Awaiting first telescope, some questions

[Aquavit]

Hello all

I've always been interested in space and, like others, wondered in awe at the night sky on a clear and light pollution free night. But other than through binoculars never looked at it in closer detail, perhaps because I mostly lived in urban areas. Now living in rural Hungary I have a good location for viewing and much more time on my hands. My partner is also excited about the prospect of astronomy (she was in fact keener than me to buy a telescope right now) and it's something we look forward to enjoying together.

After doing some research, on here and elsewhere I have ordered a Skywatcher Maksutov 102/1300 Starquest EQ. Very excited about this but we have to wait three weeks before it is delivered.

Our main interest is Lunar and Planetary viewing, I may have a dabble with some photography but that's very secondary. Have we made a good choice with our first telescope?

We propose to use this on our undercover terrace or out in the garden, we intend to leave the scope permanently set up either on the terrace or in the garden shed so it is always acclimatised. Is this a good idea, will we need a dew cover?

I understand we have to go through an alignment process with the EQ mount, will this have to be done each time we move it, say from the terrace to the garden?

Is it worth buying the bolt on motor drive? I am generally a fan of keeping things simple.

The scope comes with two eyepieces, a 10mm and a 25mm, will these be sufficient for my needs?

[vlaiv]

9 minutes ago, Aquavit said:

Our main interest is Lunar and Planetary viewing, I may have a dabble with some photography but that's very secondary. Have we made a good choice with our first telescope?

I think it is good first scope for things you intend to do with it (lunar and planetary).

14 minutes ago, Aquavit said:

We propose to use this on our undercover terrace or out in the garden, we intend to leave the scope permanently set up either on the terrace or in the garden shed so it is always acclimatised. Is this a good idea, will we need a dew cover?

Not a bad idea - just make sure you keep it safe from moisture. You'll need a dew shield for this scope - both because of the dew issues that you might have sometimes, but also because of telescope construction - good dew shield will enhance contrast as it will block any stray light falling on front corrector plate.

16 minutes ago, Aquavit said:

I understand we have to go through an alignment process with the EQ mount, will this have to be done each time we move it, say from the terrace to the garden?

Yes, you'll have to do it each time, but if you use scope visually - you won't need to do it very precisely so it will only take a minute or two each time (just make sure RA axis is pointing to Polaris).

17 minutes ago, Aquavit said:

Is it worth buying the bolt on motor drive? I am generally a fan of keeping things simple.

If your primary interests are Moon and planets - then yes, motor drive is a good thing to have - it lets you concentrate on observing instead of adjusting scope pointing every half a minute. It is also good if you plan to observe with partner - planets often slip out of view by the time you switch places at the eyepiece and then you have to search for it again (not major issue - but again, matter of convenience).

19 minutes ago, Aquavit said:

The scope comes with two eyepieces, a 10mm and a 25mm, will these be sufficient for my needs?

These will be sufficient to start with, but after a while, I'm guessing you'll be wanting more options. Good options are:

https://tavcso.hu/en/product/GSP32

As wide field eyepiece for that scope

and these for higher magnification:

https://tavcso.hu/en/productgroup/okular_planetary

Just be careful not to get eyepieces below 7mm - as that will give you too much magnification for your scope. 7mm is fine and should be your highest power eyepiece, but less than that (6mm or shorter) - will be simply too much for your scope.

[Zermelo]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

I have no experience with that model, but Maksutovs are generally popular. It has a long focal length, almost F/13, but if you are interested in solar system targets then that brings the advantage of higher magnification, which you will need, and decent contrast. The downside is that it's not so easy to get wider field views of other objects. The 10mm and 25mm eyepieces will be Skywatcher's modified achromat stock models. I would suggest you see how you get on with them before buying any others. Stock eyepieces are usually mediocre, but your long focal length will be more forgiving than most scopes. If you do decide to supplement these, the BST Starguiders are often recommended as good value for money and are good for a variety of objects. If you want something more specifically for planets, then you could live with a narrower field of view that delivers very sharp detail - orthoscopics are popular. While a narrower view won't affect the display of the planet itself, it does mean that it will drift out of view more quickly, especially at higher magnification. So yes, a motor drive may be a good investment at some point. With your equatorial mount, after proper alignment you need only adjust the right ascension axis, so that will help if it's not driven. If you do decide to motorise, you can do so on the RA axis only. 

[malc-c]

Doing a google search for your scope throws up a lot of differing images of the mounts the scope comes on.  If it's this model https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-starquest/sky-watcher-starquest-102mc-f127-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html then as othres have said, it will suit your lunar and planetary observing well.  Add the motorised RA drive for £48 and you could be set up for doing basic planetary imaging with a small webcam / astronomy camera.

I wouldn't leave the scope outside.  Even covered the elements would find a way in and damage the mount / optics.  A tip for setting up from a set place such as a patio or terrace is in the daytime, place the scope in the home position (as shown in the listing I linked to) facing North (a compas helps).  Then mark the positions of the tripod legs on the patio / terrace.  I used stainless steel washers screwed to the patio.  Then on the first clear night do your polar alignment and alignment routine and give your scope its first light

Then, without changing anything on the mount you can fold up the legs and take it to wherever you want to store it.  If that's a shed, that is dry then that would be fine, so long as the covers are on (after all that is essentially what a lot of DIY observatories are).  Then the next time you want to observe it's just a case of extending the tripos legs and placing the feet on the three markers.  You probably wouldn't need to do any polar alignment, but it is still worth running through the alignment process before observing your first target 

[Aquavit]

Thanks all for the comprehensive replies and advice, most helpful.

Glad to hear that I haven't made a mistake with my choice of scope, options of course were seriously limited by current stock levels and near future expected deliveries. Apart from the dew filter I think I will hold off buying any other accessories until I've got to grips with my new instrument and learnt a little bit more about observing the night sky.

I'm going to start to familiarise myself with the sky using an existing pair of Fujinon 7 x 50 binoculars left over from my sailing days. Frustratingly we seem to be in a long run of 100% cloud cover here in Hungary.