Meade_DS2080_Refractor_Telescope help please

[slack]

Hi There,

i have been looking around for a reasonable telescope in my budget. i am a beginner looking for a new hobby and have no experience.

I have seen the Meade_DS2080_Refractor_Telescope for £200.00 which seems reasonable to me.

I understand it wont be the most powerful telescope in the world but will it be ok? is there anything better for the same cash?

thanks for the help in advance

[dweller25]

Consider this ......

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

[pvaz]

What of these things are you looking for in a scope:

- Does it need to be portable? Will you be observing at home or do you live under heavy light pollution and will travel to a dark site?

- Whats your main interest: planets? Deep sky objects? A bit of both?

- Do you want it to tell you where things are or you rather learn the sky and find them yourself?

- Do you want it to track the objects for you or you don't mind following them around manually (while the earth rotates)?

Knowing the answers to this will help narrow down the ideal scope for you.

[slack]

Thanks dweller,

i had had a look at these and they dont look very portable, i would be going to a hill near my home which is quite dark. the meade stand looks quite sturdy and it has the goto feature, is thias useful att all or just a gimmick?

[slack]

hi pvaz,

i would have to travel a little , a few miles into the peak district. i would like to get a general view of everything.

i like the fact the meade can find things for you although i think i would generally look for things myself.

[Bizibilder]

I would certainly recomend the Dobsonian, as mentioned above. The larger aparture (diameter of the main light collector - in this case a mirror) the better - astronomical objects are faint (except the sun and moon - by the way NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN THROUGH ANY TELESCOPE OF ANY SORT EVEN WITH A SO CALLED FILTER. IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEOUS AND WILL LEAD TO PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE ie BLINDNESS!!!!).

The Meade is a small scope and you are paying for a lot of computer that you may never use!!

The Dobsonian comes apart and is easily transported and reassembled. It needs no "alignment" - you simply point it at the object you want to observe. You will soon start to find your way around the sky. Buy or download a star atlas and get the book "Turn Left at Orion". If you have a local Astronomical Society drop in and ask around - or use the forum.

[pvaz]

Since you want deep sky objects (DSOs) and GOTO this one haves more light gathering power and is within your budget:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145P SynScan AZ GOTO

Or for a bit more you can get this one:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO

This will allow a better chance on faint DSOs as well as providing a longer focal length which will make it easier to achieve higher magnification for planets. It will also show a bit less imperfections on cheap eyepieces.

Bare in mind that a 6" minimum aperture is recommended to see all the Messier DSOs, but I think you can probably see all of them on a good dark site using the 130p.

Any of these GOTO mounts will also require an external power 12v supply you can get for around 50£ and they have a setup time (maybe 15min).

The alternative dweller gave you will allow you to see more. It's 1,2 meters long and you can put it on the back seat with the safety belts around for transport. It haves no setup time or power supplies to worry about, however it won't find or track objects for you.

Finding things ain't that hard but getting a red dot finder, such as the telrad and a good star atlas is, in my opinion, essential.

EDIT: The 115p comes with inadequate EPs for planetary observation, you will soon need to add some. From all of this I would pick for myself the 150p dob since, as the cliche goes, it gives more bang for your buck. So unless GOTO is a must, I think thats the best option within your budget.

[nathkrul]

Hi m8 and welcome to the forum, I like a lot of others never listened to sound advice and bought myself a meade etx 105 for £450, and only later after forking out more cash and buying my 250 skywatcher dob did I realize I had wasted 450 quid on the meade, the dob is fantastic.

With the meade, looking at the moon it had a yellowish tinge to it, putting the dob next to it and veiwing the moon wow, my retinas had just been burnt out lol, and deep sky objects were a hell of a lot brighter with no false colours.

Colin

[vlebo]

These are good value with excellent optics and very portable.

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SupaTrak AUTO

[dweller25]

These are good value with excellent optics and very portable.

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SupaTrak AUTO

Yes - I would second that.

[pvaz]

These are good value with excellent optics and very portable.

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SupaTrak AUTO

Yeah that's also a great option and within your budget. Out of the box you get a good range of magnifications for any target so no need to add EPs from the start.

I left it out of my post because it didn't had goto, but it does track. Again don't be intimidate by learning the sky. For most people it's actually one of the most satisfactory aspects of the hobby and the money saved on electronics can go somewhere else.

[omneferuss]

Hi 'slack' (yer sound like someone after me own heart with that moniker )

I'd recommend a good long three months avidly scouring all the fora and astro-sites you can, before finally deciding.

There is much truth in the advices given you sofar, ..but they lack the ingredients which are your own alone... let them all stew inside you while you keep assessing all you can see of others' ups downs n roundabouts.....

I made the mistake of bravado believing I needed no GoTo etc, not realising how bad my skies were.. but that did not stop me learning and enjoying a lot before I came to terms with it.. There is no 'correct' way to start.. Too-high expectations and 'biting-off' more than you can chew are the likely pitfalls...

Your budget as stated seems to me to be what I'd happily consider, at most, a first year's minimal spend if this hobby grabs you Whatever you spend it on, you will be brimming with ideas fer 'what next!' within 12 months (and possibly every 6 months thereafter.. if not sooner! )

But like shoes for children.. whatever you get within your current budget will be grown out of. (BUT not necessarily discarded or neglected !!)

A Dob gets you more/£ but is 'primitive' and satisfaction relies more on good and darker skies and 'manual' skills.. including familiarisation with skymaps and 'starhopping'. I must emphasise that opaque skies will limit any scope, but especially a 'manual' scope.. Go To is the opposite, on your budget.. the pointing might be precise, but the optics will not likely perceive the least bright targets anyway..

I know that sounds like you can't win either way, but its like fishing.. you can't catch a shark on a guppy hook.. and you can't catch a guppy on a shark hook..

but there's lots of all sorts in that Celestial ocean ...and sooner or later you'll get yer feet wet fer a look, whatever yer might catch!

[mattifor]

Hi Slack

My advice is try and locate your local astronomical society.

go along and meet stargazers that are close to where you live.

You will be amazed how friendly they are, most society members will be only to glad to show you their equipment. go to a star party or two and view with various types of telescope, you will then see for yourself what suits you best.

I forgot to ask where are you located aprox?

I am sure there will be a member on here who can guide you towards a local stargazers group.

As you will see from my signature I have a wide range of types of scopes and setups.

The DOB is a fine scope but has drawbacks and can easily turn you off stargazing, a Skywatcher Supertracker motorised sytem is more forgiving and will follow reasonably well the item you want to observe. The basic DOB you will have to nudge to keen objects in the eyepiece.

GOTO can be a good thing as it will take you to where you want to observe.

but GOTO do need setting up quite well or you will never get to where you want to be in the night sky.