where to start? another newbie!

[boborange]

I have just watched the BBC series over the last 3 nights and it has inspired me to get a telescope and turn my eyes to the stars. I have been looking on various sites but there is so much choice out there I really do not know where to start. I have more questions the more time I spend looking at this hobby.

Anyway my budget is around £300, I live in central London so have alot of light pollution but have a roof terrace so have space to view easily outside (but not sure if it would be any good due to pollution), it will need to be farily portable as I would look to take it with me on regular trips outside of the city and fairly compact as my flat is small.

Another query is about the GOTO spec, I like the ease of use and for a total beginner I like the idea of it showing me around but also I like the idea of the 'hunt'. Is it possible to have a GOTO with manual adjustment aswell then its the best of both worlds?

Any advice or help would be greatfully recieved. Thanks

[rowan46]

firstly welcome to the site. A goto scope is a tool thats all, you can still slew them around if you wish I sometimes don't bother aligning just go that looks interesting and have a look lower the slew speeds and track manually. But its easier to align and let the computer track for you. tihs is an excellent little scope for the price very portable and the goto is handy Maksutov - Skywatcher Skymax 102 SynScan AZ GOTO but for visual observing the "phrase apparture is king" is often used this means get the biggest scope you can use comfortably. dobsonians provide the biggest punch because the money is spent on optics rather than mounts and when tilted up provide a small footprint. this one has good reviews and will fit in a car Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian and this one is the most popular starter scope Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P

[barkis]

Welcome to the SGL Forum. I hope you settle in and enjoy this great place.

As Rowan said, the saying 'aperture is kng' is often cropping up whenever telescopes are being discussed.

Of course the objective, whether a mirror or a lens is the heart of any telescope, the more light the objective can collect, the brighter it will reveal whatever you are observing. Also, it's resolving capability is greater. There's a lot to consider, such as the use you want to put the scope to, whether observing, and/or imaging.If the latter, then the mount it sits on takes on a bigger responsibility.

It needs to track accurately, and comfortably support the telescope and associated imaging equipment.

These factors all contribute to the cost.

You might wish to consider buying a used setup, there are some good deals to be had out there, and often on SGL's Sale board, but you need to accrue 50 posts. and a months membership first, before you qualify to buy, or sell.

Good luck with your search, I'm sure lots more advice will be offered to you shortly.

Ron.

[Nexus 6]

Another query is about the GOTO spec, I like the ease of use and for a total beginner I like the idea of it showing me around but also I like the idea of the 'hunt'. Is it possible to have a GOTO with manual adjustment aswell then its the best of both worlds?

yes it is, I do the very thing with my 925, my 1st scope was a celestron 6se which due to its design meant it was'nt possibe.Having learnt a bit of the nightsky I purchased the 925, I have used it to locate objects that due to familiarity I had a good idea were to look, as with bino's its a great feeling finding them in such a way, ok its not primarily designed to be used in such a manner after all for £2,000 you could buy a really big dob. At least I have the chioce, all I can say is after 3 years of astronomy it will come to no surprise to anyone reading this post I would really like to have 3 scopes.

1 925

2 80mm apo, small grab and go

3 bigish dob 14" would be nice

I am about to add one of these to my 925, watch this space.

Hope this helps, welcome to the forum Bob

Alan

[Suzpaz]

Regarding a GOTO mount. How accurate are they really? Will it work if you, say want to take a picture of Andromeda with 30 second exposures? (assuming you have the other necessary equipment)

[Nexus 6]

Regarding a GOTO mount. How accurate are they really? Will it work if you, say want to take a picture of Andromeda with 30 second exposures? (assuming you have the other necessary equipment)

if you fit a wedge so as to turn it into an equatorial mount you'll be tracking the sky in line with the Earths tilt as it rotates. That will get you the shots you want. Trying it as you mention will result in star trails.

Alan

[rowan46]

It really depends on what kind of goto mount with the cheaper ones its theoretically possible just with a bit of luck. the cheaper ones are really there to help you navigate your way around the night sky. they are not accurate enough to keep a camera on long exposure steady enough to take a photo. you would need to be very lucky or skilled or both. They will keep a webcam fairly steady. for most imagers the mount is the biggest cost and these go from about £700- £10 000 depending on how much equipment and accuracy they require

[rowan46]

this book gives very good info its written by one of the imagers here and will tell you all you need to know before you start imaging deep space objects Books - Making Every Photon Count - Steve Richards

[rowan46]

I meant to add that most astronomers grow into imaging, its expensive and they collect bits as they learn. taking pics of the moon is not much more difficult than sticking the camera on the end of a scope. planets require a webcam and stacking software and is not hugely difficult, deep space objects require skill and knowledge if you look at some of the pics in the imaging sections they spend lots of time taking the pics and even longer processing its fair to say that rreally good astrophotography is as much art as science

[Nexus 6]

agreed rowan,

its a really expensive area of the hobby but the pics posted in most cases are pretty astounding, they must take a lot of effort to produce.

Alan

[umadog]

Welcome!

You will certainly want a portable scope. The light pollution in London is monumentally awful. My parents live in Barnet, just inside the M25, and it's horrifically bad there too.

I think a GoTo is a waste of money if you're starting out. You want to learn the sky. Spend your money on a nice scope not motors and electronics. Others disagree, however.

[Suzpaz]

So, not including any fancy mounts, what would be the best to get if I lower my initial scope budget to about £4-500 ?

[themos]

boborange, hello

As a first scope under £300, there's not much to beat an 8" Dobsonian.

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

You'll have to do all the finding and pointing yourself but as you'll use it mainly in central London, you will be restricted to the brightest of targets (because of light pollution) which would be easy to point to. The tube itself can be mounted on an equatorial mount at a later date if you want to hunt faint objects in a rural location or try photography. Make sure you get yourself some 10x50 binoculars as well.

[Suzpaz]

Eh sorry, I'm in the wrong topic! I apologize for hijacking it I'll head over to my own

Good luck!

[vulcan]

I used to sit in my back garden in SW London and watch satellites passing over on a clear night. If you are looking straight up, the seeing is much better. You should have no trouble viewing Jupiter or Venus at appropriate times of the year as long as they are well clear of the horizon. There are a few 'high' points in and around London where you can get a better sky away from street lights. Top of Hampstead Heath (Kenwood), inside Richmond Gate in Richmond Park (closed to cars at dusk), Crystal Palace. Although a 8" dobsonian is a good choice at your price point, it might not tick the 'portable' button when you are setting it up some way off from a car.

[Astro_Baby]

It sounds as id pkrtability and small size would be an issue for you so a Dobsonian style scope may be a problem as they tend to be on the large size.

Anyway welcome to the forum

[boborange]

Thanks for all the useful advice. I popped into the widescreen centre in london and had a quick look around. Got some good advice from the guy in there where he recommended to pop along to the london astronomy club thats meeting in regents park next week and get a better feel for it all and hold off buying scope until I know myself what i really need.

Already thinking of moving away from the idea of the computerised scopes and do it myself the hard which I think will be much more rewarding and satisfying.

Looking forward to next week (weather permitting) and having a chat with a few experts.

[brantuk]

The "hard way" ain't that hard when you get used to it. Plus you'll appreciate goto a lot more when you eventually upgrade to it. The most important thing in this lark (imho) is to get a good knowledge of the sky. Use "Stellarium" and read lots of books and magazines. In one year you'll easilly rack up 100 objects that you can readilly pick out of the sky manually and off the top of your head. Learn the constellations, the seasons, the pole star, and the ecliptic and you'll be well on the way to finding anything at any relevant time of year

[boborange]

Hi, Ive narrowed my search down to two scopes which I hope to have a closer look at over the weekend. They are the Skywatcher Explorer 150P EQ3-2and the Skywatcher Skymax 102 (EQ2). Both are within my budget and both seem to have good reviews.

I like the idea of the compactness/portability of the skymax and the relative ease of set up but would i be compromising on the image quality over the explorer?

Most use would be in central london so would i be better off optically with the explorer due to the light pollution or are they very similar in performance?

Many thanks

[Nexus 6]

Hi bob, I would definately go for the 150P if your going to use it at home most of the time, as you have some bad light pollution try a filter or two to help reduce it. FLO have a couple.

Good luck with the one you buy.

Alan

[Capricorn]

London is a big place, where about in London.

The Baker Street Irregulars meet in Regents park once a month for astronomy. If you are central London pay them a visit. At least you can look at equipment and ask people direct.

South London has I think a couple of groups that meet up, Guildford and one closer in.

Just seen a post elsewhere for a gathering in west London.

[boborange]

Hi capricorn,

Im in Maida vale, westminster. Im plannng to go to regents park next week which I hope will really help.

A friend has suggested the Celestron omni XLT 150 as an alternative to the skywatcher explorer 150 and i would have to buy extra eye pieces aswell i believe.

is the omni xlt worth the premium over the explorer 150? ta