Beginner new scope advice

[Andy_Gavin84]

Hello all

I'm a beginner at all of this, always been interested in space, and deep space so now I'm looking at purchasing my first scope, need some help on deciding which one to go for, I want to use it for moon, planets, star gazing etc but i am also really interested in astrophotography. 

I've been looking at the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ or the 114EQ. 

Are there any other scopes you recommend? Budget wise I'm looking at around £200 if possible

Really appreciate any help

 

[Ricochet]

9 minutes ago, Andy_Gavin84 said:

i am also really interested in astrophotography. 

For £2000, possible, for £200 I would forget the idea. 

For strictly visual use have a look at the Skywatcher Skyliner 150p. It will be better all round than something from the Astromaster line. 

[Pankaj]

Welcome on this wonderful forum.

In case you are looking at AP then you'll have to increase your budget. For AP mount is the main piece of equipment and I wont recommend to go for anything less than HEQ5 which I guess is approx 700 USD. You can start with 130mm reflector. I use a skywatcher 130pds and quite happy with it. Add the cost of a camera too. 

I started with observation though. My first serious scope was 10" Dobsonian. The great views it gave me further inspired me to get into AP and I am still learning  

[Louis D]

44 minutes ago, Andy_Gavin84 said:

I want to use it for moon, planets, star gazing etc but i am also really interested in astrophotography. 

For £200, get a visual only scope like a Dob and take afocal snapshots of solar system objects through an eyepiece with a cellphone camera held up to it.  Also, find a dark sky location and put your camera on a tripod and take about 15 to 30 second exposures at wide angles to start getting an idea of DSO astrophotography for cheap.

[Andy_Gavin84]

23 hours ago, Pankaj said:

Welcome on this wonderful forum.

In case you are looking at AP then you'll have to increase your budget. For AP mount is the main piece of equipment and I wont recommend to go for anything less than HEQ5 which I guess is approx 700 USD. You can start with 130mm reflector. I use a skywatcher 130pds and quite happy with it. Add the cost of a camera too. 

I started with observation though. My first serious scope was 10" Dobsonian. The great views it gave me further inspired me to get into AP and I am still learning  

Thanks very much i will linto ook at the skywatcher 130pds 

[Andy_Gavin84]

23 hours ago, Ricochet said:

For £2000, possible, for £200 I would forget the idea. 

For strictly visual use have a look at the Skywatcher Skyliner 150p. It will be better all round than something from the Astromaster line. 

Thank you i will look into this scope

[Andy_Gavin84]

Thanks all for the responses, I should of been clearer and that as i'm a total novice at all of this i don't intend to jump into AP right away. I'm just looking for a good solid all round beginner telescope for my budget. One that will help me get that bug for me to invest further into this

I'm sure the AP stuff will come later on

[Pankaj]

9 minutes ago, Andy_Gavin84 said:

Thanks all for the responses, I should of been clearer and that as i'm a total novice at all of this i don't intend to jump into AP right away. I'm just looking for a good solid all round beginner telescope for my budget. One that will help me get that bug for me to invest further into this

I'm sure the AP stuff will come later on

Visual and Astrophotography (AP) are totally different and require different equipment. I suggest you start visual with a minimum 8'' dobson if not a 10''. I own a 10'', F5 which gives me great views of Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, many binary stars, star clusters, globulars from my bortle 9 sky in New Delhi. But dont expect to see images as you see in photographs. A look at the Moon through it, would make u jump in excitement. As you will move to darker skies you will be astonished to see that the views would get significantly better. From a Bortle 3-4 sky, even the galaxies and the fainter nebulae are within easy reach. It allows one to learn the sky chart and find targets through star hopping.

Later u can jump in AP. But my sincere suggestion is not to go below a 130pds (if not 150pds) mounted on a HEQ5 (if not NEQ6).

 

[jonathan]

This reflector fits your £200 budget, however I will say that the mount is by far the weakest part of the package - you will experience vibration whenever you touch the focus so high magnification with the 10mm eyepiece will be tricky.  https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-explorer-130p.html

If you were willing to increase your budget you could go for this slightly larger reflector, it comes with a decent mount and should be much steadier than the EQ2. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-eq3-2.html

Increasing your budget is a case of famous last words, there's always a more expensive scope / mount around the corner that will give you that little bit more resolution, light gathering, steadiness, but you need to be realistic both in terms of expenditure and also what you're capable of handling as generally the more light gathering you go for, the bigger and heavier the telescope becomes.

Personally I would not go above 6" as a first telescope, I have the 150P reflector and it's just the right size for easy handling and storage, 8" and 10" reflectors (whether EQ mounted or placed on a dobsonian base) require a strong back and pair of arms, and a safe place to store them when not in use.  If they are of the truss type (e.g. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-250px-flextube-dobsonian.html) then there's extra setup required which can introduce more chances to break something for the beginner.

Edited May 13, 2020 by jonathan