by 2 fold and I am now looking at a Meade LDX75 8'' SN reflector.

The only downside with these I would say, and I am a TOTAL novice, would be the ease of transportation. Not the sort of thing you could pop under your arm unless you are king king.

I really cant advise you of any other scopes to look at as I am so new to this.

Feel free to check out my cpuple of threads to see if there is info that you may find of use.

[Darron]

king king.

A new telescope super hero?

Darron

[MartinB]

I went through all this pretty recently. Was about to get an HEQ5 with an Skywatcher ED80 and Skywatcher 127 or possibly 150 mak. I am sure I would have been very happy with this set up but I got hold of an excellent 2nd hand NS8 GPS SCT instead (and have gone on to acquire and ED80 on a super polaris anyway ). The combination of ED80 and Mak with an HEQ5 seems to make a lot of sense esp if you are looking at easy portablity or grab and go.

With the ED80 (or a small mak) if a few gaps in the cloud appear you can have the scope outside in 5mins, don't bother with the power pack or anything. Just quick polar align and point at a clear patch.

[GordonCopestake]

I went through all this pretty recently. Was about to get an HEQ5 with an Skywatcher ED80 and Skywatcher 127 or possibly 150 mak. I am sure I would have been very happy with this set up but I got hold of an excellent 2nd hand NS8 GPS SCT instead (and have gone on to acquire and ED80 on a super polaris anyway ). The combination of ED80 and Mak with an HEQ5 seems to make a lot of sense esp if you are looking at easy portablity or grab and go.

With the ED80 (or a small mak) if a few gaps in the cloud appear you can have the scope outside in 5mins, don't bother with the power pack or anything. Just quick polar align and point at a clear patch.

Martin, how does your HEQ5 compare to your SP mount? I have the GP mount and find that it's not really "grab and go". My whole setup is about 25kg and a little too heavy for lugging around too often. I also have a little Nexstar80GT which weights about 5kg all told. A much nicer grab and go just doesn't quite have the aperture for me though!

[MartinB]

I haven't got an HEQ5, the NS8 is fork mounted on a heavy duty Celestron tripod. The Super Polaris is, I think, a bit lighter than the HEQ5. I can take the whole set up out in one go without too much trouble. The ED80 is a gem, nothing like a match for the NS8 in terms of high magnification but provides much wider views which is great for double cluster, M31, M81/82. Great lunar views. I can make out Cassini and banding on Saturn with good crisp views. you have to look hard and at a very bright object i.e.the moon to see any CA

[Mancunian Lee]

So many different options i was hoping for everyone to point me to one scope saying its the dogs danglies and it will do me for life

I think before commiting to anything im going to either hire something or find a club with telescopes so i can pop down and see something in action. I think this way ill have a better way of knowing what i prefer and would want from my own scope.

I understand a lot of what im going to see is going to be when i get my images home rather than through the eye piece especially so when you consider the legnth of exposure needed to get results.

Another thing is that i live in a third floor appartment right in the centre of town, so i have no option but to travel to a nice location. The Peak disctrict is only down the road, Dovestones is a place of beauty at night and you can see so much with just the naked eye so im hoping its gunna be amazing with a telescope. The Snake pass is a 15 minute drive too.

I dont know of any particular astronomy spots in the area but i know enough quiet places out of town so that i should be ok

This has got me wondering about another problem i may have!! i dont actually drive at the moment, im currently taking lessons and my test is probably a while off. So im going to have to have my wife come along who drives, she;s going to have to be very interested or understanding isnt she?

[Greg]

Gordon,

I have the ED 80/HEQ 5 set up, in 3 bits it's ok, I can get set up in 5 mins.

IE> Scope, weights, mount and away you go.

Apologies for hijacking here, but I don't think there's a scope out there for beginners which is a master at everything. It's like most things - it's a compromise, that's why most of us run 2 scopes.

For cutting your teeth in astro - I'd start with the Skywatcher.....

I'll get my coat..

Greg

[Greg]

Lee,

You could always come to the Star party in April, then you can look through all our scopes - for a price of course 8) 8)........

I'm a single malt man.....if you know what I mean :)

[GazOC]

So many different options i was hoping for everyone to point me to one scope saying its the dogs danglies and it will do me for life

As Greg has said, the best you can hope for in a first scope is a good alrounder that will let you do a bit of everything and give you an idea what kind of things you find the most enjoyable/interesting about the hobby.

Then you can look at more 'specialized' bits of kit and be a lot less reliant on the advice of others when selecting your gear. It maybe that the alrounder will do you for life but at least you'll be in position to know for yourself.

[Mancunian Lee]

I looked at the Star Party, my problem is getting too and from it or i would be very interested. Ill have a good read through the forum later after me tea :)

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Captain Chaos, your face looks familiar - are you pictured somewhere along side your telescope?

You mean this http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=3469.0 ?

Captain Chaos

[Mancunian Lee]

Thats the one, dont remember seeing it on here though. Have you posted it on the sky at night forum? or maybe crimewatch

[GordonCopestake]

I haven't got an HEQ5, the NS8 is fork mounted on a heavy duty Celestron tripod. The Super Polaris is, I think, a bit lighter than the HEQ5. I can take the whole set up out in one go without too much trouble. The ED80 is a gem, nothing like a match for the NS8 in terms of high magnification but provides much wider views which is great for double cluster, M31, M81/82. Great lunar views. I can make out Cassini and banding on Saturn with good crisp views. you have to look hard and at a very bright object i.e.the moon to see any CA

I appologise, i mis-read. (Lots of that going on at the moment!). Is the ED80 a APO? I was under the impression that there was NO CA at all?

[MartinB]

Sometimes it is referred to as a semi-apo but that seems to be a term with a lot of latitude. It has ED glass which produces less CA. But it isn't a true apo with a triple lens system

[GazOC]

It's only in the last few months that this problem has reared its head, it was a lot more straight foward when doublets not employing any special glass elements were just called achros.

The ED80 is a genuine semi-apo unlike a lot of the newer semi-apos out there that have been named by marketting men.

[Greg]

EVOSTAR-80ED1 PRO

3.1” (f/7.5) apochromatic refractor ota

Highest Practical Power (Potential): x200

Objective Lens Diameter: 80mm

Telescope Focal Length: 600mm (f/7.5)

Dual-fit 1.25”/2” Crayford Focuser (Backlash-Free)

With Brushed-Aluminium Hubs & rubber grip rings

Fully Multi-Coated Doublet Objective Lens

Single FPL-53 ED Fluorite Glass Objective Element

[GordonCopestake]

So whats the definition of a APO then? A triplet with ED glass?

[Greg]

A lens combination in which chromatic aberration is corrected by bringing three colours to the same focus. Some manufacturers use the term to describe achromatic doublets whose false colour is approximately equivalent to that of an apochromatic triplet lens.

An apochromatic telescope uses a combination of lens elements, one or more usually possessing special properties, to eliminate chromatic aberration. Apochromatic refractors are usually regarded as giving the best quality image but are by far the most expensive type of telescope for a given size

Greg

[GazOC]

Greg,

Just because its makers/sellers call it an apo...... :nono: I suppose it flatters the owners too was well!

Gordon.

The definition of apo is a bit nebulous. The easiest to understand without a degree in optical science is "The ability to bring the 3 primary colours into focus at the same point ". How it's achieved (doublet, triplet etc) is not specified.

If you do a search you'll find better, more rigorous and more complicated explainations.

[Greg]

In a nutshell ...

A true APO would be a triplet - where you would need the 3 lenses to bring all wavelenghs of light to the same focus at a given point. Therefore eliminating false colour associated with refractors

However due to the advancements in glass, crystal manufacture and coatings you can now get the same results with a doublet "APO"..

Greg

[MartinB]

What ever, I love my ED80

[Greg]

I should have bought the 5" TMB...... :shock:

That's "Proper" APO..

[Greg]

What ever, I love my ED80

Me Too.......

[GazOC]

What ever, I love my ED80

Mine performs very well, I've had it up to 240x on Saturn with virtually no colour but if someone is looking at buying one then you got to call a spade a spade.