Help on choosing a telescope what to look for?

[Cherrie]

Hi everyone,

I just joined this forum today because when I was googling telescopes I saw for sale - there were discussions about some of them on here! I used my optical zoom old-as digital camera to photograph the recent eclipse (and the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction last year) and really want to be able to take some nicer photos.

I would like a telescope that allows me to take colour photos of what I'm seeing. I would like one that can track the object (that would be required to photograph a galaxy wouldn't it? As it's moving out of frame too quickly?). I don't want one that is fully digital operated where you just "press a button" and the software does everything - I'd like to find objects myself but then be able to allow the telescope to track them. I'm mostly interested in the planets but also some of the more visible galaxy cluster things. I can spend up to about $1500 - $2000.

One that I've seen for sale "like new" second hand was a Sky-Watcher 200P telescope with EQ5 DUAL SPEED REFLECTOR STEEL TRIPOD. For something so expensive it's hard to find layman's terms what you're actually getting and what it can and can't do. I saw a link for that telescope to this page and the photos it takes looks pretty amazing https://astrocasto.blogspot.com/

Any advice would be awesome!

 

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Cherrie

[Cosmic Geoff]

Don't buy in haste. Do your research first.  If you want to take spiffing colour images of deep sky objects you will need one of those GoTo mounts you say you don't like - they are needed for precise guiding and tracking. Be warned - astrophotograpy is an expensive and time-consuming hobby.

If you want to take great images of planets the hardware requirements are quite different, but not necessarily any cheaper.

If you want to do widefield images of the sky you can probably do it with your existing camera gear, plus a simple tracking mount. Place the camera directly on the tracking mount.

I used to own the very outfit you cite - a 203mm Newtonian on a motorised EQ-5 mount.  It was the most user-unfriendly and  awkward outfit I ever owned and within months I stopped using it, and later sold the OTA and upgraded the mount to GoTo.

I suggest you buy and read the book "Making Every Photon Count" available from FLO. It will cost you about 20 UKP and take a few hours to read, but could save you from wasting a lot of time and money.

[happy-kat]

Hi other considerations are where would the equipment be stored, up stairs for example and away from the observing location.

Would the equipment need to be portable.

What is the sky like from your observing location.

 

[Cherrie]

Thank you Cosmic Geoff, I will check out that book. Maybe I would be better off starting with something that's more for the planets, before deep space stuff. 

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I used to own the very outfit you cite - a 203mm Newtonian on a motorised EQ-5 mount.  It was the most user-unfriendly and  awkward outfit I ever owned and within months I stopped using it, and later sold the OTA and upgraded the mount to GoTo.

Thank you for the insider info!

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Hi other considerations are where would the equipment be stored, up stairs for example and away from the observing location.

Would the equipment need to be portable.

What is the sky like from your observing location.

Hi Happy-Kat, most of the observing would probably be at my house, within 40 meters and at ground level of where the telescope would be stored. On occasion I might venture out to somewhere else for something specific!

[Robindonne]

I was at the same point 2,5 years ago.  Same budget, same questions, same everything.  I bought a 6 months used set to start for 1400,-  containing an heq5, c8, reducer, powermate, zwo 174mc, altair guidescope and gpcam (guidecam), polemaster and some eyepieces.  Stupid i was i sold everything but the the scope and mount to realize not long after that i needed all that i sold😬.   I dont think these sets come for sale these days for that money but to give you an idea of what to look for, it might come handy.  The previous owner had sudden health issues but from what i remember he did both planetary and some deepsky imaging.  
 

so basically all the previous mentioned items are quit oke to start with serious visual and imaging astro fun.

* i remember when searching back then for a scope, all models that were shown on various websites in their top 10 rankings were actually quit rubbish.  Varying from a Bresser skylux to 80 mm newtonians😬.  Not rubbish but only the right choice when you want to show the moon on birthdays.  

Edited June 4, 2021 by Robindonne

[Louis D]

18 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

If you want to take spiffing colour images of deep sky objects you will need one of those GoTo mounts you say you don't like - they are needed for precise guiding and tracking.

Folks were taking well guided astro images using ordinary tracking mounts long before goto mounts came to be, so they are not a prerequisite.

[Cherrie]

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I bought a 6 months used set to start for 1400,-  containing an heq5, c8, reducer, powermate, zwo 174mc, altair guidescope and gpcam (guidecam), polemaster and some eyepieces.

Don't know what most of these are, will need to do my research lol! I think I will be pretty happy with something I can photo the planets with.

[Robindonne]

1 hour ago, Cherrie said:

Don't know what most of these are, will need to do my research lol! I think I will be pretty happy with something I can photo the planets with.

Same here.  Didnt know what to do with it.  3 devices with a camera sensor? I just want to look up and see more than with my binoculars. Dont need all of this.  But it took me just a handful of months to realize all had a very well purpose.

What helped me out a lot in the beginning when there is nobody around to advice you, was examining complete rigs from users.  You can get a very good idea of whats needed and for what purpose by examing the setups and reading the profiles on Astrobin.  It helped me getting a bit in the right direction in a “new to me” world.  By reading a lot on forums like this you will see that even folks that are stargazing their whole life will develop different views on which scope is the best.  In the end Aperture is mostly king or the tube has the be a combo of white and mint/pistachio green.

It can be a costly hobby, but i have a sneaky suspicion that the longer you are in this hobby the more reasons your brain comes up with to justify again another big purchase.  Again and again.  Sometimes you really need that specific piece.  And sometimes that scope in the classified section was also on that “to-buy before you die” list in the back of your head.  

Anyway, if planets is your main goal, i think you want to start with 7/8/9,25” Mak or sct.   Long focallength and around 8” is a very common size, much used and for a good reason, not too heavy and still enough aperture. 
They do show up for sale, used, and wont hurt you when you have to sell it again if it isnt what you’re looking for in the end.

 

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Robindonne

[MarsG76]

If you get a 8" SCT on  CGEM mount and a f6.3 focal reducer, I can guarantee that you will not be looking to upgrade your scope for a long time.... The C8 is my first serious and still my favorite scope.... views are awesome and the images I take through it make me happy... an 8" SCT is the scope that is the "jack of all trades" and does those trades very well.... Its powerful, small and delivers great planetary & lunar details (weather permitting). as well as opens Deep space to the eye.

PS: I do not have shares in any 8" or other telescope manufacturer, I just love my C8-CGEM combo.

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by MarsG76

[Cosmic Geoff]

7 hours ago, Cherrie said:

Don't know what most of these are, will need to do my research lol! I think I will be pretty happy with something I can photo the planets with.

If that's what you want to do, an 8" SCT would be an excellent choice. You can take good planetary images with it even with the visual SE mount, though other mounts would be better.  I would caution that taking good deep-sky images with an 8" SCT is not really for beginners, and if that is your goal you would manage better with a small refractor, which as you will see if you research the topic, is what many deep-sky imagers use.

I have found that my SCT works well for planetary imaging, but my efforts to do deep sky imaging with it have generally been a failure.