Final check of gear before purchase

[Sunwind]

Hi!

I just want you guys to have a look over my final choices of gear i'm going to purchase soon and tell me if it all looks ok:

The scope:

Skyliner 250PX 10" Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope - £390

Barlow:

Skywatcher ED Deluxe 2x two-inch Barlow Lens - £55.00

Moon Filter:

Meade ND96 Moon Filter (1.25") - £14.00

Wixey:

Wixey digital angle gauge - £26.50

Dew Prevention:

Astrozap Flexi-Heat Dew Shield - £68.00

(Do I want the "10” LXD 75 SN" version or the "10” Sct" one?)

Astrozap Dual Channel Dew Heater Controller - £59.00

Power:

Skywatcher PowerTank 17Ah - £89.00

This will be for plugging in the dew heater, and my laptop for Stellarium which i'm going to get a cigarette lighter adapter for it. It also has a detachable red light apparantly so it is quite useful I think.

Folding table for laptop / charts / coffee mugs etc:

Quest Supalite Folding Table (80 x 60 x 69cm) - £25.95

Don't have anything like this currently so i'll need it for placing laptop, powertank, books and whatnot on top.

Books:

Turn Left at Orion - £13.89

Sky Atlas 2000.0 (Spiral-bound) - £22.00

Deep Sky Companions: The Messier Objects - £20.16

Deep-Sky Companions: The Caldwell Objects - £20.79

Deep-Sky Companions: Hidden Treasures - £17.95

I won't be buying these all at once, i'm sure Turn Left will keep me busy for a long while on it's own.

I plan on adding eyepeices as time goes on, already breaking the budget with just this so far

Just want to say thanks for all the advice from here it's been really helpful.

[kniclander]

what sort of coffe mugs?

looks great

[John]

Good list !.

Personally I've not had any problems with dewing on my dobs so I'd query the need for that equipment and therefore maybe the powertank ?.

Also the Skyliners have (or had - maybe it's been changed ?) a sort of rim inside the focusser tube which I think will stop full insertion of the 2" barlow lens which could lead to focussing problems.

Pesonally, having owned a couple of Skywatcher dobs now, I would budget for upgrading / adding to the eyepieces that come as standard - they are pretty average to be honest and don't really don't do a short focal ratio scope like the 250PX justice.

Hope that helps,

John

[Merlin66]

I'd say that you've covered most of the bases, but to get started I'd pass on the barlow until you get more experience with the scope ( you may decide later to upgrade and / or change eyepieces)

I don't think you'll ever use the heated Dew shield, so you could give that a miss and the Wixey gauge may just initially complicate things - it can come later.

I have this thing with powerpacks (sorry:() I find a couple of good 20Ah gel cell batteries with an electronic charger to be much more cost effective in the long run.

Good selection of books!

[Whippy]

Have to agree with John, a dew shield would do fine if you needed one (heated dew strips are really for scopes with lenses or corrector plates at the front). And if you have all of those books, is there a need for the laptop? Using one certainly won't help your eyes to adjust for observing.

Personally, I'd drop the power tank and powered dew prevention and look at eyepieces and perhaps a collimation aid such as a cheshire or laser collimator. You may also find the finder a bit tricky to use, a red dot finder or right angled finder would probably be a bit easier to use but try the one supplied first, you not find it a problem.

Tony..

[Dave Smith]

I would agree with John's point about the anti-dew system. I would wait until it is apparent that you have a problem. One of those small 12V "hair dryers" may be useful but then you would need the power tank. Probably best wait and see whether you have a problem.

By the way, I have had a SkyWatcher power tank for some time and didn't realize that the red lamp was detachable however I'm not sure how useful that is. It is still connected to the main power tank by a wind up lead.

With regard to the Sky Atlas 2000, I have one which I only use infrequently since getting the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas which is much more durable for outside use (and much cheaper).

Dave

[John]

Just to add to the points that I made earlier plus those the others have made, I know it's tempting when making the initial scope purchase to bundle in all the accessories and whatnot that you think you will need but I think you will find that the best approach is to start with just the basic scope and eyepieces it comes with and maybe one good book.

As you use the scope you will discover what accessories you really need to get the best from it and that varies from scope to scope and individual to individual.

That's just some advice from someone who has bought lots of things that "seemed a good idea" at the time ........

John

[Sunwind]

thanks, I think I will drop the dew prevention gear then and see if I really need it, it will save me a lot of money anyhow

I kind of thought a barlow was essential and that i'd need one eventually, so should I drop that aswell and just look at getting a couple good eyepeices and the scope?

thanks

[Sunwind]

ok, i'm still trying to wrap my head around eyepeices even after reading tons of info about them.

how are the "Meade Series 5000 Super Plossl" eyepeices?

the set that comes with a fancy metal case is about £320.00

5.5mm 1.25"

14mm 1.25"

20mm 1.25"

32mm 2.00"

seems like an all round good range to me (but what do I know?!)

I can't really afford the whole case so I think to start with i'll just buy the 9mm and 20mm separately.

will these do me good or is there better ones I can get for the same (or cheaper) money?

thanks

[red dwalf]

I used to have a 5" newt and used it in all weathers, apart from rain ! but i never needed a dew shield there better for sct scopes and you don`t need a heated one, also second hand eyepieces and barlows come up in the for sale section all the time so could also save you a bit of cash, also if you didn`t know that if you buy from FLO you can get a discount for being a SGL member, just ask usually between 5%-10% and you get first class treatment.

[John]

If you can, I would really recommend getting the scope first and then adding the additional items as you feel you need them.

The Meade 5000's are very nice eyepieces but there are many other choices as well, depending on what your priorities (ie: high power, wide angle, etc, etc) and budget is.

My concern over the barlow is that it just might not work if you can't insert it fully into the focusser.

You do get what you pay for so it's worth taking time, reading reviews, asking questions etc. Once you have your scope and have used it a bit you can add your own personal experience into the mix as well

My dad used to have a saying "buy in haste, repent at leisure" - I've found that all too true sometimes with asto equipment

John

[red dwalf]

here, here,

well said John

[Sunwind]

"buy in haste, repent at leisure"

John

indeed, this is why I want you guys who are experienced in this and have already made mistakes to help me not make any

are wide-angle/super wide angle EP's just for looking at patches of sky and for finding things before going in for a closer look, or do they serve other purposes?

http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=SWCheshire is this the kind of collimating tool I should get?

[Stardust]

get the pocket sky atlas, great little book.

I know this a bit of a brick but the Telrad is a great finder, there are sets of laminated books to go with it that are really great, perfect for a Dob user.

See if you can try some eyepieces before plashing out. Where abouts in the world are you, might be someone nearby that can help.

good luck with your new scope

[albedo0.39]

getting the Sky & Telescope Pocket Sky Atlas which is much more durable for outside use (and much cheaper).

I would only agree - this is a cracking book - unless you are mega keen, I'd put the other books on standby (except perhaps TLAO - an interesting read...) and plump for this. It's all I use now

[TheThing]

You've forgotten a wooly hat!

[Sunwind]

I think i'm going to get this if you guys agree it's worth it: Meade - Meade Series 5000 Super Plossl Eyepiece Set

seems like they're very good EP's and a nice range of sizes in the set, in total it comes up cheaper than buying them individually, and I shouldn't need to get any new EP's for a long while right, at least not replace them since they seem so good? (i'm basing this on the price)

really brings the cost up a lot but I think it will be worth it to get the best quality stuff in the long run

[kniclander]

I think the most sagacious advice given to you so far is not to get a load of stuff at once - see what you like to look at and see where you think you would like improvement in the current kit.

[Sunwind]

I think the most sagacious advice given to you so far is not to get a load of stuff at once - see what you like to look at and see where you think you would like improvement in the current kit.

sure, I understand that, but I still do not know whether a certain product is a good buy or not

[kniclander]

sure, I understand that, but I still do not know whether a certain product is a good buy or not

I suppose what I'd say is that if you decide that you need 4 plossl e/ps those may well be a good buy but is that what you will decide....?

sorry if my previous post looked a bit abrupt - it wasn't meant to be

[Sunwind]

I suppose what I'd say is that if you decide that you need 4 plossl e/ps those may well be a good buy but is that what you will decide....?

sorry if my previous post looked a bit abrupt - it wasn't meant to be

I don't know *how* I will decide these things once I get my 'scope, how do I know what would give me better views of objects with my little experience? I don't have anyone I can ask in real life for advice or to give me a loot through their scope.

Also, I thought that Plossl was just a sort of brand of eyepeice a (good?) brand nonetheless, from what i've read the idea is to just get a good set of EP's with a nice range of sizes

[kniclander]

plossl isn't a brand, it's a design. One feature of plossls is that the field of view that they give is quite wide but not as wide as you can get with other designs. So, for example, you might find that what you really like is looking at widefield views of star clusters - then you might go for something with a wider field of view (which wouldn't be a plossl). Also, I think quite a lot of people find that they tend to use two e/ps the most - a low power one for faint fuzzies and a high power one for moon and planets. Such person might be better off getting two really really good e/ps rather than 4 just good ones. I'm not saying that any one way is better than any other - just that different people like different things .

[Astro_Baby]

I'd get a dew shield but not a powered one. Dew can be prety bad on a reflector and I have seen a few people come to grief through not having one. If nothing else a dew shield will help stop stray light coming in and improve contrast.

It doesnt need to be powered though so you could drop the power tank.

I'd also drop the ED Barlow. Some EPs dont like Barlows and you may find its a waste of cash.

As to EPs I'd suggest getting a cheaper set like the Celestron Eyeopener set if money is burning a hole in your pocket as it will give you an idea of what different EPs are like and they cheaper sets can be sold on easily when you move on. Better advice would be to wait and see what you like - in short get some eye time in before you decide what to buy.

Most of the accessories I bought came from the light of experience - better quality red dot finder, Moonlite focuser etc.

Personally I'd buy the scope and a red light torch and leave it at that until you have some experience under your belt. If you blow all the cash now and then find out for instance that you really need xyz then your stuffed.

The one bit of kit you havent listed is a VERY warm jacket anf fleece - believe me you'll need that.:)

[arad85]

As to eyepieces, I'd be looking at the Skywatcher Nirvana (see: Skywatcher - Skywatcher Nirvana UWA 82-degree FOV) 7mm and 16mm and then some wider angle ones a little later (or even going the full hog and getting the 4mm and 28mm now too). The supplied 10 and 25mm will fit between the 7 and 16, and you'll also get to compare different types of view ith the wider angles of the 7 an 16... Wide angle are superb in a dob, and you will appreciate the better eyepieces in the f/5 dob. My next purchase will be a set of Nirvanas, removing probably all but the TV 11mm and 20mm from my eyepiece collection.

I'd agree with astro_baby about a warm jackets (have a look at alpkit.com for very cheap but warm down jackets - out of stock until early Nov - I'm on the waiting list for one).

I'd also agree with S&T star atlas and everyione suggests turn left at Orion too. I've not used my Wixey - TBH, I tend to star hop using the charts as you will need to work out what time it is, and hence how much of an offset to rotate the 'scope to anyway.

I'd also agree with the suggestions about dew prevention. A lot of people make their own dew shield out of a cheap camping mat, you may find that more cost effective.

Also budget for a telrad (or similar RDF). MUCH better than the finder scopes.

HTH

[Sunwind]

thanks for the replies very helpful, i'll get the non-heated dew shield like you say if anything it will stop stray light getting in