my first scope, accessory advice needed.

[TWRAM]

I think I'm going for the Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2 as my first scope: ( Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2 )

Knowing very little on the subject i need some advice. What if any accessories are recommened for this scope or for just general equipment for astronomy, with a budget of about £50? ie eyepieces, filters ect. I am a complete novice and this will be my first scope.

Also, do you think the skywatcher mentioned above is a ok beginners scope, with a budget of £250?

Thanks in advance, btw im itching to order this

[ashenlight]

Hi TWRAM

One of the most useful filters I own is my Moon filter. This is the one I have

The Moon is so bright when it is around full it can be quite painful to look at! Not to mention it swamping your eyes and ruining your dark adapted vision. This dulls the glare and so helps you to pick out some finer details. It is also useful, IMHO, for observing Jupiter. This planet is also very bright, the Moon filter reduces the glare slightly (without compromising the level of detail you can see) helping to show the banding better.

A 3x barlow is also a piece of kit I use almost every time I go out with the scope. Very useful for planetart observing and splitting doubles.

[barkis]

I don't think you will need worry about the quality of this telescope.

A six inch mirror is a perfect size for a first foray into observational astronomy. It has all you need, and as far as buying extras, well I would buy yourself a good book to help you learn the sky and how to locate objects. Once you have mastered the use of the equatorial mount, your enjoyment of locating and viewing galaxies and Nebulae will increase. I believe you get eyepieces with the scope, and a Barlow lens too.

The Barlow serves to double the power of each eyepiece you have.

Beware of using too much magnification. It can spoil your viewing, and make the tracking of a target difficult. The seeing needs to be very good for High magnification, not a situation you find in the UK very often I'm afraid.

If you need to ask any questions, just post them up.

We are here to help you with any problems or concerns.

Ron .

[axolotl]

I've used skywatcher 5 inch and 8 inch scopes and been very pleased with them - I'm sure the 6 inch will be fine also (but the 6 inch Dobsonian might also be worth considering unless your keen on Astrophotography).

As to accessories, I agree about the moon filter. You might also want to consider a better 10mm eyepiece (the 25mm eyepiece supplied is not bad), possibly a red dot finder to replace the 6 x 30 finderscope (I've used the 6 x 30 but found it quite difficult, a red dot finder or a 9 x 50 are both better in my opinion (but have a go with the 6 x 30 first, it might just be my dodgy eyesight that gave me problems). My strongest recommendation though would be to buy a book called "Turn left at Orion" which is available from Amazon. This was a great help to me as a beginner in helping me find good targets to view

[The Warthog]

I think the 6" is an excellent beginner's scope. It is the scope I use primarily for both lunar and deep sky observation. I find the selection of eps that I use (4.8, 7.5, and 24mm +2x Barlow) is a good set for this scope. It works well at 200x on the Moon. I have added a red-dot finder and a right-angle finder in place of the straight finder which came with it. If I did more DSO observing, I would add a 17 or 18mm ep. as well. I also put a couple of very nice Canadian Flag stickers on it, as I sometimes go to a star party in the US.

[haitch]

On a budget eh?

Well a bag of sand is probably the cheapest accessory that will make the most difference to your observing.

Use it to fill the hollow aluminium legs of the tripod to dampen down the vibrations. You'll see what I mean when you are observing at high magnification.

[TWRAM]

wow, excellent replies tyvm. Just what i was after.

I'll follow the advice ashenlight and axolotl and go for moon filter

axolotl, found the red dot finder or a 9 x 50, bookmarked, ty.

thanks for the advice on scope everyone its given me the confidence to get it.

lol at Canadian Flag stickers, would a massive flag be over doing it?

[Astro_Baby]

Its an excellent scope - I dont think you could do much better as a starter scope. You'll be able to see loads with that.

Accessories ? Well the scope comes with a Barlow, and a 10mm and 25mm eyepiece. Lots of people bitch about the supplied eyepieces but they really arent that bad - certainly good enough for your first bash with the scope.

I'd get a moon filter (around £14) and a red light torch ( depends where you buy - budget on a tenner) and decent guide - Turn Left at Orion is supposed to be good for smaller scopes.

Thats enough to get you started but be warned - this hobby is addictive and the sky is literally the limit as to how much you can spend.

[TWRAM]

a red light torch ( depends where you buy - budget on a tenner

instead of buying a red light torch, can i just use a normal white light torch and cover it with red colored paper or something or paint it red? will this do the job?

[formyscope]

stretching a red balloon over a normal torch is a fab way of making your nightlight

Would say you need to dig out a tray or small toolkit box or even old ice-cream box and put in some dry sponge or similar (to avoid rattling and dropping), as you want to know where you put EVERYTHING in the dark.

[TheThing]

No one has yet mentioned Turn Left at Orion, so I must breah that gap! An excellent book for beginners. Grab a copy if you can.

The 150 Skywatcher is an excellent choice, congrats!

[Astro_Baby]

You can make a red light torch - I just found from experience its less bother buying one. Trying to get red gel for my big torch was a real hassle.

People always mention nail polish but thats only any good if you own some or have an obliging girl friend - my nail polish costs about £14 a bottle and I'd hit the roof if I saw anyone using it to smear on a torch

I saw a red light torch stranegly in a post office a few months back for £3.99 I would have bought it BUT I already have a brilliant one I found in an astro-shop its wind-up so never needs any batteries, its variable brightness and its probably the best accessory I ever bought - bit steep at £14 but think of the saving in batteries.

[The Warthog]

I usually lose mine before the4 batteries run out, but I do agree about buying one.

[Deneb]

You can buy a DIY red torch at maplins, or you can buy a wind up torch in tescos for a fiver, either cover the front with something red e.g. like a red balloon or if your handy with a soldering iron replace the LED's with red ones.

[haitch]

I e-mailed a company called LEE Filters once and they sent me a free book of their photgraphic filter samples. The red one's are great for cutting up to fit in the front of a small torch. I even managed to make a few colour EP filters out of them which, whilst not the world's best, did manage to improve my views of Saturn.

[TWRAM]

I e-mailed a company called LEE Filters once and they sent me a free book of their photgraphic filter samples. The red one's are great for cutting up to fit in the front of a small torch. I even managed to make a few colour EP filters out of them which, whilst not the world's best, did manage to improve my views of Saturn.

lol, nice idea. if only that worked with scrumpy jack cider