My first Scope has arrived

[Perryellis]

Hello all. My first scope has arrived today:D and I have unpacked it and set it up. Unfortunately it seems that the weather has decided to turn up as well and we are set for at least a 3-4 days of rain/cloud

Typical-The last 3 nights have been clear!

In the meantime I would like to ask any of you and in particular those of you who own a 150p skyliner for any advice that you can give. I already plan to look at Jupiter,the Moon!,m31,the hartley comet?, and the clusters around cassiopeia, after that I plan to just point at nice looking bit of space and see whats there. Are there any other particularly impressive stars to look at

What about upgrades? I have read on various threads here that new eye pieces and maybe a new finder would be a good idea. these ones seem to be rated

Tal - Tal 2x and 3x Barlows

Telrad Red Dot Finder

Are there any others more suited to scope I own, or just more highly recommended? I don't plan on buying these straight away, just looking for suggestions while I wait for clear skies!

Thanks for any advice

[Capricorn]

As you have said 150p I am guessing that it is f/5 (?)

In which case you will need a decent eyepiece to get magnification from it and I would suggest that you do not go much below a 5mm eyepiece.

Don't go in for barlows myself as most seem poor and none will make a poor eyepiece good, they won't even make it better. I would rather just get a good eyepiece. The barlow mentioned, TAL, has a good name so safer.

As for interesting stars look at The Astronomical League and locate their double star section, or search for "coloured double stars" there are list of them available, and the coloured ones make it more interesting.

[brantuk]

Hi Perry - I started with a 6" Newt and only sold it last Xmas. Smashing little scope and I had great views of planets, moon, and some dso's. Tal's are good budget barlows that perform well. The 25mm you got with the scope is ok 'ish but the 10mm may be a bit dissappointing (especially when barlowed). If you upgrade the ep's do keep an eye on the for sale section here - you'll get some great bargains once you know what you're looking for.

The only ep kit worth looking at (imho) is the Revelation - very good vfm. The Celestron kit I'd avoid (I didn't actually and was disappointed) - can't speak for the Skywatcher kit.

The WO Swans are a reasonable step up in quality and go for circa £40 s/h. The Hyperions go for around £60 ish, and the Hyperion zoom would give 5 ep's in one for around £100 s/h for a Mk2. You'll probably want to extend your range up to 40mm low mag wide field, and down to 5/8mm for planetary work. You can get some nice Televue plossls for around £35-£40 (TV are the db's lol). But borrow some ep's to try before you buy and get familiar with what suits you personally (maybe at your local astro soc or star parties). There are other good makes too!

Download Stellarium - it's free and brilliant. And a good book like "Turn Left at Orion" will help get going.

Telrads are great but if you don't like bending a lot get a right angled finder like the SW or Orion 9x30's - saved my back for sure.

Any other help you need don't hesitate to ask.

All the best

[Perryellis]

Thanks for the replies.

I have just read the handy guide to eyepieces on the forums and compared to my new scope-this one Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian (f/7.84)

the guide suggests that I should go for 6mm,10,16 and 24mm eye pieces (roughly) but to be honest I am not even sure what I would use each eyepice for! Im guessing the 24mm would be for a wider view objects like jupiter and the moons or large clusters and 6mm/10mm for close ups of the moon or planets? Do you mind giving me a bit of advice about this please

Also I had a look around for the eypieces supplied with the scope and here they are.. Sky-Watcher Super-MA Series Eyepieces - by OVL

I guess they are pretty basic but do you think that they are good enough to keep me going for a while or would you recommend that I replace these as a priority over a new finder scope?

I did manage to use the scope very quickly last night and got amazing views of Jupiter and moons between gaps in the clouds. On a downer though, I found it much harder to star hop my way around, mainly because of the inverted views I think (im so used to using binoculars) and becuase I found it harder to differntiate between the brighter stars-They appear so much brighter and clearer than compared to the crappy binocs that I have been learning the skies with!

Im not sure whether I should just stick with the current finder scope and get used to it or get a new "right way up view" finder! Basically, with my budget, it's one or two new eyepieces OR a new finder scope, at least until xmas!

Anyway,I really enjoyed my couple of hours out there and am looking forward to Fri, when we are forcast clear skies(fingers crossed)

Apologies for rambling on! any advice appreciated:)

[irishbloke]

I know you'll get some great views. I started up with a 130 skywatcher. I loved the 32mm plossl I got and would recommend one. 32mm is great for seeing wider views. The first time I saw the double cluster blew me away. The skywatcher 32mm plossl for about £30 isn't bad if you're on a budget. If you can get a 2" 32mm eyepeice you'll enjoy it even more. I'd recommend going down single eyepeice routes rather than kits as I did the kit thing and found i only really got use of a couple. the 32mm would be my 1st choice as it will help you find the deeper space objects.

I totally understand the problems you have finding things. I use a Rigel QuikFinder Finders - Rigel QuikFinder Compact Reflex Sight which is smaller than the telrad Telrad Red Dot Finder . There's not much between them in price but the rigel has a smaller circlle and red dot arrangement. 2 degrees verses 4 degrees.The red dot non magnified approach gets you in the right part of the sky. There are also a lot of free charts showing the position of different objects with the telrad circles overlaid to help you to stary hop to them.Stellarium is brilliant.All the best.

Brian

[Skybrowser]

As a newbie into the hobby since last Xmas, I can empathise with your situation. I got a 6" Newt and love it. Everyone will tell you it's a good starter scope.

In terms of targets, there are plenty out there, but some are tough to find. M31 is a disappointment as it's a bit like a grey cloud, but you can see some detail with averted vision and make sure your eyes are completely used to the dark.

The other stuff I would go for would be some of the globular clusters, double stars, other clusters, especially the double in Perseus. Don't expect to see nebulas/nebluae?? in the detail you see in the photos as a camera is more sensitive that your eye.

Have a look round Cassiopeia and Cygnus - loads of stars, the views will blow you away. Best of the lot at the moment is Jupiter but don't get too hung up on magnification. It's good advice to use an eyepiece which gives you some detail, if only on a smaller view. It looks great, you'll see the moons and get more and more hooked.

By far the hardest part is actually finding the stuff out there and it can get frustrating, but stick with it - I did and now I can locate far more objects. It needs a bit of study of books etc. but Stellarium is really good and helped me out enormously.

Good luck mate - start saving now for more and more kit but buy what you need, not what looks good!

[Astro_Baby]

Congrats on your new purchase - its a nice scope for sure.

As to eyepieces I would opt for slightly better quality. Although Skywatcher do some good kit the super MA eyepieces arent amongst it. Better quality Plossl types (including SKywatchers Super Plossls) can be had for between £19 and £30 and will provide a relatively cheap enhancement to your telescope.

Even a low cost red dot finder may make star hopping a bit easier and some red dot stypes can be had for as little as £15. Ok the quality wont be up there with the top line kit but it will be adequate to start with.

I'd get or make a dewshield as a priority because the sceondary mirrors on most newtonians can suffer dew and there little thats as frustrating as dew problems.

[Perryellis]

Thanks for all your help

I thought chosing a new scope was hard. now I have to find a least one new eyepiece and a finder! How many eyepieces are there lol

Which finder to go for. A right angle or red dot? You dont have to answer that again..I may start a new thread..so many questions.

Astro-How would you make a dew shield?

Skybrowser-I did manage to see the M76 Nebula last night. it was very small and faint but definately there-Looked like a little faint egg timer!

Could not see the Nebula near deneb though. and I also saw the NGC Cluster next to Cassiopeia that looked like ET-Brilliant!

irish-What is the differnce between the two diff 32mm eyepieces that you mention? I definately want one with a wider view so I am likely to go for that size.

Thanks again