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Yes, I am new, and need some help...


ryouko

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Hello everyone,

Hello to all! I have stumbled across this site in an attempt to get a better understanding about what kind of telescope I should purchase. Now, first off, I am new to this hobby; in fact I have never partaken into this hobby at all. A friend of mine is wanting to get into this for some reasons (thank you douglas adams!) and has sparked me about the subject. Ignorant of the subject itself, I have decided to do a good bit of reasurch on the subject, so I am not the fool who dumps a bunch of money on a good scope and has no clue what to do with it (much less be able to appreciate the view that it gives.)

Now, I have for quite some time been interested into star-gazing, I have not taken the idea so seriously. I good time ago, one of my good friends got a telescope for Christmas, but I think it was just a little chinese junky catadioptric style scope. So, the views we got from it were not so appealing. I will not say this has dettered me, it was just other interests that caught my attention including school and occupation.

Now that all that is over with, it was my current good friend that has sparked my interest back up. I can't say what I should expect, including that I am new to this anyhow, but I think I want to get back into it. I love to go camping anyhow, and I am sure that bringing along a good scope would make the trip all that much better. Now, I do not want to invest into a really small scope, but I don't want to go all the way out either, as I do not know if this will be a life long hobby or just a little fad that I might be going through.

I am sorry for the long post, I just wanted to express what my mindset is currently, so that the type of advise I get will not exactly lead me in a biased direction ... Anywho, I was excited to see that they now have those truss type dop scopes, which interest me a bit. I have been doing some good reasurch on the Meade Lightbridge 12" for some time now, and I am thinking along with the laser collmenator and a set of barlows that this would be a good investment with some interesting views, views that will not be so bad as to detter me from what looks to be such a good hobby. I also want to know if this would be a good scope to connect my dslr, or in that matter, my old film slr cameras to this every so often if I find something really nice.

Anywho, it all comes down to me, the ignorant one, needing good helpful advise for this hobby, wether it will be good to get into, or something I should really think about before making the investment. I am sure all of you have heard the questions before, "what is the best scope for me, which is not" so I thought I would make it sound a little better than that, but overall, that is my question, is my choice (the meade lightbridge) a good choice for someone who might seriously get into this hobby, or even just to look out every so often, or should I do a good bit more reasurch?

- Thank you,

ryouko

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Hello ryouko, welcome to the Lounge we have plenty of information and advice here so spend time gathering all the information you need as a newcomer to this fascinating hobby. For imaging you need a mount that tracks like a GEM or a wedge, as a Lightbridge has a Dob mount which is basic for visuals only and does not track.

An imaging setup is not really portable although many take their mounts to star parties, you should try these parties as you can get first hand experience of others' scopes also joining a club is a good move. A good pair of bins is ideal to start and a 20x70 or 80mm pair are great but a bit heavy and 10x50 are the most popular. But don't buy anything on impulse as we have plenty of advice here for you to consider in the beginners section!

We advise 6" Newt as a good starting size scope and it is portable but imaging is more difficult so you will need to learn about this subject first before proceeding and become a visual astronomer and learn the sky first. Hopefully you will start on a great journey.

Regards, JohnH.

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I agree with JohnH that it would be best to leave photography out of it at first. It is complicated, expensive and requires a different kind of telescope from the ones which give good views at the eyepiece.

As long as you aware of how big a 12 inch Dob is then you would find it very exciting to use. It is quite a size, though!

Ollt

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Here you go, some research done for you,

Astro-Baby Telescope Reviews

I went for a reflector as it gives the best of both worlds, DSO's and planets, just pick a size and mount to suit your budget, Skywatchers are popular for good reason

Reflectors

Then an eye piece kit such as the 'Revelation Photo-Visual Eyepiece kit' is the one I chose "on advice" and I'm very happy with it. Plenty of scope (excuse the pun) for experimentation.:D

Eyepiece Sets

Thing is you can research and dither for ever, at some point you're gonna have to dive in, nothing in life is perfect so just go for it.

Also, now is the right time of year to start, Orion is back and there's loads of good stuff to look at.

My scope came with an EQ5 mount (due to budget), wish I'd got an HEQ5 or better still NEQ6 mount but, there you go, hindsight is 20/20 and equipment upgrades are part of the game. spend as much of your budget as possible on the mount, scopes can then be upgraded as you learn more about what you really want to do.

Cheers.:)

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Hi and welcome to the forum.

The 12" Lightbridge is a good visual scope and will certainly give you a different experience than the earlier scope you tested! Being a good scope from a decent manufacturer will always guarantee interest should you feel you would need to resale it without it costing you too much. If imaging was a long term objective, could I recommend that you buy Steve Richards' "Making Every Photon Count" (sold by First Light Optics) which will give you a very good understanding of the different requirements needed to get started from beginner to advanced.

Clear skies

James

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Hi Ryouko and welcome to SGL :)

During your research please feel free to ask any questions in the "Beginners Help" section where you are sure of a good answer. There are many types of scope and many different cameras. Whilst the 12" Lightbridge is a great scope, you may find it's not quite what you want - good luck and enjoy the forum :D

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Hello and welcome from me too. I am also a scopeless newbie who has done hours of research on the web and my conclusion is that the "perfect" scope probably doesn't exist and that I risk, as someone put it "paralysis through analysis"! My solution will take me in completely the opposite direction to you- small is beautiful. I need to carry something on a motorcycle so I'm thinking maybe a Heritage 130P or, more likely a SW startravel 80. Best of luck with your big Dobsonian!

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Hi Ryouko

Welcome to SGL.

12" lightbridge is a nice visual telescope, but as a dob, it will be rather poor for photography. For photography your best choice is a scope with an driven equatorial mount. An ED80+Eq5 will make a good entry astrophotography set up.

Also, can I assume your camp site is accessible by car, because a 12" scope is not a portable scope (by backpacker standard).

Finally, you mention you want to get a laser collimator and a set of Barlows. Can I assume by Barlows you mean eyepieces, because Barlows are really multipliers for eyepieces and you can't use them with out eyepiece.

clear skies

Keith

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