First Scope - £1k Budget - Any ideas?!

[Johnboy2011]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and astronomy. I'm looking for help buying my first scope. I think I need something good enough to keep me interested and easy enough to use (GOTO a must). Scopes that caught my eye are Nexstar 6 or 8se and Meade LX90. I would def consider second hand to get the most for my money.

Does anyone have any ideas or advice? I'd really appreciate any help.

Thanks,

John

[brantuk]

Hi John and welcome to SGL

If you're specifically after alt/az then I wouldn't go for single fork arm desite the good quality of the optics - dual arm will be more stable. I heard of a CPC800 that recently sold for under a grand with stacks of extras thrown in - under 2yrs old - as new condition - an absolute bargain.

It all depends what you want to do with it really - I'd advise not to jump in too quick till you know all the scope types/qualities available and different mountings. It can make a big difference to what you go for in the end.

[Gweedo]

For what it's worth, I wouldn't get so het up about getting a GOTO. Star-hopping isn't so difficult, and you'd get a much bigger aperture (and hence ability to see fainter objects) for your money. When I was recently thinking about upgrading my scope I was seriously looking for a GOTO but settled for a 10" Flex-tube Auto Dobsonian from FLO. I'm really pleased with the scope and glad I didn't go for the GOTO.

The guys on this site with more wisdom than me will be happy to give you some advice.

[msinclairinork]

Hi John,

It really depends on your intrests...i.e planets/deep sky etc..as the scopes you have mentioned have long focal leghnths they are more suited for the plannets. Deep sky can also be had with them, but a Shorter focal leagnth DOB would be better for this...so you might of guessed it, there isn't really an all-rounder scope.

Also if you have given anythought into one day wanting to do astrophotography then now would be a good time to get a start on the right gear for that job.

Also what many newcomers to the hobby don't really understand is that the mount/tripod that you sit your scope on is VERY important. So money and consideration in your budget should go towards this.

Some great GOTO mounts are the skywatcher range i.e HEQ5 and up, also celstron do a very good begginers goto mount called the CG5-GT.

The scopes you have listed, to my knowelage are good socpes, but there are some things to consider first as I have mentioned.

HTH

Michael

[Bizibilder]

As said above you really want to decide what you want to do. The first decision is visual or photography? quickly followed by Moon/Planets or DSO's?

The general advice is always to get the best MOUNT that you can - it will make you somewhat future proof and will save money in the long run. GOTO is not essential - much of the pleasure of astronomy is learning and finding your way around the sky. Also there are other (better?) ways of upgrading to "goto" by using a laptop, an item that you would almost certainly need if you had any aspirations toward photography.

[Johnboy2011]

Thanks for your help, I knew this would'nt be easy! Annoyingly I think I want to see everything, planets and deep sky! Initially I think visual is what I would be doing but I would be interested in moving on to imaging, probably not too in depth though. I have a laptop so is it just a case of going for something like a Celestron imaging package as an add on when I get to that stage?

[Bizibilder]

I would recomend something like a HEQ5 Syntrek mount and maybe a SW200P (because that's my set-up!!). Seriously though, the HEQ5 can be controlled via your laptop and EQMOD (which is free!!) and does far more than any goto mount - it can goto any star in your catalogue - I use Cartes du Ceil - also free! - and use any star(s) for alignment. It also allows for mount errors and allows easy polar alignment (among a host of other things!).

The SW200P is an f/5 scope and is of reasonable aparture. It is good for both the Moon and planets (with a barlow lens - which effectivly doubles or triples your magnification) as well as DSO's - there is no such thing as an "all round scope" but this one gets pretty close.

[Johnboy2011]

Are there any tips on good places to look for second hand equipment? I'm watching ebay but also a bit nervous of it as a beginner!

[Nick R]

Do you have a local astronomy. club ? if so it may be worth going along to one .It would give you the chance to see some scopes in action

[msinclairinork]

This is a good place for SH equipment U.K. Astronomy Buy & Sell

And once you have been a member for a month and have 50 posts you can view the buy/sell section on the forum (my fav)

Michael

[Bizibilder]

Most, but not all, second hand astro equipment is Ok as the owners tend to keep their gear well. The forum buy and sell or the one mentioned above are Ok. Fleabay is very much buyer beware!! (especially if you are a beginner!)