good all round telescope

[vfr]

hi. i have taken up astronomy again after a few years. i had a tal one at the time .and i did like it. what would be a good all round telescope to buy.

[FLO]

Hi Vfr,

Ed Tings 'Scopereviews' site has a good article that addresses your question. 

Here is the summary:

OK, Ed -- You still haven't answered the question: Which one

would you buy, if you could only get one?

This is a tough one to answer, since everyone has their own priorities and

preferences.  Still, knowing what I know, if I were starting out today, I

would probably get a 6" or 8" Dobsonian-mounted reflector.  The fact that

I am something of a "refractor guy" says a lot about this choice.

A 6" Dobsonian is simple, cheap, and will teach you a lot.  The simplicity part

is important, since you will spend your time aiming and observing with your

telescope, rather than playing around with the sometimes complicated controls

on an equatorial mount.

Beginners need early success, and the 6" or 8" aperture is big enough to throw

up a bright image of most common celestial objects.

I like all the 6" Dobsonians from Meade, Celestron, Orion, and Discovery.

I like the Orion the best, but you can just pick one; they're all good. 

If you're feeling ambitious, get an 8" version.  The differences between

the brands show up mainly in the quality of the accessories.  Look for a

6X30 finder (or larger), Plossl instead of Kellner eyepieces, and Pyrex

instead of plate glass mirrors.   

The full article can be found here:

http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

Regards,

Steve 

[GazOC]

Hi welcome to the forum.

Four good questions to start with are:

1) How much do you want to spend?

2) Does to need to be portable?

3) Are there any type of objects you particulary want to observe?

4) Do you want it to to track objects?

If you answer those it will give people a good idea of what scope/mount will suit you (you'll still probably get a lot of differing opinions however!)

Gaz

[Ant]

I Agree Gaz, they are the key questions... and even after answering all those, ask 10 astronomers and you'll get 10 different answers.

The best we'll be able to offer would be Don't buy this scope con't buy that one etc etc.

The final choice between whats left will be down to you.

Ant

[GazOC]

Thats what I did when I bought my first scope, I did a bit of research as to what scope I thought would suit my needs and then went on forums asked "I want to my scope to do X, I'm thing of getting a Y scope. Can anyone see any problems with my choice?".

I ended up with a 8" Dob which, looking back, is a great first scope. Cheap, but you still get the "WOW!" factor when you look through the EP at objects for the first time.

[vfr]

hi. thanks for all the advice. i would like it to be portable. and i would like to take photos. mainly deep space. i was looking at a sky-watcher explorer 200 newtonian today. also a skymax 127. also a mead etx 105. what is your opinion. thanks. and yes what about the sky-watcher refractor are they any good. what a list

[GazOC]

Hi,

Deep space rules out the Meade and puts the 200mm reflector firmly at the front of the pack. Which Skywatcher refractors were you thinking of? You'd have to spend A LOT of money to get a refractor that will perform as well as the 200mm Newt on deep sky.

Gaz

[Rob]

VFR get down to your local shop.... if you unsure where your local shop is, pick up a copy of Astronomy now magazine and that will soon tell you. I think it important that you get to se and touch some of the scopes your thinking about here. I chose the route of the Explorer 150mm rather than the 200mm as it was less bulky and the 150 sits on a slightly lighter mount (good for my back)

Go take a look in the flesh so to speak, then come back and report your thoughts. Enjoy 8)

Rob

[FLO]

... i would like it to be portable. and i would like to take photos. mainly deep space.

Hi Vfr

I don't want to be a killjoy but...  Before you get involved in astrophotography, it would be wise to spend a year or two simply observing the sky.  Simple observation can still be challenging and quietly viewing something like M13 globular cluster, Saturn, Orion's nebula and the moon is awe inspiring. 

I have seen a lot of good healthy astro hobbies crash on the runway from an early involvement in astrophotography. 

Perhaps some of the astrophotographers here will think different?

Steve   

[vfr]

thanks everyone. i think its got to be a explorer 200. or a dobsonian 8in.

[Ant]

Hi VFR,

If you want to take pictures of Deep Sky stuff then the 8" Dob is not suitable (well not without some major modifications).

I would suggest investing in a good mount to start with. EQ6 / HEQ5 (with skyscan if you can afford it) or a second hand GPDX. Once you have a good mount then the scope can be upgraded as you refine your requirements.

I started with a Europa 150 - I would suggest a skywatcher 150 or 200 to start with of maybe one of the smaller Mak's.

Other's here have owned and used the Mak's and think that they are great, I've never ewven looked through one so they'll be more able to advise on that front.

Ant

[russ]

Actually the 8" dob may not be such a bad idea. You can pick up the Revelation dobs from Telescope House for stunning prices. The only bits needed to get the dob tube assembly onto an Equatorial Mount are tube rings and a dovetail plate. That would then give you a great portable, easy to use scope (using the dob base) and a fantastic deepsky imager when plonked on top of an HEQ5 or EQ6. Two telescopes for the price of one!

The 8" dob from Telescope house is only £199. Dovetail is £15. Tube rings £50. HEQ5 £400(ish). Total cost approx £670. That's about £130 more than the Explorer 200 but you are also getting the dob base, a really nice crayford focuser, 2" 26mm GSO eyepiece and fan cooling. I think this is the way Gaz put his scope together.

I would personally avoid the Skywatcher refractors except for the ED versions. I had the 6" Skywatcher refractor and was bitterly dissappointed with it's deepsky performance. As Gaz said, you're looking at massive bucks for a refractor to match an 8" Newt on deepsky. Skywatcher do have the 120ED out now which should be stunning but the tube only costs £1299. On an HEQ5 it costs £2100.

That all said, the Explorer 200 on HEQ5 is such a good deal, hard not to recommend.

Russ

[russ]

One more factor in favour of the Revelation 8" over the Explorer 200...focal ratios! The Explorer 200 is an f5 while the Revelation 8 is f6. This may not sound much but I've run into one issue with the Explorer when using 300D to image. That issue is Coma! All stars in the outer 25% of the image take on the shape of a pear. Fast newtonians are unable to provide a flat field for large chip cameras. Will work fine with small chip cameras such webcams, Meade DSI and older Starlight cameras. But not with large chip cameras such as Digital SLR's. A Coma Corrector is available for about £80-90 but that wipes out the cost advantage of the Explorer 200.

The Revelation being f6 should reduce that effect. Plus it's planetary performance will also be improved due to smaller central obstruction and longer focal length.

Hope that helps.

Russ

[Ant]

A Coma Corrector is available for about £80-90 but that wipes out the cost advantage of the Explorer 200.

I'd be very interested to hear more about this Coma Corrector? Never even heard of it? Can you let me know more please

Cheers

Ant

[GazOC]

A Coma Corrector is available for about £80-90 but that wipes out the cost advantage of the Explorer 200.

I'd be very interested to hear more about this Coma Corrector? Never even heard of it? Can you let me know more please

Cheers

Ant

Hi Ant,

For visual

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/it060016.htm

For imaging only (bottom of page)

http://www.telescope-service.com/newtonians/start/newtoniansstart.html

Gaz

[Ant]

Hi Gaz,

Thanks for that, the imaging version from TS is only £82, I've sent them an email asking a few questions. Like will it work with the 300D and 2" focuser without Vignetting!

Lets see what they have to say, I never gave it any thought in the past but all my images were a little soft towards the edges - this became very aparent on some of my more recent images(moon and open cluster). This hopefully is casued by coma, and this TS option will help...

Ant

[GazOC]

The imaging model seems a reasonable price, the TeleVue is a bit steep! Another way around visual coma is to blacken the eyepieces around the edges, personally I'd rather have the extra FOV and try to ignore the outer 10% or so.

[Ant]

If I can get pin point star's right to the edge of the FOV with the 300D for around £85, then that the way that I will go.

Visually I don't give a monkeys... but on the imaging front (for me) it's vital.

Ant

[Ant]

Also just found out that (from TS) that the coma corrector actually helps with Back Focus issues... Give you a little more to play with

Which for us fast Newt owners, is a major bonus.

Sorry to have hijacked your thread VFR,

Ant

[FLO]

Actually the 8" dob may not be such a bad idea. You can pick up the Revelation dobs from Telescope House for stunning prices. The only bits needed to get the dob tube assembly onto an Equatorial Mount are tube rings and a dovetail plate. That would then give you a great portable, easy to use scope (using the dob base) and a fantastic deepsky imager when plonked on top of an HEQ5 or EQ6. Two telescopes for the price of one!

The 8" dob from Telescope house is only £199. Dovetail is £15. Tube rings £50. HEQ5 £400(ish). Total cost approx £670. That's about £130 more than the Explorer 200 but you are also getting the dob base, a really nice crayford focuser, 2" 26mm GSO eyepiece and fan cooling.

Russ

... I'll second that  8)

Steve

[FLO]

One more factor in favour of the Revelation 8" over the Explorer 200...focal ratios! The Explorer 200 is an f5 while the Revelation 8 is f6. This may not sound much but I've run into one issue with the Explorer when using 300D to image. That issue is Coma! All stars in the outer 25% of the image take on the shape of a pear. Fast Newtonians are unable to provide a flat field for large chip cameras. Will work fine with small chip cameras such webcams, Meade DSI and older Starlight cameras. But not with large chip cameras such as Digital SLR's. A Coma Corrector is available for about £80-90 but that wipes out the cost advantage of the Explorer 200.

The Revelation being f6 should reduce that effect. Plus it's planetary performance will also be improved due to smaller central obstruction and longer focal length.

Hope that helps.

Russ

Vfr,

Russ makes a good point. 

Simply put: A long focal length 'slow' telescope (f8 or higher) will be better suited to planetary observation whereas a shorter focal length 'fast' telescope (f6 or lower) is better for wide-field and deep sky viewing.  Also, faster scopes are more difficult/costly to make (good affordable ones are rare), are more prone to abberations such as the ones Russ mentions and less forgiving of cheaper eyepieces. 

Personally, I would avoid anything below f6 ... at least for now.   

Steve

[Rob]

Personally, I would avoid anything below f6 ... at least for now.   

Steve

I second that... collimation (mirror alignment setting) is not forgiving on an F5 scope, much less of an issue on an F8.

Rob

[FLO]

thanks everyone. i think its got to be a explorer 200. or a dobsonian 8in.

Hi Vfr,

Hows the hunt for a 'good all round telescope' going?

Steve

[CELESCOPE]

Funny how we all differ , lol for me have to put my wedge in ehhehe , i go for the F10 ratio celestron, mainly just because the optics are great, and it will scale down to F6.3 , and futher reductions, with good reducers , also the secondary mirror can be removed for the fast star system taking it down to F1.95 , so planets all and everything can be imaged, and of course it makes targets easy to find once set up , with the go to ,

Just my opinion , it does however come at a fair price tag , but second hand ones come cheaper

Rog

[Adrius]

personally id go with a Standard Equatorial Mount Newtonian Reflector, Dobs Can Be Alittle Hard to use Unless you know Enouth About the Horizons, Dobs are like Hop Hop'ers pretty much, As for a Equatorial Mount is alot easyer to use. But if you want power, Go for a Big Newtonian Dobsonian, They are Powerfull and are Nice and Cheap. i Primarily Use 2 Newtonians - 12" Dob, and a 6" Equatorial, I Modded the 6" Equatorial Into a SunScope Though. =p

MY Advice is Go for a Equatorial Mount Newtonian, 4.5" - 8" , i wouldnt go over 8" though.

dont go dob if you want it to be easy portable.

as for eyepeices go for plossl's, 1.25 plossl's you can get for pretty cheap, and the quality of them is still really great.

EXPLORER 200 is a good idea imo. 8" Newtonian right there, with an Equatorial Mount.