Yet another noob wanting advice on 1st scope!

[Still Rivers]

Hi Stargazers,

I realise you guys have probably answered a million of these questions by now but I'm a total noob and don't want to waste money on something that turns out to be a load of rubbish! Haha 

My budget is around £200 which I realise won't get anything super amazing but I've been looking around and wondered if you'd give an opinion on the following https://www.bresseruk.com/bresser-messier-ar-90-900-nano-az-telescope.html

I would love to be able to view the moon in good detail and ideally see Saturn and Jupiter etc. I could upgrade eyepieces as and when funds allow but does this sound any good at all as a starter scope? Or do you have any other recommendations for around the 200 mark? 

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

[Robindonne]

Oh no again that question?   HaHa im also a noob so cant answer.  But id buy second hand if i were you.  And start with 5” newton probably.  But i cant really give advice yet because i try to skip that first part

Edited May 1, 2020 by Robindonne

[johninderby]

Hi and welcome to the forum

The Bresser is a decent beginners scope but you might consider a dobsonian telescope. No other type of telescope will show you as much for the money and is so easy for the beginner to use. Pretty well all your money is going on the telescope as the dobsonian mount is so simple.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.htmlb

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[Still Rivers]

21 minutes ago, Robindonne said:

Oh no again that question?   HaHa im also a noob so cant answer.  But id buy second hand if i were you.  And start with 5” newton probably.  But i cant really give advice yet because i try to skip that first 

I know, I can feel the eye rolls from here! Haha I never thought about secondhand! Will have a scout about thanks for replying!

[DaveL59]

I think a good starting question is, what are your circumstances in terms of being able to store and use the telescope. Do you need something reasonably compact and portable (stairs etc) for example. A dob is oft recommended as the bulk of the price is on the optical side where a tripod setup at least half of the cost will be on that and the rest on the optics which could be less good and often the mount is only just capable too come to that.

Second hand is a good option as you'll get a better scope than if buying new, just be careful and ask lots of questions, there's a lot of helpful folk on this forum to advise.

[Still Rivers]

11 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Hi and welcome to the forum

The Bresser is a decent beginners scope but you might consider a dobsonian telescope. No other type of telescope will show you as much for the money and is so easy for the beginner to use. Pretty well all your money is going on the telescope as the dobsonian mount is so simple.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.htmlb

Hey, thank you for replying! Glad I was at least looking at decent makes! There are so many out there and it can be very confusing and overwhelming! Haha This is probably a stupid question but is the Dobsonian tabletop only? I don't have a garden only a small rooftop patio with no table/chairs so was counting on a tripod! 

[happy-kat]

Hi

A smaller dobsonian like a 5" would ideally need a bucket or perhaps a chair for you, and a 6" or bigger could be awkward to get onto your rooftop and use.

How large is the area you would be moving around using?

Might need to think of the space needed to position you to use the eyepiece and the room a telescope might need depending on the design.

[Still Rivers]

3 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

I think a good starting question is, what are your circumstances in terms of being able to store and use the telescope. Do you need something reasonably compact and portable (stairs etc) for example. A dob is oft recommended as the bulk of the price is on the optical side where a tripod setup at least half of the cost will be on that and the rest on the optics which could be less good and often the mount is only just capable too come to that.

Second hand is a good option as you'll get a better scope than if buying new, just be careful and ask lots of questions, there's a lot of helpful folk on this forum to advise.

Hi, thanks for replying!

I live in a large maisonette above a shop so storage isn't a problem. I have a small rooftop patio but have no table/chairs out there so I'd ideally want a tripod as that's where I'd primarily be using it. However, I live on the edge of Dartmoor so have the opportunity to venture out occasionally (I don't drive so would rely on kindly friends and family! Haha) so being reasonably easy to move about would be handy

[Still Rivers]

6 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Hi

A smaller dobsonian like a 5" would ideally need a bucket or perhaps a chair for you, and a 6" or bigger could be awkward to get onto your rooftop and use.

How large is the area you would be moving around using?

Might need to think of the space needed to position you to use the eyepiece and the room a telescope might need depending on the design.

My kitchen door opens onto the patio so no stairs or awkward manoeuvring! Would only have to face a set of stairs if I were to venture out onto Dartmoor or something! Patio is not large but very open and I have a reasonable amount of space for a telescope to be set up A lot of people favouring a Dobsonian, will definitely look into it!!

Thank you!

[johninderby]

Perhaps a smal Maksutov telescope might suit you better as it is very small and portable. Something like this one which has a good alt-az mount with slow motion controls. This type of scope is best on the moon and planets and will give very sharp views. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-skymax-102-az-pronto.html

Edited May 2, 2020 by johninderby

[DaveL59]

Ok so hopefully nice dark skies but a bit restricted on the home use in terms of the patio. Is it a door onto the terrace or a step out a window?

If going for a dob and wanting portability then a flextube type might be worth a look, should give nice views and collapse to a smaller size for travelling.
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

tho you'd maybe need to sit on the ground beside it? Can't say as I've never seen one in the flesh tho Kat can advise as she has one in her signature. I'd not go lower than this diameter mirror though, but beyond this things get bigger and heavier.

Refractors/MAK's on a tripod and you're standing/stooping but a good one will cost quite a bit more than the above and then travelling you have the tripod, mount, counterweight and the scope to carry as well as the eyepieces. The one you linked looks good and on a reasonable tripod too, you realise though that the scope itself is 900mm long? Might be a consideration for travelling, but for visual use should give nice views.

[Still Rivers]

17 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

Ok so hopefully nice dark skies but a bit restricted on the home use in terms of the patio. Is it a door onto the terrace or a step out a window?

If going for a dob and wanting portability then a flextube type might be worth a look, should give nice views and collapse to a smaller size for travelling.
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

tho you'd maybe need to sit on the ground beside it? Can't say as I've never seen one in the flesh tho Kat can advise as she has one in her signature. I'd not go lower than this diameter mirror though, but beyond this things get bigger and heavier.

Refractors/MAK's on a tripod and you're standing/stooping but a good one will cost quite a bit more than the above and then travelling you have the tripod, mount, counterweight and the scope to carry as well as the eyepieces. The one you linked looks good and on a reasonable tripod too, you realise though that the scope itself is 900mm long? Might be a consideration for travelling, but for visual use should give nice views.

I hope so but it's Devon so a lot of clouds and rain Haha.

The patio is straight out of the kitchen door and is roughly 12x10ft and indoor space isn't a problem for storage as my living room is about 21x18ft. So I think the size of the scope is ok? I wouldn't be travelling a huge amount as I don't drive so would be entirely dependant on other's schedules!

I've mainly been looking at refractors as I've heard they're less high maintenance? Again, not overly sure on that! 

[Still Rivers]

28 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Perhaps a smal Maksutov telescope might suit you better as it is very small and portable. Something like this one which ias a good alt-az mount with slow motion controls. This type of scope is best on the moon and planets and will give very sharp views. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-skymax-102-az-pronto.html

Thank you for taking the time to reply and the recommendation!! I think I'm slowly short listing contenders! Haha

[DaveL59]

Sounds like space isn't a problem and a nice sized roof terrace too which will hopefully get you some good views.

Maintenance-wise, yes, a refractor should arrive collimated and need no fiddling other than the occasional clean of the objective lens. Reflectors do need the mirrors aligning from time to time and can be a struggle the first couple times, but once mastered isn't so hard and it'll just be minor tweaks mostly, though travelling with one could mean it'll need a tweak after setting up. The MAK that John listed might be a nice compromise though, compact to store, use and travel with and sharp views and they're often cited as being planet killers compared to other scopes if I've read others comments right. One day I may well have to get one, though I've rather too many as it is lol

Once you decide on a short-list ping it here and I'm sure you'll get more advice to help with the decision, we love to spend someone else's money   

 

[johninderby]

Sooooo many scopes to choose from. Where do you start. 🤔

The small maks don’t require any maintenance as despite being reflectors should never need collimating unlike dobs which will a bit of collimating but it’s not that difficult.

With tefractors cheap ones suffer from CA (chromatic aberation) or false colour at medium to high magnification. Better ones suffer this problem less and less as the price goes up.  £££££.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

Edited May 1, 2020 by johninderby

[Still Rivers]

Reflectors sounded so scary and it did make my searches slightly biased! Then again all the features that are listed on each scope is also somewhat daunting! Haha

It's hard not to just rush out and buy one as I've wanted one for such a long time but life and kids got in the way 🤣🤣

Thank you so much for all your help, I really do appreciate it!! I'll be sure to put the list up so you can all spend my money wisely! Haha 😊

[Dr Strange]

An important question that needs to be asked is:

Which do you think you will enjoy more? Hunting for objects by hopping from star to star (this is known as star hopping) or having the scope move itself to the point in the sky where the object is and spending your time looking at the object. If it is the former then that 150mm Dobsonian (Dob) is a good option. If it is the latter please consider saving up about £150 more and getting the Skywatcher 127mm Newtonian on a AZ-GTi mount.

The Dob will require you to find a series of stars to get to the object you want to look at and then scan around the vicinity until you see it. Many people find this very enjoyable and for them the hunt is a big part of it. You will move the Dob manually yourself and will have to move it to keep the object you are looking at in the eyepiece (EP). Starting out you may only see 1-4 objects over a few hours if at all. As you get better at it you will see more. In addition if Devon has a good amount of light pollution (LP) from people with their lights on at night, street lights, etc. then star hopping can be significantly more challenging. 

The AZ-GTi works with your Apple or Android phone to align the mount to the night sky and has motors in it to move the telescope to objects you select in the App that controls the mount. This is all done wirelessly. In addition the 127mm Newtonian and the mount are much smaller in overall size and much lighter than the 150mm Dob. So this may be a better, albeit more expensive, solution that will better fit your needs. 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

7 hours ago, johninderby said:

Perhaps a smal Maksutov telescope might suit you better as it is very small and portable. Something like this one which ias a good alt-az mount with slow motion controls. This type of scope is best on the moon and planets and will give very sharp views. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/sky-watcher-skymax-102-az-pronto.html

+1 That's a super lightweight, quick to set up and easy to store combo, without going too over budget.

I've just bought the Skymax 102 as a second telescope to compliment a wide field refractor and it will fulfill your solar system observing needs in a tidy package. Casual smart phone lunar photography is really easy with it to. Impress your friends with nice sharp moon pics. 😀

Secondhand is a route to decent equipment for less outlay, but it's also a minefield if you're not sure what your looking for or where the gear is coming from.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet