Advice on a cheapish starter scope

[Asur84]

I wanted to know everyones opinions on a fairly cheap starter scope, as I currently do not own a scope, I'm not going to be in the market to buy for a couple of months and have had a discussion with my local scope shop who didn't want to give me an opinion on each scope as they can be very varied and as he described it "it is a very big commitment and has to be suitable for the user as well as the purpose" which I fully understand, however just a bit of feedback from people in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers and clear skies

Jonathon

[ollypenrice]

Okay, a few things that should inform your decision and the forum's ability to advise well;

Will you be aiming to transport it or use it from home?

What is your light pollution like?

Are you fit and able or do you worry about humping stuff around?

Are you hoping to observe all sorts of objects or would you be mainly interested in moon and planets which are bright in poor skies?

Do you relish learning your way around the sky or would you prefer electronic aid (which will eat into the optical side of your budget?)

Two things I would say straight off are; just keep photography out of the equation at this stage and also go along to an astronomical society ASAP to try before you buy and get eyes on experience!

Olly

[lukebl]

I would add 'how cheap do you consider to be cheapish?

[Chris H]

Skywatcher Heritage 130p, great starter scope in my opinion.

[Asur84]

Okay, a few things that should inform your decision and the forum's ability to advise well;

Will you be aiming to transport it or use it from home?

What is your light pollution like?

Are you fit and able or do you worry about humping stuff around?

Are you hoping to observe all sorts of objects or would you be mainly interested in moon and planets which are bright in poor skies?

Do you relish learning your way around the sky or would you prefer electronic aid (which will eat into the optical side of your budget?)

Two things I would say straight off are; just keep photography out of the equation at this stage and also go along to an astronomical society ASAP to try before you buy and get eyes on experience!

Olly

Firstly I am not going to look at photography just yet and I am looking at visiting the local astronomical society in the coming few weeks.

I will need to transport as light pollution in my area is a problem.

I'm not worried about moving around.

I am firstly interested in looking at the moon, plenets ect first then moving on to the dso's.

And I want to get to grips with finding things on my own not just type and go.

Jonathon

[Asur84]

I would add 'how cheap do you consider to be cheapish?

I am currently looking at under 200 pounds but my wife would like cheaper she says as I type this.

Jonathon

[lukebl]

A wee bit over your budget, but for value-for-money you really couldn't beat this as an all-rounder:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2

Big enough to give a good view of both planets and a lot of deep sky objects, to keep the interest going. The Skywatchers are of exceptional quality for the price. You will find, though, that this gets to be an expensive hobby!

[Asur84]

A wee bit over your budget, but for value-for-money you really couldn't beat this as an all-rounder:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2

Big enough to give a good view of both planets and a lot of deep sky objects, to keep the interest going. The Skywatchers are of exceptional quality for the price. You will find, though, that this gets to be an expensive hobby!

I could possibly stretch that far hoowever I'm not taking this decision lightly as I am going to be using it for a good while.

But thanks for info.

Jonathon.

[lukebl]

I think you'll find the sub-£200 band rather limiting, if that price includes the mount. The SW150 would keep you going for some time and you could even do a bit of imaging with later if you upgraded the mount.

It's a bit like buying a house. The one you want is always just above your upper limit!

[Asur84]

Yeah I do get that impression.

Is it possible to add to a scope or to modify it later, just to clarify by modify I mean add different eyepieces to give a further field of view.

Jonathon.

[Capricorn]

I would suggest the 150 but in the PL version.

At f/5 scopes tend to need good (more cost) eyepieces.

With the PL you can get good results from the more budget plossl's that are around.

150 is a good size and will last for a number of years, thoughts being that a 130 could soon have you wanting bigger just to see more, especially after you have exhausted the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

The other advantage of the 150 over the 130 is that you need about 150x magnification to see much of Saturn and certainly Mars.The 130 will not deliver the magnification of the 150.

Problem is that we are spending more and more of your money.

Note that is a short time you will want/need a couple of additional eyepieces and also a collimator to keep the scope set up.

Should have said: The magnification you will get is about the same as the scope dia in mm. You can/will get more but only about 25% more and then only when conditions are good. Just in case you are reading of a 130 delivering 260x, it won't. More like 130-150x in real terms. A 150 should give 150x and may get to 200x if everything is good, (suspect 180x is more the truth).

[Nillchill]

Hey Jonathon, I'd suggest trolling through "Flea-bay", I was lucky enough to pick up a good condition skywatcher 130 for £50(yeah I was lucky) , but it has been very good value. and it is a very good entry level scope. I am getting good views of Jupiter, the Moon, not to mention loads of others clusters, Galaxies, etc

good luck looking mate, and welcome to SGL

[Asur84]

Just seen a Meade 230 it is 60 mm, is this any use and also can the tripods be used for other scopes as I also have my eye on either a skywatcher 130 or 150 not decided but am narrowing it down now.

Jonathon.

[Sirius_Starseed]

3 good starters 'scopes would be:

Skywatcher 130P (you could also go for a SupaTrak or GOTO mount if you chose this option). Something to think about.

Skywatcher 150P

Skywatcher MAK 127 (again, with this option you could go for a SupaTrak or GOTO mount).

Out of those 3 the 150P will give you better views of DSO due to its bigger aperture but it is more money. All depends what you want it for and how much you're willing to spend.

Wow, I'm starting to learn stuff now. I LOVE this forum. Stick around here and you won't go far wrong if you take the sound advice from these guys.

Good luck!

[lukebl]

Just seen a Meade 230 it is 60 mm, is this any use and also can the tripods be used for other scopes as I also have my eye on either a skywatcher 130 or 150 not decided but am narrowing it down now.

Jonathon.

I would urge you not to get the Meade. Aperture way too low.

Aperture. Aperture. Aperture!

It's the 150. A no-brainer! And welcome to the forum, by the way.

[Asur84]

Thanks luke I'll keep that in mind.

Jonathon

[AWR]

Hi Jonathon,

You could have a look at the SW150 Dobsonian, which comes in under your £200 budget. 150mm aperture and f7.8 (a nice medium).

Dobsonians are a great way to get lots of telescope for your money. This telescope is certainly portable (I can get my 300 Dob in the back of a fiesta) but it is much bigger than the small Meade you mentioned.

Maksutovs are compact and very good at planets but the price is much higher. Here, as with refractors, a lot of the price will be taken up by the mount.

Second hand will be a way of getting a better scope for your money. There is a good For sale section on here (you might need so many posts before you can use it however?). Ebay does have bargains but it also has a lot of over-priced rubbish. Feel free to ask on here about anything that you are tempted by.

Andrew

[TheThing]

There are a couple of mistaken post here which could lead to confusion.

It is eroneous to say that the 130 will not cope with mags of over x180. It will easily cope with mags up to x300 and will give stunning views of Saturn.

Also, can we put to bed once and for all that fast scopes need expensive EPs? They do not. I have owned a number of fast scopes and have used many different EPs. There is no Nex to spend hundreds on them. They work very well with orthos, plossl, Vixens, paradigms, SPLs, apogee super apogees etc etc.

[Ludd]

Over the years I have gone from a 60mm refractor (bearable but frustrating) through a 4" f5 refractor (great but came with a flimsy mount and was over £200 new), a russian 6" f8 newt (brilliant, good value as it was second hand, but v heavy), an Orion Optics 8" f6 newt (lovely optics, again a second hand bargain), an 8" f10 SCT (expensive, a treat when I inherited a bit of money) and now also a 70mm ED refractor (just over £200, lovely and portable but doesn't come with a mount).

The two that stand out as good options for a beginner are the newtonians - do look for second hand ones but try to make sure they are on at least an EQ3 or equivalent mount, preferably in the EQ5 class if poss. They are out there!

And eyepieces - I've never used premium eyepieces but have had difficulty with the image blacking out in low mag eyepieces in fast scopes.

[Asur84]

I am keeping my eye on ebay for them, as for the for sale section here I cant see that just yet but I am woorking hard on that one cheers for the info all.

Jonathon.

[Sirius_Starseed]

I am keeping my eye on ebay for them, as for the for sale section here I cant see that just yet but I am woorking hard on that one cheers for the info all.

Jonathon.

If you welcome some newbies in the introduction section you'll soon get your 50 posts so you can see the for sale section

[Asur84]

Thats what I'm doing at the minute just another 14 after this one.

Jonathon.

[Keiran]

Hi Jonathon,

Welcome to SGL... I have four scopes currently, Celestron C102 ( chromatic refractor), Skywatcher 200P (newt), Skywatcher 250 PX (Dob) and a William Optics 72 FD (Semi APO).

IMHO I would go for a Newt or a Dob, The dob will be far cheaper, you can get more apeture for your money. They are easy to use, easy to set up and put away, and you do get some amazing views .

The problems with dob is you do have to keep nudging them to keep the image in view, but if you are not going the GOTO or Syntrek route, then you will have to constantly move the scope anyway.

If you do go for a dob, then you can always put tube rings on it later on and use it on a mount if you wish.

200p dob... Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

You may be able to find one of these cheap, I bought my 10" dob from and SGL'r 6 months old for £165. so the bargains are out there... Keep your eyeout on ABnS and on Ebay and on here ( when you get to 50 )

Alternativley is a Newtonian... these will perform very silmilarly to its dobsonian counter part, but you will pay more for equal as you are paying for the mount...

I think you need to have a think about where you are going to store it, where you are going to use it, and how you are going to transport it?

If you can get an 8" or a 10" second hand in your budget, you will never need to upgrade, or atleast not for some time anyway.... The views you will get will be unforgetable.

HTH

Keiran

[Keiran]

This is rather cheap, dont think you could go wrong at this price?

celestron powerseeker 76a telescope on eBay (end time 08-Oct-10 21:05:00 BST)

and this,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sky-Watcher-Telescope-/180568084509?pt=UK_Telescopes&hash=item2a0ab2501d

But dont expect it to be as good as the 200, or the 150, but they are brilliant if you can get them for cheap

[great_bear]

There are a couple of mistaken post here which could lead to confusion.

It is eroneous to say that the 130 will not cope with mags of over x180. It will easily cope with mags up to x300 and will give stunning views of Saturn.

They must be a bit variable. On planetary and lunar, my 130 struggles to make 180x and more is out of the question.