beginner

[tallmarky]

good evening everyone my name is mark im thinking about getting my first telescope but im having trouble deciding which one to purchase i have a limit of 400 pounds i would like to be able to look at planets and some deep space observing i live in weston super mare in a second floor flat so i would have to take it down some steps to get in the garden ive been drawn to the skywatcher explorer 200p on an eq5 standard mount no electronics would this be a good one to go four your help and advise would be grately appreciated:hello2:

[AWR]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

I would make sure that you have seen (and perhaps lifted) an explorer 200p in the flesh before you part with your cash. They're not small! I used to have to move my scope down a flight of stairs which is why I went for a SW 127 Mak (good at planets, not ideal for DSOs).

Maybe a refractor?

Andrew

[tallmarky]

hi

thanks for reply yeah i thought its going to be big and heavy its putting me off a bit the sw 130 looks ok with electric mount cus im new to observing maybe it might be better to get one with star finder to help me look round the sky

[sammiefields22]

For beginners I always recommend a dobsonian, as they're so easy to use and you get the best bang for your buck.

The only trouble is if you're going down stairs, they CAN be a bit bulky, though not overly so. SCTs are best for portability, but I don't think you'll be getting a decent one at your price range.

The SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian costs much less than £500. You could always go for the XT10, but I think that would be too heavy. The XT8 weighs in around 41 pounds, so it shouldn't be a problem. I couldn't find any good reviews for the XT10, but here's one I found for the XT8 - Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope.

Good luck, hope you find the right telescope and have clear skies therein

[AWR]

The SW130s are very popular and good value. A lot of people on here have one (or started with one).

There are two kinds of motorised scope - tracking (you point it manually and it stays on target) and GOTO (select object on a handset and off it goes). Obvioulsy GOTO costs more. Both will need power of some sort.

Don't assume that you will need GOTO in order to find things. It can be convenient but it is far from essential. A planisphere and a good guide book (Turn Left at Orion is popular) will soon teach you your way around. For me, hunting for objects is part of the attraction.

Andrew

[Astro_Baby]

I think a lot depends on factors outside the telescope itself.

Ask yourself these questions and be honest with your answers...

1/ Where will you use the scope mostly ? In your garden or a dark sky site. Bear in mind that your garden may have issues, might not be South facing for instance or may have bad light pollution. Beginners are often amazed at how bad the sky is from a lot of locations.

2/ The answer to (1) tell s you what you can lug about. Now you need to get downstaors so bear in mind a 200 on an EQ5 is manageable (I lug a 200 and an HEQ5 down 8 flights of stairs - but rarely) its not so much the weight and the bulk its the number of trips you have to make. Obviously if you need to go to a dark sky location the time to pack, unload, set-up, strip down and reload, and bring home all adds up.

3/ How fit are you ? How much stuff do you want to lug ? How much stuff can you lug ? And crucially if you had to go up and down your stairs say 4 times each way - would you ?

OK thats physical aspects now consider time ......

4/ How well do you know the sky ?

5/ How much time can y9ou devote to learning it ?

Those arent to put you off but if you go for a manual scope AND have to travel you may find you get bored with never seeing anything.

Generally speaking a Dob will give you a bigger bang for the buck but some people (me for instance) would have got bored looking at the moon by now and with my limited time to observe AND the British weather AND a longish journey to observe - in short if I had to do it manually I'd never get to see much.

Finally bear in mind whatever scope you have you wont be happy with No one ever is. Its called aperture fever and its fatal to the wallet but you can offset it a bit by budgeting for some extras. Most beginners want better eyepieces but you'll also need a red light torch and a few other bits and pieces to go with whatever you buy.

If its any help heres a pic of me with a SKywatcher 200 and a Skywatcher 130 - I'm about 5'6" if its any guide.

[tallmarky]

thanks for ur replies and guidence its grately appreciated, im so facinated by what im going to see up in the sky also by looking for it urself thats the fun of it i have sky charts for the month from astronomy now and i got out at night trying to learn a bit before i get my scope! ive only got about 10 steps to get down so its not that bad thanks for pic i cant belive how big the 200p is im 6ft 2 so a little taller if i wanted to take the ota off the mount to carry it would that be ok and would i have to set it up a again (collimation) as i heard thats a pain to do! cant wait now!!!!

[starstalker]

im assuming you are of average health, the sw200 can look a little big at first but after a couple of months u will be carrying it around like its nothing and wondering if u can handle a 10" or maybe even a 12" i know i am!!! also u dont have to collimate it everytime u move it, just as and when needed

[Cygnus X-1]

I'm 5'7'' and keep my 200P in the conservatory (except in the heat of summer) and carry it out to the garden in one piece. Made up I personally think it would be too heavy to safely negotiate two flights of stairs but no problem taken apart and carried down in three or four trips. The OTA itself is actually very light.

I do love this scope and personally chose a manual rather than Go to mount because I thought I would learn more. However I back on to a school with security lights and must admit to struggling at times to find fainter objects. I still wouln't change it though and have seen enough objects including some of the easier DSOs to keep me satisfied. I have just ordered a Telrad red dot finder and hope this will help. I would also recommend getting the dual axis motors as these made a big difference to being to observe properly.

Oh yes don't forget some binoculars there are some decent yet cheap one's available just search the threads.