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Buying a telescope need advice

coxie

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coxie

coxie

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Hi guys this is a great forum, I am a newbie when it comes to this, I am and always have been into astronomy, I watch documentries on this all the time. Anyway i'm ready to buy my first telescope but I don't really know where to start, as its my 1st im not going to go silly on the price but at the same time want to be able to see better than a pair of binoculars lol.

Anyway I won't waffle on anymore I just want you guys to give me some advice on which telescopes + extras have worked for you so I can get an idea of what I should be going for, all recommendations are welcome and appeciated.

Thanks

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Hi and welcome to the forum. The scope depends on what you want to spend and what you want to look at. You need to think about a whole clutch of things;

Whats the budget ?

What do you want to look at ?

Do you intend doing photography ?

Does it need to be portable ? (ie do you have a back garden you'll use it in and if not do you have to lug it somewhere dark - your back garden may be too light polluted for instance to see much)

Do you want GoTo or are you happier finding stuff ?

Where will you store it ? (has an impact on physical size)

What are you hoping to see ?

All of that feeds into the decision you need to make.

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coxie

coxie

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i would like it to be portable, i dont mind if its second hand or not. I'm just hoping to see things like saturn and its rings if possible and maybe craters of the moon and take a closer look at orion nebula, plus just gaze through the stars. A goto would be great but as im a newbie I don't know if id spend the money on 1 just yet, im looking at spending around £200 if thats realistic enough.

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TopHouse

TopHouse

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I'm a newbie too and only had my scope a week, trust me I did a LOT of homework, looking at your budget and what you want, i would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending the Skywatcher Explorer 150P and i just know many others on here will agree. :-

Explorer 150P EQ3-2 With Free DVD & BinocularsTelescopes | Rother Valley Optics

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John

John

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With a budget of around £200 if you buy a scope with GOTO mount most of your money is going on the mount and rather less on the scope. So while the mount will point your scope at things, the view through the scope might be disapointing.

If GOTO is a "must have" for you then this scope, although a bit above your budget, will give you decent views as well:

AZ GOTO - Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO

If you can do without GOTO you can get something like this which gives better views and can be upgraded in the future if you were interested in doing some astro imaging for example:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2

PS: Just noticed the budget increase but that allows some contingency for some accessories such as additional eyepieces which you will probably want in due course - it's easy to spend nearly as much as the scope on the accessories !.

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John

John

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It's OK but it's worth spending the extra money to get the 130mm version - I feel that 114mm is just too little aperture for a newtonian and the focal ratio (F/4.4) will really challenge the low cost eyepieces provided.

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lostinspace

lostinspace

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my girlfriend asked the very same question and was given excelent advise from the people who make up this forum. i know this because i am now using my new scope and absolutely love it. tracey(my girlfriend) was advised to buy ( with her budget in mind and for a novice) a skywatcher 6" reflector telescope with an eq3 mount. to get more enjoyment out of one item is nigh on impossible, ( no ann summers jokes :)) one other point of interest; in a debate over motorised and goto vs a manual mount, im happy to say(to begin with) that not having a motorised mount has increased my love of everything astronomical, i`m having to learn the sky for myself and belive me when you finally look up and can say in your head ok thats where jupitor is, point your scope and its there the satisfaction is wonderfull. i am so very gratefull for the advise given to tracey from the people on this forum, its done nothing short of change my life. i rarely watch tv anymore, im enjoying the night like never before, its like ive been given an extra life, to be lived a night. so hang in there coxie, you will find no better advisers than these guys.... i was reading a thread a while ago and the guy (sorry cant remember his name, might be the acronim thread) mentioned he`d been an amature astronomer for over 35 years:icon_eek: thats my whole life! well good luck coxie, whatever you choose i`m sure your in for a life changing experiance i know i was..

john

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John Mckay

John Mckay

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I really agree with themos, the Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian is a great scope for the price and i dont think you will get better views with a different type of scope.

It is quite large but should easily be transportable in a car.

I am new to astronomy also and after much research went for the same scope only the 10" version and am delighted with it, dont think you will be disapointed.

As for where to buy? i went for FLO, the sponsor at the top of this page, was a great service. Very quick delivery and great comms. The first astronomy place i have ever bought from and i will be buying all my accessories from there also. (and think if you are a member of this forum you can get a discount!!) go to the sponsors threads on the main page.:)

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pvaz

pvaz

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good stuff guys keep them coming, i will try to buy 1 at the end of the week, also besides ebay are there any good sites to purchase my 1st scope?

I would really not recommend ebay. You can get a good 2nd hand deal but you need experience to separate the good stuff from the trash.

FLO haves a great costumer service. It's owned by 2 amateur astronomers who know what they are selling and will be glad to offer good sound advice instead of trying to make you purchase loads of stuff you won't need. They sponsor this forum and I've seen them solving post sales problems in ways no other retailer I know would.

Give them a call. The link for their site is on top of the page.

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John

John

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E.bay is really the LAST place to buy a scope unless you really know what you are doing. There are quite a few astro equipment dealers which are by far the best place to buy a scope:

I can personally recommend:

- First Light Optics

- Telescope House

- Rother Valley Optics

"Google" them to find their websites (First Light is at the top of this page).

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pvaz

pvaz

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The scopes have the same design, they are bouth reflectors. The 200p of course haves much more ability to see fainter objects as it collects 2,36 times more light the the 130p.

The main difference is in the mount that holds the scope. The 130p is on an Alt-AZ GOTO mount. It comes with all the electronics tracks things and find things for you. However it needs to be setup, aligned and have an external power pack to keep it running.

The dobsodian is a reflector on a Dobson mount. The mount is assembled like an IKEA piece of furniture, but it's very stable, fully manual and very cheap to make hence the price. The best of it is you just pick the scope put it on the ground and observe without any setup time, external power supplies or electronics to fiddle with. The cons is that you track and find objects by yourself.

I have a dob and love the fact I can just grab it and observe whenever I feel like without planing anything. If clouds roll in I don't feel bad cause it takes me no time to setup.

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astronomer2002

astronomer2002

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The best advice for beginners is the same today as it was 48 years ago when I got started. Find a local club where you will get a chance to look through the type of scope you are thinking of purchasing. Telescopes in shops all look very glossy, but typically the mounts are too lightweight to carry the scopes and you won't find that out until you have used it.

The biggest problems most beginners have is finding anything with their new telescope, which is why knowing someone who can help you at least initially is a real boon. When you can use your telescope this site offers a huge repository of advice of what to look for and what you will need to get the best performance.

If you can carry it then an 8inch f6 reflector on a decent mount, as mentioned here, will be something you won't quickly grow out of. The smaller 6inch reflector is just as good an option, but the mount must still be large enough. A second hand 6inch optical tube will be under £100 and a SP mount with a drive in RA should be under £200. A few years ago 8inch SCT's were the most popular scopes, and you should be able to get an older one with a £300 budget. The main problem with these is the long focal lengths make finding objects harder and they are definitely not the best scopes for widefield objects. For the moon and planets an 8inch SCT will probably give you the most thrills. For portability and image quality it is hard to beat todays APO refractors, and the 4inch ED ones are quite affordable. Unfortunately the optical tube will cost over £300 second hand and an adequate mount around £200.

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Wurzil

Wurzil

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I went through the tough decision stage a few months ago with a similar budget to you and I wittled it down to 4 telescopes, all with their own pros and cons:

The Skywatcher Skyliner 200p dobsonian - biggest apeture of the four (apeture is king!), bit bulky, have to nudge it to keep things in view.

Skywatcher Skymax 127 - best for planets as it has a high f-ratio, and it will "zoom in" more easily. comes reasonable cheap with tracking motors or Goto. Not really great for deep sky objects as it has a small field of view and quite a small apeture.

Skywatcher Explorer 150P - good apeture, on EQ mount so you can track things easier (and add motors later). Apparently these come with nice crayford focussers now

Celestron OMNI XLT 120 - the only refractor of the bunch (apparently gives better contrast) and was heavily reduced in price from first light optics, comes with nice tripod and EQ mount. smaller apeture but nice optics. chromatic abberation a minor issue with bright objects.

Have a look at these four.

If portability isnt an issue and you dont want to do photography in the near future - most people on here will say get the biggest dobsonian (skywatcher skyliner) you can afford - Ive heard that these will show you much more, especially under dark skies.

happy shopping (dont forget the eyepieces)

Warren

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