Have I chosen the right scope

[Saturn1]

It looks to me like Argos will definately be getting thier scope back either way.

I will most definately speak to one of them later on today I think.

But in the meantime, many thanks for all your help guys, I know where to come when I get stuck again (I'm sure that's when & not if) lol

[mik]

Have to agree with the above, return your scope and then give Steve at flo a call that way you will end up with a good scope and good aftersales service.

Regards Mick.

[albedo0.39]

Welcome to SGL - as you can see, plenty of advice here to help. Rest assured, the recommendations will be based on fact and experience and not the creativity of the marketing department and their ability to choose the right hubble picture to go on the box !

Good luck

[Saturn1]

Thanx to all for the welcome and for the help in figuring out what scope to buy.

I can see this could well end up taking a lot of my spare time, lol.

[Casus belli]

Hi Saturn1 and welcome to SGL.

Quite a few astronomers have started off the same way as yourself with a rubbish 1st scope. (Myself included) Dont let it put you off.

Reflectors - Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145PM

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

These two scopes, previously mentioned, are ideal starter scopes. As a Dobsonian user myself I'll tell you whats good about these mounts.

They are easy(ish) to set up. As you aren't spending money on a guiding motor all your hard earned pounds are going on a big mirror. This means that you will see fainter objects, if you can find them. But thats one of the main good points of a Dob, the thrill of the hunt. You will learn the sky quickly with a dob and on those oh so rare clear and cloudless nights you will be able to see many more targets rather than having to wait for a motorised mount slowly slew across the sky.

Now opinions are divided on which is the best route to go. As I said before both are good reliable scopes. A lot depends on your viewing conditions. If you suffer from a lot of light pollution a scope with a motor might be best for you.

Personally I think astronomers are either the patient stoic type (and own motorised mounts) or are impatient and frankly dont have the time for some computer to slowly slew across the sky (Dob owners)

Lastly whatever images you have seen on the side of your scope's box or on the internet do not expect to see that through your scope. The human eye doesnt work the same as a long exposure photo.

[The Warthog]

Sorry Tony we posted the same time.

Any of these two will show a million times better views then your Argos scope.

Reflectors - Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145PM

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

The Skywatcher 150 is a very nice scope indeed. A friend of mine who is an advanced amateur used nothing else for many years. IIRC, the eps that come with it are decent, and make a good start. If you are not doing asstrophotography, you will enjoy this scope for many years. The optics reward buying good eps. My friend had Pentax eps, and gave me the best view of Jupiter I have ever had.

[Saturn1]

I have been looking at the variety of scopes available, aspecially those recommended.

Here's 1 I have also been looking at, anybody have any news about them, good bad or indifferent??

Skywatcher SKYHAWK-1145P SynScan™ AZ GOTO Parabolic Telescope 208

7mm Super Plossl Eyepiece Worth £35, which will give you alot more magnification than it comes with. Plus a 36 Page Glossy Catalogue As well as the 10mm, 25mm and 2x Deluxe Barlow Lens.

This telescope with its superb Parabolic optics provides excellent all-round performance for both the observation of the Moon & Planets and Deep-Sky objects.

"The optics were so good Captures star clusters and brighter nebulae beautifully under dark skies"

BBC Sky At Night Magazine

Magnifications (with eyepieces supplied): x20 & x50

Highest Practical Power (Potential): x228

Diameter of Primary Mirror: 114mm

Telescope Focal Length: 500mm (f/5)

Eyepieces Supplied (1.25"): 10mm & 25mm

Parabolic Primary Mirror

0.5mm Ultra-Thin Secondary Mirror Supports

6x24 Finderscope

1.25 Inch Rack & Pinion Focuser

SynScan AZ GoTo Computerised Alt-Azimuth HD Go-To Mount

Power Requirement: 12v DC Power Supply (Tip Positive) or AA Batteries (not supplied)

Stainless Steel Tripod with Accessory Tray

The exciting new Sky-Watcher SynScan Alt-Azimuth GoTo Mount is a precision engineered instrument that will allow you to easily find and enjoy viewing night sky treasures, such as Planets, Nebulae, Star Clusters, Galaxies and much more. The SynScan AZ hand control allows you point your telescope at a specific object, or even tour the night sky at the touch of a button!! The user-friendly menu system allows automatic slewing to over 42,900+ objects. Even an inexperienced astronomer can master its variety of features in a few observing sessions.

Combined with telescope OTAs of proven high quality, these Superb Packages are all you need to Explore the Universe to your Hearts Content!!

Main Features:

SynScan Database: Total 42,900+ Objects, including Complete M, NGC, IC & SAO Catalogues

Alignment Method: Two-star or Brightest star alignment

Pointing Accuracy Enhancement (PAE) feature

Unknown Object Indentification feature

Pointing Accuracy up to 10 arc min

Tracking Rates: Sidereal, Lunar, Solar

Slewing Speeds: 1.0x, 2.0x, 16x, 32x, 64x, 128x, 400x, 500x, 600x, 800x

Tracking Mode: Dual Axis Tracking

Quiet Operation

Motor Type & Resolution: DC Servo Motors.

Resolution 0.8923 arc sec or 1,452,425 steps/rev

PC Compatible: can be used with popular

Planetarium Software.

[arad85]

Decided not to wait then?

If you'rer at that sort of money, have you looked at: Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO

30% more light gathering for not a lot more notes... You'll appreciate that extra 30%.

BTW, is that extra eyepiece a Telescope Planet offer? See here: http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-reviews/77329-more-problems-telescope-planet.html and http://stargazerslounge.com/equipment-reviews/82528-telescope-planet-cautionary-tale.html and here: http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/78583-telescope-planet-poor-service.html for a few of peoples experiences with them.

[The Warthog]

The fact that this scope has a parabolic mirror will mean that you will get some very good views of sky objests (Most 114s have spherical mirrors.) You will eventually want a bigger scope, but this one will serve for quite a while as you save to buy an 8".

You will probably want to get a decent 2x Barlow to complement the ep set.

[Doc]

If I remember right doesn't this scope have a built in barlow in the focuser which makes collimation a bit tricky.

[TheThing]

Don't worry about collimation too much - it's a fairly ruggedly built scope and the mirror isn't so big that it goes out under it's own weight. Treat with care and TLC and you wont need to collimate all that much (if at all, before you upgrade!)

It is a lovely little scope that'll do you proud for ages. I had the slightly bigger 130pm as my first scope which was ace!

Good choice. Enjoy.

[bish]

I'm a bit late on this thread and it looks like you have had plenty of good advice to make an informed decision. I bought a Skywatcher a couple of years ago and it has sparked a real enthusiam for observing with me. I live under very bad light pollution so alot of the DSO's are just faint and fuzzy but the that fact that I can find them is enough for me. I've had some really fantastic views of Saturn and The Moon. I did try and use a poor quality scope on a cheap mount and found it really disappointing and hard to use. The point is that if I had bought one of these lower quality scopes I wouldn't have enjoyed it and certainly given up. As it is, 2 years on, I am still finding new objects and enjoying it just as much.

[Saturn1]

Hi guys,

Not rushing into anything tis time. Have taken the ARGOS SPECIAL back & got a full refund, lol.

Arad85, the extra eyepiece... not sure if it's a planet telescope offer, but I did find the scope on thier website. I guess I won't be buying it from there if I do go for that scope, thanks for the heads up on them.

Stiil not made a decision as yet, I want to make sure I'm getting the best for the money and the job this time.

[AndyB]

I found my way here as I too am looking at my first 'scope. This has been a really useful topic as my budget and requirements are almost identical.

My only dilemma is whether to go for a GOTO or settle for something manual with a tracking motor. I read somewhere that manual is better to start with as it 'forces' the user to become familiar with the sky he/she is looking at, which ultimately would be more beneficial?

[Doc]

I found my way here as I too am looking at my first 'scope. This has been a really useful topic as my budget and requirements are almost identical.

My only dilemma is whether to go for a GOTO or settle for something manual with a tracking motor. I read somewhere that manual is better to start with as it 'forces' the user to become familiar with the sky he/she is looking at, which ultimately would be more beneficial?

With your budget I wouldn't even think about any form of electronics as this will leave very little for a decent mirror.

Just get the biggest aperture scope you can find from a decent maker.

[arad85]

Just get the biggest aperture scope you can find from a decent maker.

I have to agree, but the convenience of goto takes all the hassle out of finding your first objects...

[Doc]

I have to agree, but the convenience of goto takes all the hassle out of finding your first objects...

It does but with a budget of just £150 you cannot have both.

[AndyB]

I'm willing to stretch my budget for the right 'scope. The last thing I want to do is to buy something that doesn't live up to my expectations and end up selling it on ebay in 3 months time and losing interest. So, if I have to stretch to around £250 ish, I will, but only if I am going to get an experience that will keep me coming back for more.

[arad85]

It does but with a budget of just £150 you cannot have both.

No.. I know.. I'll be meeting up with sturn1 in the next 2 weeks or so and hopefully, he won't have bought anything before then

[Saturn1]

Andy B,

Be careful, I came to these guys to get some advice, of which I have found very plentiful & extremely helpful. but when they say once the bug bites they're not kidding, it takes your damn arm off.

I started with the same budget as yourself, but have increased it once or twice already. All I have to do is convince the other half of what a great idea it is and that it is such a just cause, lol.

A piece of advice from someone who did rush it initially, take your time, and get all the advice you can, and the right kit for what you want to do and see.

Tony

[narrowbandpaul]

said like a seasoned pro there, tony!

andyB,

I wouldnt get goto. Honestly, part of the fun is the hunt itself. Even though I am solely an imager these days, my star hopping manual finding methods are still really helpful when trying to locate objects to image, without GoTo.

theres nothing like spending time going from star to star to then see a faint far off galaxy. Its all your own hard work.

so save the pennies that were going to go on a goto, and spend it trying to get as large a mirror as you can.

the bigger it is, the more you will see, and the more details you will see.

I would recommend the dobsonian design, if observing is your goal. It is basically point and shoot. Very simple, which means the base doesnt comsume a large part of whole price, instead the money goes in to getting a big fast mirror.

I reckon an 8" f/5 dobsonian from eg Skywatcher will serve you well for a long time.

dont know if its in budget?

paul

[AndyB]

Well, having had some success spotting constellations, the moon and Jupiter with a pair of 10x25 bins over the last few days, I took the plunge and purchased a 6 month old Skywatcher Explorer 130P SupaTrak. I decided against a GOTO but felt that some auto tracking may help me in my early days.

I decided to reduce my budget so as not to let my enthusiasm bash my credit card and took the view that if I'm still hard at it even in 6 months time, I won't have wasted my money.

Also on order is Turn Left at Orion, as it seems this book is recommended more than any other and I have a desire to learn the skies properly, rather than using a GOTO.

Wish me luck.

[Leic_Astron]

2 weeks ago I bought my first proper scope. It's the Skywatcher 130PM f/9.

As a starter scope, for me anyway, it's fantastic! I live in Leicester, right near the center though, which is very light polluted. I've so far been able to see Jupiter - which appears around the size of a pea, with two stripes visible across the planet itself. You can also see 4 of it's satellites.

You're probably better off not getting a scope with electrics, if your budget is around £150 as you would most probably be jeopardizing the quality of the scope itself.

I'm just waiting for some clear nights at the weekend now so I can take it out into the countryside to see what it can REALLY do.

But yeah, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with a Skywatcher!

[crepitis]

the convenience of goto takes all the hassle out of finding your first objects...

Surely you mean "takes all the FUN out of finding your first objects";)

A big part of astronomy for me when I was starting out was hunting down the objects I wanted to observe and the satisfaction of finally viewing them, I would rate aperture over "go-to" capabilities at that sort of price range everytime.

[coolcolour]

For £150 you could do a lot worse than forget a scope completely and buy a pair of half-decent binoculars and stick them on a tripod, like I've just done.

Possibly the best way to learn your way around the night sky when you're first starting because you can see where everything is in relation to each other.

You can buy a scope once you know where to point it.