Entry level kit recommendation

[furkin]

Hi guys,

Complete newbie here - hello.  I hope you are all well.

I am now disabled and need to keep my hands (& aging brain etc)

I nearly bought a great condition Seben 76700 from facebook.  I did a quick google which led me here.

I've now decided to get something better - but what do I start with (rhet).

When I wanted a decent metal detector, I went for a high end,,,
When I replaced my camera, I went for a high end mirrorless fuji,,,

but they are too complicated for my aging brain.

I have only done a quick search on the subject (kits) but there are too many varied accounts.  

I decided that this is the only forum I'll use.

I want something good, that I will understand, and not cost too much - a common question I suppose !

Any recommendations please, to kick off my quest ?

I'm in West Cornwall, and the sky's can be quite clear.

thanks for reading.

(ADMIN: If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it - Ta)

[IB20]

Have you thought about some binoculars and a tripod? Cheaper than a scope, very simple and as I’ve found recently, give really fantastic views of the night sky. 

[johninderby]

Welcome to the forum. 🙂

You might be best starting with either a dobsonian or a smallish scope on an alt-az mount. Much easier for the beginner to get their head round than a GOTO or EQ mount.

First what is your budget and do you have any idea of what you want to look at. Moon & planets or deep sky etc. or perhaps a bit of everything.

A few popular scopes.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-8-dobsonian-telescope.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az5-deluxe.html

Edited July 12, 2020 by johninderby

[DaveL59]

Any recommendations would need to take into account the level of disability I think, as that will help determine size/weight and accessibility around a tripod, whether a pier setup is more suited than a tripod and so on. Also what are you hoping to see, moon & planets, deeper sky objects etc and if you want to travel with the equipment or use from home. The sky quality where you are will limit some of this, depending on how much light pollution you have.

As IB20 suggests, a good pair of binoculars and a monopod/tripod may well be a good starting point, as well as perhaps a book like Turn Left at Orion to help find your way around the night sky, then move to a telescope once you've decided to go further.

Good luck on your journey, it can be a very absorbing hobby and seeing Jupiter and Saturn for the first time is a real thrill  

Edited July 12, 2020 by DaveL59

[Steve Clay]

11 minutes ago, furkin said:

Hi guys,

Complete newbie here - hello.  I hope you are all well.

I am now disabled and need to keep my hands (& aging brain etc)

I nearly bought a great condition Seben 76700 from facebook.  I did a quick google which led me here.

I've now decided to get something better - but what do I start with (rhet).

When I wanted a decent metal detector, I went for a high end,,,
When I replaced my camera, I went for a high end mirrorless fuji,,,

but they are too complicated for my aging brain.

I have only done a quick search on the subject (kits) but there are too many varied accounts.  

I decided that this is the only forum I'll use.

I want something good, that I will understand, and not cost too much - a common question I suppose !

Any recommendations please, to kick off my quest ?

I'm in West Cornwall, and the sky's can be quite clear.

thanks for reading.

(ADMIN: If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it - Ta)

Hi, I'm in Falmouth.

If its something simple that you want, that is easy to move around, then I would suggest a refractor on an alt azimuth mount.  

I have an Ed80 and Ed 120. 

What is your disability? 

Steve

[furkin]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for getting back.

My disability is my spinal column is closing in onto my spinal cord.  This is throwing my back and discs out and allowing nerves to get caught in various bone growths etc etc.   I can walk, but only a few feet. I can sometimes get a bag of sugar from the cupboard,,,, but everything pulls on my spine,,,, sometimes I can't walk at all.   I'm in constant pain and on a lot of medication.  This causes other other problems !

I haven't looked at your kit yet, so will do that now.    A bit out of my range at the moment,,,,,,, but you never know what will happen in the future.   For the time being, I need to be looking for something a bit more to my budget (I nearly said 'something cheaper', but it sounds so crass)

I used to use the Grapes, and lunched in Kings Head when I was working over there.   I'm an ex builder & civil engineer.

cheers

Edited July 12, 2020 by furkin

[furkin]

4 hours ago, IB20 said:

Have you thought about some binoculars and a tripod? Cheaper than a scope, very simple and as I’ve found recently, give really fantastic views of the night sky. 

Years ago I bought some 20x50 binoculars from a Sunday Paper, but they were too strong for for my land based use,,,, not good enough for the skies.  I sold them to a guy in the Navy, and found they were great for the vast expanses at sea.   I bought a 10x50 set, but again, not good for sky searching.

Thanks for your reply.

[furkin]

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

Welcome to the forum. 🙂

You might be best starting with either a dobsonian or a smallish scope on an alt-az mount. Much easier for the beginner to get their head round than a GOTO or EQ mount.

First what is your budget and do you have any idea of what you want to look at. Moon & planets or deep sky etc. or perhaps a bit of everything.

A few popular scopes.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bresser-telescopes/bresser-messier-8-dobsonian-telescope.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html

or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az5-deluxe.html

Many thanks John,

I used to go pot-holing in Matlock Bath in the 60's.  Had some great times all over Derby and Derbyshire.   Tried a few caves down here, but there weren't many.

It'll take a while to go through your list, so will be back later.

cheers

[furkin]

4 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

Any recommendations would need to take into account the level of disability I think, as that will help determine size/weight and accessibility around a tripod, whether a pier setup is more suited than a tripod and so on. Also what are you hoping to see, moon & planets, deeper sky objects etc and if you want to travel with the equipment or use from home. The sky quality where you are will limit some of this, depending on how much light pollution you have.

As IB20 suggests, a good pair of binoculars and a monopod/tripod may well be a good starting point, as well as perhaps a book like Turn Left at Orion to help find your way around the night sky, then move to a telescope once you've decided to go further.

Good luck on your journey, it can be a very absorbing hobby and seeing Jupiter and Saturn for the first time is a real thrill  

Thanks Dave,

A lot of what you asked is answered in other replies.

I have not been introduced to the hobby, but it's a thing I wanted to try for many years.   I have no idea what to look for at the beginning, nor do I want to 'miss' the beginning,,,, after all it's where we all get the experience in our chosen fields.  

I'll have a look for the book.

thanks again

[Steve Clay]

If you have a computer download Stellarium it's free and will show what you can see from your location.

There are also many free planetarium apps for phones and tablets too.

Lidl currently have some sporting scopes in. Made by Bresser and they look pretty good.

Steve

[DaveL59]

Sorry to read of your issues, I imagine that can be quite restrictive in what you're able to do and doesn't sound nice at all.

With regard to what's showing, there's also this website - lighter on the PC I find than Stellarium for a quick look at what's up at the moment

https://in-the-sky.org/skymap.php

Does sound like weight of kit would be a potential issue which could limit you to smaller apertures and thereby the amount of deep-sky you'll get to see. Once you get to bigger scopes the mount itself can be quite weighty and with Equatorial mounts there's the counterweights to consider too. Something like an 80mm on Alt-az mount may well be a good choice but only you will know your limits regarding weight and flexibility. Best of luck on the new hobby though, I'm sure you'll get plenty of helpful advice here  

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

If the op can use a reclining chair, 10x50 binoculars mounted onto a monopod may be ideal. Lightweight, easy to carry, simple to use and requires little effort to keep steady or point in various directions.

[furkin]

Many thanks to you all.

For some reason i'm not receiving notifications of replies to this site.   Yep - I do have the "notify me" button clicked.

I've downloaded the Stellarium & will make a start at 'gazing'.

I can usually lift things,,,,,,, once !   I'm in constant pain from the waist down, but as above, just lifting domestic things can be a chore.  

SCOUSE: Thanks for that.  I do have a tripod (for when I used camcorder) but didn't think my 10x50  would be much good.

I've just bought a Fuji X-T30 camera, so hope to photograph some good stuff when I get started.

STEVE:  I did see some stuff in Lidl, but wasn't looking at the time.   

As usual, there seems to be a big gap between 'crap' and 'entry level' for scopes.   

I guess my budget is £250,,,,,,,,,, to start with.

[dweller25]

Hello Furkin 🤔 and welcome to SGL

Most telescopes will weigh more than a bag of sugar so this makes things tricky.

For your budget I would suggest this as it breaks apart into lightweight parts and is both simple to setup and use but also a very capable all-rounder......

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

For best comfort you could put it on a table and use it sitting down.

Hope that helps.

Edited July 17, 2020 by dweller25

[furkin]

Thanks again guys,

Don't let my disabilities run your recommendations.  I have to run my life around them.  If I can go out,,,, then I go - if I can't - I don't.

I'm not housebound, so can go in my tiny back yard,,,, or drive out if need be.

Is a Refractor or reflector better for a beginner ?

Steve;  as usual, I missed the lidl item.  I have looked on the Bresser site, and see Spica 130/1000 EQ3.   Looks quite nice.

Dave;  The Skywatcher item looks a bit odd to me - sorry.  Mind you, there will be tons of stuff out there that looks odd to me - yet.

Apart from the scope/tripod, what accessories should I be considering ?

Is there an attachment to clip my new Fuji X-T30 camera to them ? 

I'm on my desktop PC now, so will see if I get notifications now.

Hope you are all keeping well.

Baz

[happy-kat]

Hi

If you are intending to sit to observe you might find a telescope where the eyepiece is at the bottom facing you easier to use this would be a refractor or maksotuv or sct. A reflector has the eyepiece at the top end of the telescope so more moving around to look into the eyepiece and this type of telescope on an Equatorial mount gets in all sorts of positions.

Alt az mounts move in left right up down movements so the telescope stays in the same orientation on the tripod.

If the mount is static this limits the exposure length right down, which doesn't matter for the Moon or planets as video tends to be used but does for deep sky objects where longer exposure lengths are used to pull more detail. However saying that a camera on a static mount can capture lovely astro imagery as you can take hundreds of quick exposures and there's free software to stack and process which helps pull out more data.

The right gear is the gear that you use, anything else gathers dust. And 8*42 binoculars show plenty as it is as much the hunt for the object as it is about what you see, as most are grey blobs just the size of the grey blob varies.

[Louis D]

Dang, sorry to hear about your chronic pain.  I can relate as I've had my share of back and neck issues over the years.

I would probably lean toward getting an 8" Dob, have it setup in the backyard by someone with a good back on a leveled set of slightly raised pavers to protect it from ground dampness, and leave it there under a high quality telescope cover when not in use.  That way, all you have to do is pull the cover off to observe.  An 8" Dob is fairly easy to use while sitting and there are no tripod legs to have to work around.  All you have to carry out is an eyepiece case.  I would stick to smaller eyepieces because the weight of larger, premium eyepieces tend to add up quickly in a case.

[DaveL59]

Hi Baz

if you want to be hanging the camera off the focuser to take photo's then the Flextube scopes may not suit too well, as they are helical focusers so the weight of the camera will drift the focus if it causes any rotation. Just a thought.

[furkin]

DAVE:  Cheers.   It was just a flash in my mind as I was typing.   It will not be used to affect my choice yet.

LOUIS:  Thanks - more to consider.  I will go through all this in a week or two before making my choice.

Which are the good suppliers here in the UK ?

I'm still not getting the notifications to my PC.  I've turned On & Off the notify switch - to Noah Vale !

[Pixies]

6 hours ago, furkin said:

Which are the good suppliers here in the UK ?

First Light Optics are the site sponsor and are very well regarded. There are plenty of others - have a look in here:

https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/90-supplier-reviews/

 

6 hours ago, furkin said:

I'm still not getting the notifications to my PC.  I've turned On & Off the notify switch - to Noah Vale !

Click on 'Follow' at the top right of the page.

[DaveL59]

I find I only get notifications if someone quotes me or likes a post, otherwise I don't see any alerts that someone posted to one of my threads, so can be a while before I pick up unless it's one I'm actively updating.