Any Ideas Please

[BLUEThumb]

HI

Only my second post  as only just joined a couple of days ago.

I dont have anything ATM,but been looking at some auction sites and came across this telescope for sale  (Orion Europa 6" Astronomical Telescope) it appears to of been well loved and looked after by the owner ,and comes with a couple of magnifying eye pieces, was hoping if anyone got any thoughts on this,but will obviously contact him before i BUY just to see exactly what is on offer if i decide to buy it.. ALSO been looking at a couple of Skywatcher Dobsonian's   150mm and 200mm skyliners for slightly more cash,so any thoughts of which would be the best out of the three types please. Not to bothered about the weight as i will mainly do most of the viewing in the back garden,but with occasional trips out  to somewhere darker in the car.

Also i have a Nikon DSLR, so as time goes on i would like to have a go at photographing the heavans ,so again anyone got thoughts  which telescope would be best suited to connecting upto with my camera.

Being a total newcomer to this hobby,what i don't want to do is buy a cheaper telescope like a Skywatcher Heritage 130 (even though they are good) only to buy again in the future.

I have time as i am 64 nearly semi retired and not working at the moment,(probly finnished work for good now who knows) ,and cant get out to buy due to the Covid 19 thing ,so using my time to learn a little more about the hobby.

Sorry if the post is a bit long

 thank you   tony

 

[Nova2000]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum

For visual I would go for the 8inch dobsonian as it's easier to use and good time begin with. Dobsonian mounts are much easier than Equatorial mounts for visual use .

With this you'll be able to take pictures of the moon but won't br able to do deep sky astrophotography as it requires a Equatorial goto/tracking mount and various other gear .

Cheers

 

[Neil H]

Hi save  your money that would be no good for a camera it's ok for visual , for AP  your want some thing along the lines of 130PDS with the HEQ5 pro go-to mount or if you want a bigger telescope like 200PDS your need the NEQ6pro 

If AP is what your really want to do pop down to the AP section  loads to read up on just don't buy a visual telescope it won't do AP as well as the AP  set up

[Jiggy 67]

Hi and welcome to SGL

I don’t do Astro photography, only visual but even if I did the advice would be the same. Start with visual, at least one, maybe 2 full winters. This will teach you the skies, the conditions required and how everything works. To do this, you won’t go wrong with the SW 150mm dob (or the 200mm if you prefer). A lot of people jump into AP, spend a shed full of money (astronomy is already expensive and AP can cost a whole lot more!!) and quickly lose interest because they didn’t put in the ground work by learning the basics