£500 budget - Information overload on first telescope

[Harlin]

Hi,

Myself and the other half decided to bite the bullet and invest in one of those long tubes for seeing planets. However, the more research I do, the more undecided I become. Initially the scope was planetary objects, triggered by seeing Saturn through a scope on a beach in the Maldives some time ago, however, I think I've been bitten by the DSO Astrophotography bug, and being an IT person, look forward to the weeks\months of frustration in getting things to work as they should in this area.

Ramblings over. I have £500, and am seeking some guidance on what would be best, if possible, to satisfy both object viewing, and astrophotography needs. I've been researching for the last two days (seems this 'shared' hobby is coming out of my birthday funds..) and am unsure if I'm looking at a GOTO or motorized mount + decent scope, or the later plus an equatorial mount (plus required lenses and filters etc). I have a Nikon D5000 but have read these are not the best DSLR for AP.

Could somebody give me some ideas. Romantically, the wife would like to see planets, myself also, but I'd also like to learn the dark art of DSO AP, as I love some of the images we see of nebular's etc.

For example (unsure if I can link so have not), I was looking at the Sky-Watcher Explorer 200p which has the scope, mount, finder, Barlow lens  and eyepiece for £470. Would this be the right direction, or am I way off the mark?

Steve

[SamAndrew]

200p on an entry level tracking mount would be a good package for visual but not for photography.  A good mount is important so for entry level photography on a budget I'd be looking at a 130P-DS + coma corrector + HEQ5 mount which is going to set you back £1000+ new

If your budget is strict, then I'd get a 200P dobsonian and a skywatcher star adventurer and use your existing camera and lenses to build up your experience.

[Waddensky]

In general, £500 can get you a wonderful telescope for visual use that will give you a lifetime of joy and beautiful views of a myriad of targets - planets and deep-sky objects. On the other hand, a very basic starter setup for astrophotography costs at least three times your budget. It's just two very different branches of the hobby. Not to be discouraging of course, just to get an idea.

If you are located somewhere around the mid-northern latitudes, keep in mind that Jupiter and Saturn are placed very unfavourable the next few years or so. Getting good views of them would be quite difficult.

In any case: good luck with your choice and welcome to the forums! I'm sure you'll get some really good advice around here.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Waddensky

[rnobleeddy]

Whilst the advice that the HEQ5 is the minimum mount you need to do astrophotography is solid, assuming you don't expect to jump straight to pro level, there's still a lot you can do without spending £1500. 

For example, this thread using a mount that I saw available second hand for <£100 last week:

 

Or this thread of photo's taken without an equatorial mount.

 

As someone who's trying to make do without spending a fortune (for now) it's probably worth adding that you're going to be trading money for time/frustration. I imagine most people who use a HEQ5 set it up and it works well. I imagine most people in the EQ3 thread above spent time tuning their mount.

 

[Tenor Viol]

It's good to talk... In my younger days I was heavily involved with amateur astronomy in societies at local, regional, and national level. One of the biggest gripes was with unsuspecting people going into well-known hight street stores and buying a telescope and then they'd come to us and we'd have to sit them down, give them a cup of tea, and tell them they'd wasted the money on a heap of junk....

Plenty of helpful comments above. 

The main thing is that astronomy has multiple branches and the requirements of the different branches are different. So, for sun, moon, and planets, you need longer focal length to get better image size. More aperture gives you better resolution. 

Apart from some open star clusters, globular clusters, and a few of the brighter nebulae, visually most DSO are just grey fuzzy smudges unless you buy a seriously large light bucket. However, you can successfully image them (says person who has yet to do it - but there's plenty of evidence round here that it's doable!) with modern short-focus apochromatic refractors.

It might be worth breaking the project down into a series of phases (yes, I'm an IT guy too 🤦‍♂️). Get one of the 'scopes suggested for visual work. Buy a tracker mount for the camera. Although the camera is 'elderly' by DSLR standards (I think it was similar to the D90, which was replaced by the D7000) and recent cameras have better control of noise and improved sensitivity (I use Nikon D7500 and Z6) it is perfectly viable. A 200mm lens on the camera mounted on a tracker would get you into some serious imaging. You can pick-up lenses second-hand e.g. mpb.com if you haven't got suitable ones (just watch out for compatibility with the camera body as automation on some lenses depends on the body). 

If that works out, you can then look towards something like the HEQ5 mount and putting an APO on it.   

[Harlin]

Thank you all for your replies, food for thought. I think I knew the different branches would need specific equipment, but wanted to confirm that as that could influence my upgrade\experience path over time, so I'm clear on that now, thank you.

I think as it stands I'm going to avoid the GOTO type, and will look primarily for something like the Sky-Watcher Skymax-127 (AZ5) which seems (if I'm right) to tick the boxes of learning how to find objects and if I have absorbed information, should be good for planets and learning regards lenses and attachments etc.  If I can extract more information, based on some reviews, they have recommend changing the prism diagonal with a mirror diagonal for this scope, and a 15m Plossl eyepiece. is there any view on the these two 'upgrades'?

Thank you.

[happy-kat]

Welcome.

If you have lenses with your Nikon already this is a great start into dso imaging. You can start with a static mount, you could consider building a barn door mount for your camera to track the stars equatorially either manually or electronically with motor. If this appeals there's the skywatcher staradventurer or the az-gti perhaps. Many DSO are huge and a telescope is not strictly necessary as at the other end some objects are very small and an even longer focal length would be used. Luckily there are plenty of both.

You might stick with two options a visual option to observe with through if sharing you might find tracking useful, if a mount with goto as well but a mount that can also be used manually (not all can be), if it's skywatcher look for the word Freedom find.

 

[Harlin]

Just an update. I opted for the Skywatcher 127 with an AZ5 Mount, and now waiting for a day without cloud, day six and counting, although I did manage to see Venus on the day the scope arrived

Thanks so much for the input and guidance.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Harlin and welcome to SGL. 

Did you remember to purchase a dew shield? - Mak's & SCT's are notorious dew magnets...

Below is an image of my lightweight Mak setup Should be good enough for some basic lunar and planetary imaging... me thinks!

"Probably the best lightweight visual 'grab & go' setup in the world!" - "Vorsprung durch non-tecnik!"

Edited August 16, 2020 by Philip R

[Harlin]

No I did not, but am gradually adding to the system and a dew shield is on the list

[Arocky]

U could use an eq3 depends if your using high magnification...any mount gets bad anything past X1 stick in near a fence away from wind and a cheap eq3 pro would do with an 8 but u would need a low profile focused to get focus and hold the gizmos in place a bit more secure.... hubbles a reflector

Edited August 15, 2020 by Arocky