New telescope up to £1500

[davesaun1]

Hi all.

 

I'm looking to get a telescope and joint the hobby....budget can be up to £1500 for something if its worth the money.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

[Davey-T]

Hi Dave and welcome to SGL, can't have too many Daves 😄

Presumably you'll want a mount as well which gives the choice of what's called an Alt / Az mount that moves left right up down or what's called an equatorial mount which follows the sky in an arc.

If you just want to look at stuff then Alt / Az is simpler and more intuitive, if you're planning on trying imaging then an equatorial mount is better.

Then there's the Dobsonian mount good for visual and generally the  most bang for your bucks

Dave

Edited December 30, 2020 by Davey-T

[Cosmic Geoff]

Do you want a GoTo mount or do you want to 'keep it simple'?

Are you interested in taking up Astrophotography?

[smashing]

32 minutes ago, davesaun1 said:

Hi all.

 

I'm looking to get a telescope and joint the hobby....budget can be up to £1500 for something if its worth the money.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

What type of observing do you want to do, visual or photography?

Are you more interested in planets/lunar or Deep Sky Objects (DSO) such as nebula or galaxies.

This should give people a bit more to work on when advising something.

[davesaun1]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm looking at mainly planets/lunar with and a mix of visual and photography.  I'm not a technical wizz but have a SLR and an iPhone if I could use either of those?  A goto mount sounds good having had a look..

[Cosmic Geoff]

20 hours ago, davesaun1 said:

Thanks for the replies.  I'm looking at mainly planets/lunar with and a mix of visual and photography.  I'm not a technical wizz but have a SLR and an iPhone if I could use either of those?  A goto mount sounds good having had a look..

Photography of what? It is possible to mix visual use and planetary imaging on the same telescope, but for deep sky imaging you need totally different kit.

SLR? Do you mean a DSLR? Nobody uses film for astrophotography anymore. Some people use iphones (because they have one) but this is not ideal.

DSLRs are used for deep sky imaging, partly because they have big sensors and are usually cheaper than buying a dedicated astro camera with a big sensor, partly because a lot of people have one already.

For planetary imaging you need a specialist planetary video camera, which replaces the eyepiece.

[davesaun1]

20 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Photography of what? It is possible to mix visual use and planetary imaging on the same telescope, but for deep sky imaging you need totally different kit.

SLR? Do you mean a DSLR? Nobody uses film for astrophotography anymore. Some people use iphones (because they have one) but this is not ideal.

DSLRs are used for deep sky imaging, partly because they have big sensors and are usually cheaper than buying a dedicated astro camera with a big sensor, partly because a lot of people have one already.

For planetary imaging you need a specialist planetary video camera, which replaces the eyepiece.

HI thanks for the reply.  Yes sorry my age and tech don't go together too well!  I have a a canon DSLR.  Id like to do deep sky imaging, I have been looking and thinking maybe a HEQ 5 goto and redcat 51 would be a good start for around that limit.  Thoughts?

[Davey-T]

9 minutes ago, davesaun1 said:

HEQ 5 goto and redcat 51 would be a good start for around that limit.  Thoughts?

Sky Watcher Star Adventurer is quite sufficient for DSLR and RedCat ( bit of a RedCat shortage ATM )

Have a look in the imaging with a Star Adventurer thread to see what's possible.

Imaging with a Star Adventurer - Getting Started With Imaging - Stargazers Lounge

Dave

One for sale here SkyWatcher Star-Adventurer - For Sale / Swap - Stargazers Lounge

Edited January 1, 2021 by Davey-T