Have I chosen the right scope

[TheThing]

Ah, but he wants a scope....

[coolcolour]

Very true, I also noticed that he's already been using binos for spotting.

Slightly inauspicious debut on my part, there...sorry.

[TheThing]

Not to worry, it can be easily missed in a thread of this size.

Welcome to SGL and welcome to Schroeder's cat?

[coolcolour]

Thank you for the welcome, I'm looking forward to participating.

[chuckles]

Hi guys i also have the NG76AZ scope. If i knew then what i now know about scopes i would have opted for another one. Still i have managed to get some great views from it. Its been ok for a starter scope though and learning about the night sky. At least ill feel more confident when i up grade.

[Saturn1]

Well guys,

Thanks for all of your help & advice. I finally made my choice and have decided to go with the Celestron Omni XLT 150.

So with this in mind, & before you all say it, I must appologise profusely for the upcoming 2weeks of bad skies, lol.

Happy spotting

Tony

[arad85]

I think you'll be much happier with that.. especially as it's on offer at the moment

[Saturn1]

Me too, just can't wait to take delivery & point it skywards now.

It's been two verrrrrryyyyyy lonnnnnnggggg weeks checking and double checking, more investigating, go back increase the budget, investigate some more.......

Well you all know the score, think of a number then double it a couple of times yadda yadda yadda........

But then again, when you compare it to the length of time I've thought about it & done nothing, it's not long really, & it's better to wait and get the right thing, just wish I'd done that in the first place, lol

[yeti monster]

..welcome to Schroedinger's cat?

That pic must have been taken before they closed the box then?

[Mikea]

Good choice Saturn1!

[Saturn1]

Well, it took almost a month, but time well worth waiting me thinks.

I fanally took all the good advice from you good people, put it together & bought myself a wee star & planet observation device (AKA a telescope lol).

I puchased myself an Orion Optics Europa 10" F4.8 Newtonian complete with mount & RA motor.

I had my first attempt at stargazing with my own set up last night, not the best of skies, but I did manage to get Jupiter with all four moons, including clearly visible rings. Not a lot more to see as cloud started to set in, but looking forward to trying it out on lovely clear skies.

So in advance, my appologies if you all should expierience rather cloudy nights for a week or two, lol.

Tony

[arad85]

Yay.... well done Tony... Better than the 76mm one then :)

[Saturn1]

Cheers Andy, Oohhhh yes, much better than trying to look through the eye of a needle after someone poked you in the eye, lol.

I also manged to get the original lenses & 2xBarlow issued from orion, at no extra cost. In fact the whole lot for £220, Bargain me thought.

So although I also now have a lense or 2, I just need to sort some decent ones, & maybe get the scope checked for collumation (if I spelt it correctly), & check the alignment set up.

But at least I'm underway so to speak.

Tony

[narrowbandpaul]

thats an awesome choice....a 10" f4.8 europa!!!

thats a great tool for DSO observing as well as the planets/ moon (which will be very bright)

Maybe a OIII filter will help see more objects by cutting out background light. The veil nebula is almost invisible in a 10" unfiltered, but is visible in a 80mm aperture with an O[iII] or UHC type filter.

I saw the veil in a 12" OO dob last year with a UHC filter.....wow! there was also hints of the north american nebula!

sometimes its not how much light tou got, its what you do with it!

good luck. This scope WILL not let you down

paul

[Saturn1]

Thanks Paul, I'm definately looking forwards to a few late, maybe even sleepless nights, lol

Tony

[arad85]

Wow - a real bargain!! How stable is it?

[Saturn1]

It's quite reasonable really.

After our little chat about it last week, I was a little dubious of it at all.

But after discussing it with your good self & John at Orion Optics, checked the suggested bits and stability, & it's a heck of a lot better than I thought it would be.

In fact once all set up, if I give it a tap it settles after 2-3 Secs, which I thought was quite reasonable.

As with most, it doesn't like being given a gentle nudge when trying to plant your eye over the EP, but is otherwise very good.

I will endeavour to get some piccies and post asap.

[vegaandarctures]

I have this scope and Its fine for the moon and planets and the brighter DSO, the only bad thing is the huge con of supposedly being able to do 525x power! Its stupid! The Highest power you can use is 175x and Saturn looks amazing!!