beginners telescope

[Rob_J_C]

Hi

New to all of this, i have been considering getting more in to astronomy for a while now so i am thinking about buying a reflector telescope to allw me to see more. I have been looking at various sites on the internet and it is all a bit mind boggling for a beginner. I am looking for a reasonable entry level telscope that will also allow me to connect my Canon EOS 30D to it to take photos (if i buy the correct adapters)

There are a number of "cheap telescopes on ebay but reading reviews these are apparently not very good quality (Seben). I have seen a few scopes on Amazon that I am considering from brands that reviews suggest are good quality. Either a skywatcher Explorer -130/900 EQ2, skywatcher explorer 130P or Celestron Astromaster 130EQ-MD

I am looking to ideally spend around £150 - £200 initially, therefore any recommendations or advice would be appreciated to get me off to a good start.

Thanks

Rob

[Capricorn]

Either a skywatcher Explorer -130/900 EQ2, skywatcher explorer 130P or Celestron Astromaster 130EQ-MD.

The first is I think a spherical mirror, so I would advise against.

The 130P is parabolic so better, although I am not a fan of f/5 scopes.

The Celestron I have no idea about, since no "P" in it I guess spherical. The "M" sounds good however.

For astrophotography you need a good EQ mount and motors to drive the scope to track whatever you are imaging.

I guess that the Celestron has an RA motor for this, but could be wrong. (M = Motor)

Think that even for trying astrophotography you will need an EQ3-2, simply for a little stability.

Next, if you are thinking of the colour images you see produced by astrophotographers then realise that they use equipment that starts at £3000 and can easily cost 2 or 3 times that.

[malc-c]

Hi Rob and welcome to the forum. The guys here are really helpful and friendly.

If you browse through the posts here you'll see that the explorer 150P is highly rated as a good scope to start with. The choice of mount is critical if you want to try your hand at imaging and an Equatorial mount is more suited, however I would suggest (and maybe those who are more experienced will confirm) that you need to drive the RA axis as a minimum for stable images, which is likely to be slightly above your budget. However, the motors etc can be added later if required, and works out just a little bit more expensive as buying as a package

For a little more than the £200 max of your budget have a look at the 150P on an EQ-3 mount Explorer 150P EQ3-2 With Free DVD | Telescopes | Rother Valley Optics at £245

The basic RA drive motor is around a further £85 Single Axis EQ 3-2 Motor, With Hand Controller | Telescope Accessories | Rother Valley Optics

[brantuk]

Hi Rob - if you can stretch the budget a little then a 150P on EQ3-2 would be a good basic setup for around £250(ish). Add an RA motor (£75-ish) and you can track objects for webcamming planets/moon, or slightly longer exposure dslr shots for the brighter deep sky objects. It's basic but you can get reasonable results.

Hope that helps

[Cornelius Varley]

The Celestron Astromaster uses the same optics as the 130P but the build quality of the telescope is not so good. Thick secondary spider vanes, alot of plastic components and a permanently attached starpointer. Both the 130P and the Astromaster have a problem when photographing using a DSLR at prime focus. There is insufficient inwards focus travel to allow the camera to come into focus. The two solutions to the problem are either use a barlow lens to move the focus point further out or move the primary mirror further up the tube.

Peter

[CYGNUS-X1]

If your a total newbee like myself I would recomend a 10x50 set of binos and some pc software 1st.

Get to know what your looking at 10x..... you would be surprised what you can see compared to the naked eye.

I got a 10" dob....entry level.......yeah great ...loads of light.....had no idea if I was looking at what I was spose to be looking at....lol.

Start small with a nice little refractor and you will get results and this will keep you interested.........

It has me.............

Paul.

[Herbig]

Hi, I'm fairly new to astronomy as well and I went through just what you are.

My advice would be to wait until you have more to spend.

I had an original budget of 300 but soon realised that I would not be satified with what that would get me so i waited a while and researched a lot more. I had a few chats with the guys at First Light Optics (very friendly) who sponsor this site. I have eventually plunged in and bought a Skywatcher HEQ5 Pro mount and a Celestron C8 together with a set of revalation eye pieces. This set comes with a T mount for a camera but you still need to get an adaptor for your particular camera. The HEQ5 Pro is as a fairly stable platform that is reasonably transportable and is fully motorised for photography.

The whole lot has set me back in the order of 1500 quid as you also need a power pack, got mine from Maplin for 34 quid and a few other bits like a dew shield, heater etc.

I too want to do astro photography and have a 20D. Don't be put off, you can get some good images with a DSLR but it takes time an pateince. I joined an observers group and on cloudy nights just chatted to as many people as I could to uderstand what it all entailed. You will also find loads of useful advice on this forum.

Hope this helps

Pete

[shepsboss]

Hi Rob and welcome. You may have progressed beyond this point but take a look at "So you want to buy a telescope" on www.astro-baby.com the author is well known on this site and it makes great reading and may help to avoid mistakes in the early stages.