Ready for my 1st 'real' scope!

[Dandobi]

Hi all!

I'm very new to this site (only registered today) but am already grateful by the support and help everyone goes so I'm ready to pop the question: Can you recommend my 1st 'real' scope?

I'll give you a little bit of background. I currently have a 3 1/2in Skywatcher reflector (I know, I know, please don't laugh too hard!) which I have been using since xmas and have now got the bug. I'm actually surprised how much I could see in it (shocked to pick out Saturn and rings, well one large one!) but I now need to move up.

What I would like it for is mainly DSOs especially as we have nice dark skies. I have about £300-£400 to spend and have been eyeing up the Skywatcher Explorer 200P with EQ5 mount. Its highly recommended and I've come close to adding it to my basket at First Light Optics. I don't really want GOTO as I've spent 6 months learning as much of the night sky as possible and I enjoy the thrill of finding something myself.

So do people agree or are there any other suggestions? Should I buy a smaller aperture and get more eyepieces instead? There's just so much out there to buy for such a confused newbie!

Thanks again everyone!

[nicnac]

have a look at the skywatcher skyliner 200p

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

you say your not fussed with GOTO so i think this would be a good buy (not good for taking pics through though) and you would have a bit of spare cash for extras

[Sheffield'Stronomer]

I'm another newbie but I can echo that last post: while my experience is pretty limited, I'm loving my 8" Skywatcher dob

[Moonshane]

totally agree with the dob choice - buy as big an aperture as you can handle / afford. you'll never look back for visual.

generally the eyepieces you get with a new scope (although I'd recommend you wait a bit and buy used off here) are OK for a while. you might want to budget for a telrad or similar and a good barlow - total cost maybe £80. you can always save up for eyepieces and build up a quality set slowly once you know what you want to do.

[Dandobi]

Thanks all, some great advice! The 8in dobs looks perfect, thanks nicnac. So I don't really need a equ mount then? It will just be for viewing, nowhere near ready for photography yet. Do I need a base for it. Sorry, I really am a newbie!

[Moonshane]

if you buy a dobsonian, this is exactly the same kind of tube as a newtonian on an EQ mount but it comes with a base designed (originally conceived anyway) by John Dobson. it is much more stable than a cheaper EQ mount and much more user friendly, especially for newts. the one linked to certainly has the base included as does anything generally described as a dob or dobsonian.

good luck with your choice! you'll see a massive difference.

[mdstuart]

Or even a 10 inch Skywatcher dob? Second hand for about £200 but you really must take someone who knows what they are doing to check it over?

To be honest whatever you get you will then want a bigger one. I do!

Mark

[LukeSkywatcher]

ALL Dobs are Newts (reflectors). The only difeerrence is if you buy a Newt on a Dob mount or an EQ mount. The larger scopes tend to be on a Dob mound and not an EQ

[ollypenrice]

If you are not paying for the EQ mount and have a dark site, get a BIGGER Dob! 10 inch...

Yesss.........

Olly

[Dandobi]

You've all really got my tongue wagging now! The 10in Dobs looks fantastic and I can imagine I'll see some amazing sites! First day on this site and its already been fantastic. Thanks all, now I've just got to tell the wife. Think she may have kittens when I show her how big it is!

[mdstuart]

Get her the kittens..you get the 10 inch scope...

Mark

[nicnac]

bare in mind both these dobs are around an F/5 so better quality EPs should be a purchase too, the fast scopes dont perform too well with low/standard EPs.

if you dont want to spend over £400 in one go i would get the skyliner 200P, it would leave some cash for better EPs

[brantuk]

Go for the largest aperture available within budget and make sure you're comfortable with the weight and carrying it around. Most dobs are in two bit's anyway but do check.

[Dandobi]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I've learnt more tonite here than I have in the last 6 months faffing around websites! I think I'm going to go for a 10in Dobs (although I'm now wondering whether its worth waiting until I can afford a 12in). I see what you mean, its tempting just to go bigger and bigger and its easy to get carried away! I think the wife is expecting me to come home with something the same kind of size as before, a world of disappointment awaits her!

I quite like the Lightbridge truss Dobs as it would be handy to put in the car if I go away (not likely after spending all my money on a scope!). But do you lose anything by getting that instead the 'solid' dobs?

See, told you I was a newbie!

[Moonshane]

personally, I came to this conclusion myself. the 12" dob is in my view at the maximum for convenience and mobility and light gathering. I thought about a 10" but then told myself, I'd always be wondering what the larger scope would have been like so went for it. you will not regret it.

whilst it's true about faster scopes needing better eyepieces, if you are not too fussy about edge quality, you can get some really good quality eyepieces which whilst not sharp to the very edge have a good amount of sharpness in the middle where it counts. I'd concentrate for now on the scope. if you wait, you can get used 12" dobs on here for between £300-500 depending what you want.

[mdstuart]

Then of course there are quite a fewon here who have 16 inch dobs!!!

[Dandobi]

Stop! I could easily get sucked into this. The wife will go crazy when I come home with a scope worth more than my car. Great! Now I want a 16in! Lol!

Out of curiousity, will I get good views of M51 with a 10 or 12in? That's my holy grail!

[mdstuart]

It depends what you mean as good views.

The view with a 10 inch is much better than a 6 inch or 4 inch etc. With a 10 inch in a dark sky with averted vision you can make out both M51 and its associate clearly. The centre core of M51 is brighter than the halo. You can see an embeded field star of mag 13 in the halo of M51. You can with averted vision at times start to see the structure of M51.

Like this...

http://skytour.homestead.com/files/M51X.jpg

Mark

[Dandobi]

That's perfect, exactly what I was hoping! Thanks Mark!