First Scope Advice

[junior]

Good morning all,

I am new to this forum and am also new to astronomy, My wife and I are looking at purchasing our first scope and was hoping that someone more experience could offer us some advice.

We are looking to start out by viewing the plants and moon and possibly attempting to take the odd picture. We live on the edge of a large town so there is quite a lot of light pollution and travelling to a dark site is not a problem but we would prefer to stay in our own garden. I have been looking at telescopes that can be upgraded if necessary incase we wish to be more adventurous.

I have been browsing some websites and found a couple of scopes that look reasonable but to a novice like me it may not be the case.

The two scopes i have been looking at are:

Sky Watcher Sky Hawk114 Newtonian telescope starter kit with free gift

Sky Watcher Sky-Watcher Classic 80mm Astronomy telescope starter kit

If anyone is willing to give us some advice it would be greatly appreciated.

[Altair40]

Hi Junior,

Welcome!

That's a good make you have there. I've only been back in the hobby for about three months - went for a Skywatcher 130mm newtonian reflector on an equatorial mount.

Got it from First Light Optics for just 130 UKP. Bargain for the mirror size.

It's big enough for me for now and light enough to be a grab and go instrument. Manual everything!

Now I wish for a 10'' dobsonian mounted reflector and a big refractor...

Careful, the hobby grabs you quickly!

[ollypenrice]

The idea of upgrading to an imaging setup may not be realistic and honestly I think you would do better to concentrate on a decent visual setup to start with. Imaging is complex and has requirements which conflict with visual astronomy.

Mounts are important, first off. Very light, budget equatorials are often rather nasty and vibratory. But budget Dobsonian manual mounts provide a nice stable platform. You have to push them by hand to follow the sky but they hold the scope well.

The Skywatcher Newtonians thus mounted are extraordinarily good value and will allow you to get some remarkable views. There are several to look at here.

Dobsonians

Once you are up to 150mm you are certainly in posession of a scope that will last you some time.You will also want a map of the sky. The free planetarium programme Stellarium will get yu off the ground (literally!)

Olly

[junior]

Many thanks for your advice I like the look of the Explorer 130, would i need to get any extras for example pollution filters?

[Altair40]

I don't use filters at all at the moment. Doubtless they would help quite a bit but I just try to 'get out there' for now!

I agree about the Dobsonian mount - it's more intrinsic to use. My Skwatcher EQ2 mount drove me slightly crackers when I first used it!

Also, with Newtonian scopes everything is upside down. You don't get that with a refractor but large refractors can be pretty expensive.

I grew up with a Tasco 60mm refractor. I could observe things like the phases of Venus, the moons of Jupiter, the Great Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy but often other targets were stretching it a bit.

I hope you don't mind another beginner chipping in! I just thought i'd offer some personal comments from someone relatively new to the science.

I'm not going to even think about imaging for a while!

Just a very personal comment - I wish I'd had the finances to get a 150mm Skywatcher, that little extra bit of apeture would have made quite a bit of difference to me. Need second job to pay for next scope!

Still, I found the planet Neptune with the 130mm (just as a star - even a 12" Newtonian would struggle to show a disc)...

:-)

[E621Keith]

Welcome to SGL.

I agree with Olly about budget equatorial mount. IMHO any equatorial mount smaller than a EQ3-2 is not worth getting, so I'd suggest looking for a Dob, such as this 130p

Sky Watcher Heritage 130P FlexTube™ 130mm (5.1") f/650 Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope

Equatorial mount can be a bit awkward for beginner and may put off some people, especially if it is one of the small one that suffers from poor built quality and poor stability. A simple Alt-Az mount of a dob will be easier to use and understand.

I wouldn't get the refractor, short focal length refractor will suffer from a lot of chromatic aberration and will not do the high magnification needed to view planets.

[nathuk]

I don't use filters at all at the moment. Doubtless they would help quite a bit but I just try to 'get out there' for now!

I agree about the Dobsonian mount - it's more intrinsic to use. My Skwatcher EQ2 mount drove me slightly crackers when I first used it!

Also, with Newtonian scopes everything is upside down. You don't get that with a refractor but large refractors can be pretty expensive.

I grew up with a Tasco 60mm refractor. I could observe things like the phases of Venus, the moons of Jupiter, the Great Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy but often other targets were stretching it a bit.

I hope you don't mind another beginner chipping in! I just thought i'd offer some personal comments from someone relatively new to the science.

I'm not going to even think about imaging for a while!

Just a very personal comment - I wish I'd had the finances to get a 150mm Skywatcher, that little extra bit of apeture would have made quite a bit of difference to me. Need second job to pay for next scope!

Still, I found the planet Neptune with the 130mm (just as a star - even a 12" Newtonian would struggle to show a disc)...

:-)

Hi,

Can't really offer any advice but I was just wondering if you could offer any opinions on the EQ2 as I have just recently been given a EQ1 as a present off the girlfriend

[junior]

Have been taking a look at

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

and seems to be a very nice compact scope, also has very good reviews on

The Sky Watcher Heritage 130 FlexTube Dobsonian telescope Telescope Reviews UK

If i was to get this is there anything else that i would need other than a clear night and warm coat.

Many thanks for all the advice

[rowan46]

hello junior there is one telescope usually recommended for beginners and that is the 130pfrom skywatcher it can be had on a dob mount Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube or eq2 mount Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 130P which has a slightly better build quality. there is also a free download planetarium program Stellarium this will help you identify what you are looking at or sometimes people use a planisphere Philip's Planisphere Northern 51.5 Degrees: British Isles, Northern Europe, Northern USA and Canada [book] which can be useful if you don't use a laptop and of course a red light torch so that you can see without messing up your night vision but essentially all you need for astronomy are your eyes, a warm coat, imagination and an enquiring mind welcome to sgl and I hope you enjoy tour new hobby

[rowan46]

Hi,

Can't really offer any advice but I was just wondering if you could offer any opinions on the EQ2 as I have just recently been given a EQ1 as a present off the girlfriend

hello nathan the eq2 will be a step up from the one you have as its a little more solid

[Altair40]

If windy, I park a 5kg lead dive weight on the eye piece tray of my EQ2 and that helps a little...

Ok for me while I'm zooming around observing but it would not answer for any attempt at imaging.

To be honest, the mount seems to me to be matched to the scope (skywatcher 130mm).

Not always stable but good enough for me for now.

I'd grab any gear offered - there is always a use somewhere down the road!

:-)

[junior]

Ok guys after having a look around and speaking to the people at first light optics i have decived to go for

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

with

Moon & Neutral Density Filters - Meade ND96 Moon Filter (1.25")

the only thing i am usure on and have read a little about is collimation? I understand this is the callibrating of the mirrors, am i correct? Also will this scope require?

[rowan46]

yes it will need collimating at some point this may help Collimating a Newtonian

[junior]

Just ordered my first telescope, thanks to all for the advice i have recieved. Now i just need to sit back and wait for it to arrive.

Not sure if it will make it forthis weeks clear skies and full moons though!!!!

[CGolder]

what did you go with?

[junior]

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

with

Moon & Neutral Density Filters - Meade ND96 Moon Filter

[junior]

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

with a moon filter

[Altair40]

Nice one!

That should be a better mirror than my Skywatcher 130 (eq2) and you have an easier mount for star hopping.

A thoughtful board member pointed me in the direction of the smaller relative of your scope for my youngest. We had that pointed at M31 (Andromeder Galaxy) in a few minutes last week.

I've been using my similar scope for three months and have still not run out of attainable targets!

Saw the 'Ring Nebula' a while back, when it was near the zenith. Just a grey smoke ring to me but it was there

Maybe you will recieve your scope at the full moon or just after. The 20mm ep makes the moon appear to fill the ep. 10mm and you can really see the complex craters, ridges and shadows...

[junior]

Looking forward to it, im waiting for FLO to get stock in which they are this week and he said it will be sent next day. I havent heard anything yet so i may miss tonights clear skies

Does anyone know of a good website for weather forecasts, i currently just use the BBC's website.

[nathuk]

Looking forward to it, im waiting for FLO to get stock in which they are this week and he said it will be sent next day. I havent heard anything yet so i may miss tonights clear skies

Does anyone know of a good website for weather forecasts, i currently just use the BBC's website.

Hey,

Found one myself after spending ages looking for one of the banners in someone's thread.

Here you go, just choose where you're from

[junior]

Just had a message to say my scope is being delivered tomorrow and guess what the forecast is overcast for the next few days

[nathuk]

Typical ey!?

Hope the weather clears up for you over the coming weekend. I had to go about 4/5 days from new telescope to first use!

[junior]

My first scope arrived yesterday, FLO certainly have the best customer service i have ever come across.

They even delivered clear skies, unfortunatly they were during the day and when night arrived the clouds rolled in. I did manage to get a look at the moon through some thin cloud which was still AMAZING.

Cant wait for the next clear night.