Starter equipment please

[GrahamCJ]

Good morning and hi to all. I have just joined the site as I have been browsing and was impressed with the guidance of so many on here.  However, I am now more confused than I was a few days ago!  I have abirthday coming up and have between £700 and £900 to spend, definitely no more.  I am looking to get set up with a telescope and extra lenses etc.  I have been using a pair of Celestron binos and have enjoyed that.  I would now like a GOTO telescope.  So far been recommended a Celestron SE6 or Skywatcher skymax 127 az gti wifi.  I am swaying to the skywatcher but have not got a clue about better lenses for the 10mm or anything else really.  Should I go with the skywatcher or consider anything else altogether? Quite fancy moving to astrophotography in the future perhaps with a zwo camera but that will be the future.  Anyone help with guidance for the telescope and starter equipment please? I have a few books etc but as said, I am overwhelmed at the min! Also should mention i do wear specs and getting wrong side of 60 fast! I know that eye relief is a consideration.  Would a 2” eyepiece help?

Edited July 4, 2020 by GrahamCJ
Forgot a bit of info

[nfotis]

There are may eyepieces (I suppose that you mean this one with 'lenses'?) suitable for the Mak.

I have read good things about the planetary Skywatcher eyepieces:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-eyepieces/sw-planetary-20277.html

I would suggest you try the 7mm or 9mm versions, which should give you a good amount of magnification with the Skymax 127.

(around 200x to 250x is OK, depending on seeing)

If you want to check the amount of magnification with multiple eyepieces and the telescope, check this page:

https://astronomy.tools/calculators/field_of_view/

The particular eyepiece series isn't in the drop-down menu, but you can enter it as a 'custom eyepiece'

 

N.F.

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by nfotis

[nfotis]

You can also use the eyepieces without glasses, you just move your head a bit (or the focuser) in order to get the image in focus.

Regarding astrophotography, the Skymax is better suited for planetary targets (it has quite a narrow field of view for targets like nebulas). For wide-field imaging, a short refractor scope (or camera lens) would be preferable, and with higher light-gathering capability ('faster')

N.F.

 

[GrahamCJ]

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer! Much appreciated!  So much to find out!

 

[nfotis]

Don't feel bad, I am also still in the researching phase (preparing to order my first mount, I have settled on a HEQ5 for now).

Astrophotography is also a very technical style of photography, lots of technique and equipment to master (especially on light-polluted places, it can be real challenging to discern the stars from the atmospheric glow). A Maksutov is a nice tool for planetary observation and imaging, because planets are quite bright even in city skies.

You can try also the imaging mode on the link with the field of view I provided above. The Skymax 127 will give you a tight Moon shot with an APS-C camera like my Canon 80D (I uploaded a sample photo in my gallery). At 1500mm focal lens and f/12, it's a fine scope for Sun (with the required solar filter, of course!), Moon and you can discern the Jupiter and Saturn in a good day. The Skymax 150, at 1900mm focal distance requires a full frame dSLR if you want to shoot the whole Moon disk.

The 2" diagonal/eyepiece etc are offered standard on the Skymax 150 and the "planet killer" Skymax 180, but these are not a requirement for enjoying imaging and observing (these are useful if you want to shoot images with large sensors).

Cheers,

N.F.

[GrahamCJ]

On 04/07/2020 at 09:29, GrahamCJ said:

Good morning and hi to all. I have just joined the site as I have been browsing and was impressed with the guidance of so many on here.  However, I am now more confused than I was a few days ago!  I have abirthday coming up and have between £700 and £900 to spend, definitely no more.  I am looking to get set up with a telescope and extra lenses etc.  I have been using a pair of Celestron binos and have enjoyed that.  I would now like a GOTO telescope.  So far been recommended a Celestron SE6 or Skywatcher skymax 127 az gti wifi.  I am swaying to the skywatcher but have not got a clue about better lenses for the 10mm or anything else really.  Should I go with the skywatcher or consider anything else altogether? Quite fancy moving to astrophotography in the future perhaps with a zwo camera but that will be the future.  Anyone help with guidance for the telescope and starter equipment please? I have a few books etc but as said, I am overwhelmed at the min!

Quote

 

Excellent thank you NF

[DeathWarpedUp]

I keep saying this to people, but a baader zoom mk4 will cover all your higher mag stuff for now, look at how much even the cheap eps are costing if you are after a few the cost is getting close, it will also see you into the future and if you want to flog it, will hold much of its value.

 

[GrahamCJ]

Excellent advice, I will check it out, thanks for taking the time to reply, all help is much appreciated!

[jonathan]

My advice, regardless of what scope you go for, is to look at the tripod and mount it sits on (unless you go for a dobsonian, that is mostly a visual-only instrument though).  The tripod legs need to be substantial to avoid vibrations, I think in your budget you should be able to find a setup that includes 1.75" tubular steel legs, I can't recommend anything that comes with light-weight square section aluminium legs as they are just not as rigid in my experience.  Bundles usually place a scope on a mount and tripod that is almost at it's carrying capacity for that particular scope, so check the weight of the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly, the scope itself - might need to look at the product specifications without the mount) vs the maximum carrying weight of the mount.  You could mix and match your own mount + OTA to ensure you get something that will be solid and less affected by vibration, this is particularly important for imaging.

As an example, a 150 / 6" reflector should sit quite happily on an EQ3-2 mount with a 1.75" tubular steel legged tripod (Celestron CG-4, if you can find one) for visual use, likewise a 6" SCT should have no trouble at all; there is now a Pro GOTO version of the EQ3-2, however things get more demanding for astrophotography as you'll likely want the HEQ5 Pro once you start adding a camera and wanting finer gearing for precise guiding and needing a steadier mount, all of which eats into a large part of your budget.

You might want to consider starting with a less demanding visual-optimised setup to start with and then look at a more dedicated mount (such as the popular HEQ5 Pro) for astrophotography use later.

[Davey-T]

Solid base here for starting astrophotography, get a decent mount then worry about the other stuff

Dave

 

[GrahamCJ]

On 05/07/2020 at 17:00, jonathan said:

My advice, regardless of what scope you go for, is to look at the tripod and mount it sits on (unless you go for a dobsonian, that is mostly a visual-only instrument though).  The tripod legs need to be substantial to avoid vibrations, I think in your budget you should be able to find a setup that includes 1.75" tubular steel legs, I can't recommend anything that comes with light-weight square section aluminium legs as they are just not as rigid in my experience.  Bundles usually place a scope on a mount and tripod that is almost at it's carrying capacity for that particular scope, so check the weight of the OTA (Optical Tube Assembly, the scope itself - might need to look at the product specifications without the mount) vs the maximum carrying weight of the mount.  You could mix and match your own mount + OTA to ensure you get something that will be solid and less affected by vibration, this is particularly important for imaging.

As an example, a 150 / 6" reflector should sit quite happily on an EQ3-2 mount with a 1.75" tubular steel legged tripod (Celestron CG-4, if you can find one) for visual use, likewise a 6" SCT should have no trouble at all; there is now a Pro GOTO version of the EQ3-2, however things get more demanding for astrophotography as you'll likely want the HEQ5 Pro once you start adding a camera and wanting finer gearing for precise guiding and needing a steadier mount, all of which eats into a large part of your budget.

You might want to consider starting with a less demanding visual-optimised setup to start with and then look at a more dedicated mount (such as the popular HEQ5 Pro) for astrophotography use later.

Many thanks Jonathan, I am looking around for a good mount in my budget at least then I cam add a suitable OTA later if needed.  G