First telescope advice please

[PeterStudz]

1 hour ago, NoClouds said:

What app do you use?

I use the PushTo feature in an app called PS Align Pro. And have been using it for about 2.5 yrs. The PushTo is just one feature of the app. 

There’s also another app that’s highly rated by others on here and will do similar. Although I haven’t used it so can’t comment. It’s called AstroHopper.

[Second Time Around]

On 15/10/2024 at 22:47, NoClouds said:

Thanks for taking the time. 

I will go the Starsence route and will be in touch for a mount for it if that's ok. Thanks

Can I ask the importance of the 70mm having a wider field of view? I have a Slik camera tripod from the late 70's, very sturdy - any use to convert for the StarSense Explorer 70mm or larger?

The Bresser is a bit of a jump in price but interesting that you can easily change the mount type

Not decided on which dob to go with, a lot to think about. 

 

 

 

You probably could convert your Slik tripod to fit either the 70 or 80mm refractors.  You'd also need a camera head or a telescope mount.

To fit these together you'd use a set of 70 or 80mm tube rings plus a dovetail bar.  It would be better for the dovetail to have long slots rather than a few holes as otherwise the Starsense Explorer unit may get in the way.

Below is a photo of the 70mm Starsense Explorer scope I bought for two of my grandkids on a Skywatcher AZ mount and aluminium tripod. This mount comes equipped with dual slow motions for fine adjustment of where the scope is pointing.

I found that we could use up to 155x magnification with this combination.  This was steadier than the supplied mount and tripod at 117x.  I'd guess that the latter would be about  as steady as the 80mm at 100x on the supplied mount and tripod, although I haven't used the 80mm.

 

The advantage of the wider field of view (area of the sky you can see) is that it's better for looking at large deep sky objects.  Ideally, you want to be able to see the object plus space around to frame it to get the prettiest effect.

The field of view in degrees is approximately equal to the apparent field of view of the eyepiece divided by the magnification.

However, it's limited by the size of the drawtube, in this case 1.25 inches.  With such a drawtube the maximum field of view could for instance be achieved with an inexpensive 32mm Plossl eyepiece with a 50 degree apparent field of view.  Another possibility would be a 24mm eyepiece with a 68 degree field of view.  The extra magnification would give a darker sky background and so show more stars, but would be heavier and a lot more expensive.

With the 70mm Starsense Explorer that has a focal length of 700mm you'd have a maximum field of view of about 2.3 degrees.  With the 80mm model that has a focal length of 1000mm the maximum field of view would be about 1.6 degrees.  This isn't really wide enough to frame the Pleiades for instance and show them in all their glory, or indeed many of the Milky Way star fields. 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Second Time Around

[Second Time Around]

On 15/10/2024 at 22:47, NoClouds said:

 

Sorry. Double post.

Edited 15 hours ago by Second Time Around

[NoClouds]

 

10 hours ago, Second Time Around said:

The advantage of the wider field of view (area of the sky you can see) is that it's better for looking at large deep sky objects.

Thankyou for talking the time to explain., much appreciated.