What's a good beginner telescope?

[prbaxter]

hi all,

I'm a binocular astronomer at the moment with my 20x80 bins. I'm just thinking about my next birthday present and the inner cover of Astronomy Now, being filled with lovely new telescopes has got me thinking...

so, what would be a good telescope to purchase as a telescope beginner? I've been looking at the Celestron 130EQ on eBay and at a good price too, but not entirely sure as I have nothing to compare it to. A friend of mine has a Celestron C4-R which I'm yet to take a look at but thats a refractor... urrghhh.

[Astro_Baby]

Depends what you want to spend, what you want to look at, how large you want to go.

I would suggest Skywatcher 130 (in prefernce to the Celestron one) can be had in a variety of guises ranging from cheap and cheerful (Dob base) through to automatic de-luxe witha GoTo mount.

Next up a Skywatcher 200 Dobsonian if size is not a problem and fully manual is your bag.

Halfway house- a Skywatcher 150 on an EQ3-2 gives a pretty good bang for the buck and allows addition of tracking motors or GoTo later on.

Small, compact but pricey would be the Celestron Nexstar 6SE

So much depends on what you want to spend and your objective (pardon the pun) in owning a telescope.

[brantuk]

Hi PR - have you decided on a budget yet? Have you any idea of what you'd like to do with it in terms of which type of objects? or imaging?

Coming from 20x80 bins you might benefit more from a larger aperture than 130mm (e.g. a 150P). But a few clues would help us to give you some suggestions

[prbaxter]

less than £200

would like to be able to resolve, for example, orion nebula and other deep space objects that appear as a smudge through the bins. Would like to be able to make out some detail on jupiter but that's probably asking too much from a budget telescope.

[Neilius]

I would suggest the Skywatcher 150. I recently got back into astronomy after a long break away from the hobby - last time I was into this there were no digital images, or at least that was the realm of the professional. I bought a Celestron Astromaster 130eq and wish I'd have spend a few more bucks on the Skywatcher now.

Still, mine isn't that bad, but I could have done better.

[brantuk]

Well - I started with an SW 150P on Eq3-2 and was happy for a fair time with it. This would give markedly improved views over your bins but I say that with one reservation - eyepieces will be key.

The supplied ones are the bare minimum to get going - you'd need one or two steps up from the bulk standard plossls to make the scope start to sing. So bear that in mind when budgeting.

Galaxies would still be a smudge - just slighty larger ones. But you'll make out the shape of Orion Nebula and resolve some stars within it visually with no probs.

Jupiter in my old 150P with a Baader Hyperion zoom was crystal clear in good seeing and I could make out a lot of detail in the banding and see the GRS easilly.

Hope that helps.

[tomw28]

less than £200

would like to be able to resolve, for example, orion nebula and other deep space objects that appear as a smudge through the bins. Would like to be able to make out some detail on jupiter but that's probably asking too much from a budget telescope.

Hi,

Although I'm not particuarly experienced, I've probably read enough on here to offer some advice. Like Astro Baby says, the Skywatcher 130P is a popular scope for beginners. Although I've never used one, I'm pretty sure you will get some stunning sights of the objects you mentioned above. In my 76mm reflector, a fair amount of detail can be seem on Jupiter, like the belts (when they're there!) and possibly the Great Red Spot. With the larger aperture of the 130 I don't think you could go wrong. It would also leave a bit of your budget for accessories. Personally I would opt for the dob base, sold as the Heritage 130P I think, as it is pretty good value and the easiest to use for a beginner.

If your budget can stretch the extra £50 or so, the Explorer 150P would probably be the best option though.

Hope I've helped a bit!

Tom

[JamesM]

If you keep asking more questions your post count will soon exceed 50 and with 1 months active membership, you will eligible to access the FOR SALE SECTION over on the equipment section. I don't believe in the notion of 'beginners scope' its really down to what you can afford, mobiilty - if you need to travel to a dark site and the type of objects you prefer to observe. Having said that, I do believe in best value for money and you might find that the used market might provide you with a scope that is a little bit larger than what yo can afford now but which might provide a lot more to enjoy in the longer term.

Clear skies

James

[rowan46]

I have to concur with the above your money will go a lot further as a 2nd user scope owner

[prbaxter]

thanks james, that is most useful. 1 to go.

[ollypenrice]

Buying new, this; Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

Big enough to show much of what is out there, intuitive to use and a good simple, stable mount rather than an over ambitious but wobbly cheap equatorial.

Olly

[russ]

Buying new, this; Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

Big enough to show much of what is out there, intuitive to use and a good simple, stable mount rather than an over ambitious but wobbly cheap equatorial.

Olly

ditto what Olly says. Hard to think of a better sub £200 setup, maximum bang for buck.

[prbaxter]

ok thanks guys!

[Vargojones]

Buying new, this; Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian

Big enough to show much of what is out there, intuitive to use and a good simple, stable mount rather than an over ambitious but wobbly cheap equatorial.

Olly

Definitely, i got one of these last week (my first scope), and managed some brief viewing on Friday evening, viewing wasn't great (it was misty, and a very bright moon), but even so i made out the Orion nebula and the moon looked fabulous, and this was in the middle of Swindon which has horrific ligt pollution.

It's a very intuitive scope to use, and a doddle to setup, would recommend.

[prbaxter]

ok so it's looking like Skywatcher trumps Celestron for entry level scopes.

What about eye pieces? are they pretty standard and interchageable?

might also want to connect a digital camera up to the eyepiece too at some point.

[russ]

The Skyliner 150P will not suit any form of imaging in it's standard dobsonian form but you can buy an EQ mount, such as the EQ5, at a later date that can be used with the 150P tube, to make a good planetary imaging setup. Unless you plan on the doing the imaging immediately, i think this could be a far better route rather than the 130P. You'll end up with a far more capable scope initially and then a more capable EQ mount later.

[prbaxter]

so I'm probably better off with one of these?

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 150PL EQ3-2

[russ]

Yes, that's basically what you'll need for planetary imaging, just with the addition of some drives......the price just keeps going up.

[malc-c]

Yes, that's basically what you'll need for planetary imaging, just with the addition of some drives......the price just keeps going up.

Yup by another £91 : Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories

Whilst most of the Skywatcher telescopes offer upgrade options (you can always purchased these later) the overall cost by doing it that way is slightly more expensive than buying a scope that offers this as part of the package. Because once you have the drives you then willl want goto and computer control... the list is never ending

The problem with this is that it effectively doubles you £250 budget as the 150P on a EQ3 goto mount is around £525. : Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories The basic scope without motors and goto computer is £250 : Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories + the cost of the upgarde £305 : Rother Valley Optics Telescopes, Binoculars & Accessories making a total price of £550. OK it's only £25 saving... but that's £25 you could of spent on other accessories

[russ]

And for that sort of money you can buy a secondhand 8" Meade SCT on a Meade LXD75 mount. Such as the one that has been on Uk Astro Buy'n'sell recently.

[prbaxter]

and then you're still likely to want to buy accessories and add ons so it really isn't a saver is it?

£250 max budget.

[russ]

Buying secondhand can certainly increase what you get. An EQ3 with dual axis drives should cost no more than £100 for a really good one. And approx the same for a mint 150PL tube. Leaving £50 for extras. It's just finding and getting it that's the problem.

[prbaxter]

can the EQ3-2 mount be motorised?

[russ]

Yes, single axis or dual axis motor drives. Buying secondhand you should be able to get one ready equipped.

[prbaxter]

i'd prefer to buy a scope new with warranty being a beginner.

would i be ok without a drive or are they a must?