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Hello from Runcorn, Cheshire

Hitchhiker

By Hitchhiker
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Hitchhiker

Hitchhiker

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Hello to everyone at SGL. We (me and my wife) are newbies to astronomy.

Having both recieved some money ( £150 each ) at christmas we decided to add a bit more ( £100ish ) and get a scope each. So it was with this smallish sum in mind I hit the web to see what was what ( Pandoras box moment ).

The choices at this entry level is amazing, refractors, newts, maks in various sizes, then theirs the choice of mounts, alt-az, eq, goto etc or even an 8" dob. Decisions,decisions.

Needed to know more info, so searched forums and found SGL.

Started reading up on whats best for what we wanted from a scope and mount. Well that was 6 weeks ago and a wish-list was born, the budget was about to take a right bashing.

Firstly the wifes wishes; motorized mount ( this is a must due to arthritus, twiddling knobs on a cold night = pain). Take afocal photos/videos of whats viewed (Canon A1000 IS). Scope good on moon/planets some dso and maybe the sun with solar filter fitted. Must also be grab n goable for dark site trips.

Now my wishes; I'm into photography ( Canon 300d and Eos3(film) 3 lenses covering 28mm to 460mm) so a mount suitable for dso and moon/planet astrophotography. Scope good for dso some moon/planets. Was going to try for grab n goable until the wife pointed out we would have a grab n go with hers and if I wanted to go for something larger for the home/garden and get something more grab n go at a later date, that would ok ( as long all the spare motorbike parts that are in the house are sold )

Lastly both scopes will be different types (seems silly to get the same) and will be keepers for a long time to come. Also I'm a wheelchair user so nothing to outrageous.

Sorry this is a bit long for an hello.

So what 2 scope/mount combos would you choose given the above info ?

I'm sure I've sussed out what to get now, do our choices match ?

Look forward to hearing your suggestions and will reveal our choices later.

Great site, keep up the good work.

P.S. Should have said we're Trikers so no car grab n go must be compactish, budget now about 3x above (gulp)

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Sparrow

Sparrow

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Hi and welcome to the forum - I'm only down the road from you in Chester - you're going to have the same problems with light pollution that we have here in Chester but don't despair - it's surprising how much a good scope can "cut" through.

On the subject of scopes - there is no one ideal scope to do everything you want to do. Broadly speaking, for lunar planetary you need a high magnification scope whereas with DSO magnification is not so important but light gathering and a faster scope is desirable (ie a lower numbered F stop) For portability and ease of use on planetary I'd look at a schmidt telescope with an alt az mount and goto (computerized) - for the DSO I'd look at a refractor or small newtonian with an equatorial mount (necessary if you want to do long exposure photography for DSO's. This is just my personal opinion.

Good luck choosing - I'm sure others on here will give some suggestions or advice on the matter.

John

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glowjet

glowjet

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Hi Mr & Mrs Hitchhiker,

A very warm welcome to SGL, I started with binos and star charts and lots of books, it`s a steep learning curve, but you may have more of an idea of what you want in a short space of time, from what I read you are a wheelchair user could this give you problems with access to the eyepiece?,whatever you do enjoy the forum.

John.

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Hitchhiker

Hitchhiker

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Thank you everyone for the warm welcome.

So what 2 combos did I select ?

8" Dob ? Nope, bit to bulky for us as a g'n'g.

Pool money and get a better scope ? Tempting, but no, want a scope each.

Yes glowjet I am a wheeled warrior, used to do field athletics (shot, discus and javalin) still have my throwing chair ( visualize large tall industrial bar stool ) so height should not be to much of a problem.

Which leaves Sparrows ideas, correct (tick, VG).

Wifes will be, SW Skymax 127 az goto.

Mine will be, SW Heq5 Pro goto with the new Explorer 200P DS.

Also bought the Revelation eye piece set.

This will do both scopes for now and should give us an idea what EPs to get in the future.

Light pollution filters for both, variouse gubbins to attach cameras and a laser collimator.

The whole lot has been purchased from the very helpful people at FLO.

Should be arriving Monday. Its gonna be a very very long weekend, still, 4 FA cup matches, Six nations Rugby and the start of the winter olympics should help the time pass by.

Please feel free to comment on our selection, negative as well as positive views welcome (you can sometimes learn a lot from negs).

G.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Hi from me too - ;) Its real hard to know what to suggest in splitting across two scopes. I dont do imaging so I cant advise on that aspect. I would sugget if your a wheelchair user an SCT on an ALt-Az might be best. SCTs generally are more comfortable to use than most scopes. A newt would present a wheelchair user with difficulties. A refractor might be good also and cheaper than an SCT.

If you want to do solar I would consider getting something geared for Solar and a different scope for the rest. Its a tough one and I'd really sugget you take a look at the kit very carefully because a lot of this stuff is a lot bigger in the living room than it looks on the pages of a magazine.

I'm sure other people will picth in with suggestions too but in the meantime hi and welcome ;)

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Hitchhiker

Hitchhiker

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A big thanks to everybody else that has welcomed us to SGL.

Glowjet (and everybody else), I apologise in advance for the cloudy/bad weather that our new scopes purchase is about to unleash.

Having just seen the forecast for Monday onwards, I'm VERY VERY VERY SORRY.

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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A big thanks to everybody else that has welcomed us to SGL.

Glowjet (and everybody else), I apologise in advance for the cloudy/bad weather that our new scopes purchase is about to unleash.

Having just seen the forecast for Monday onwards, I'm VERY VERY VERY SORRY.

Same here in the Netherlands ;)

Still a rewarding hobby

Welcome to SGL!!

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Coco

Coco

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welcome to SGL...

What scope your after depends on your commitment, Remember that if you buy new you gear will have a shockingly poor second hand value.

Take your time and consider second hand from the FOR SALE section on here..

£450 will get you a cracking second hand scope.. ;)

GUy

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