First Telescope Advice

[Walsh]

Hello All,

I am trying to take up astronomy. I thought of serving an apprenticeship, so to speak, by using binoculars for the first year then save up for a 10" Dobsonian for use in my fairly dark back garden, i.e. learning my way about the sky. (The weather this winter has been pretty disappointing though.) I have a set of 10x50 binoculars and a tripod to steady things but stargazing just gives me a bad pain in the neck and back; that being so I thought I should buy a good starter scope that will allow me to look at things more comfortably. What is more my children have shown a keenness in what I am doing but I haven't been able to show them anything all that spectacular other than Jupiter and its moons in the late autumn.

What I am looking at is the Skywatcher Evostar 90 refractor on an EQ2 tripod as it is a good price, and apparently easy to assemble and use with little adjustment. I have noted that some people prefer the Skywatcher Explorer 130 Newtonian; is there really that much difference?

As I intend to save up for a good Dobsonian in due course would I be correct in assuming that the Evostar refractor would remain a useful and convenient tool in the long term (as opposed to the Skywatcher Explorer 130 which might merely be a superseded item)?

[prbaxter]

your telescope choice should be directed by your available budget, and what you want to observe.

but in all, the bigger the aperture, the better.

that's my 2p worth.

[Steep]

Another option is to use a sun lounger and a light weight pair of bins until you can afford the scope you really want.

[Keiran]

Hi Walsh and welcome. At the lower end of the budget, it is normally suggested that you go for a Newtonian or Dobsonian Reflector. The cheaper end of refractors, can not compete with the reflectors.

For the money you are willing to spend on a Evo 90 you could have a Explorer 130 reflector, I know you said you may not want it after you get your Dob, but you will be more impressed with the performance of the 130 over the 90 frac', you will have more viewing pleasure with this. You could also look at the 150 Dob for about £50 more.

If you are looking for a 10" Dob, I picked mine up for £165 second hand, if you keep an eye out there are bargains to be had.... But just make sure you have room to store it

HTH

Keiran

[danielson23uk]

Hi Walsh,

Welcome to SGL. There is a really good page on beginners scopes on one of the Essex Astornomy group website. I think it might be Castle Point Astronomy club. The reason I mention this is because in it, he does imply that you'll get much more bang for your buck with a reflector to start off with. I can't see how a 130P on an EQ will be superseded by the Evo 90 on the same mount. It is light capturing ability you want and a larger aperture will always capture more light. (Be aware of non-parabolic primaries with large diameters, they're inferior)

If the 'saucepan lids' get into it, they'll enjoy inheriting the Evo90 or the 130P just the same.

Steep also makes a good point. If you're in england, the only thing you're likely to see at present is cloud so maybe a bit of furious saving and perseverance with Binos will get you the scope you really want.

Good luck and let us know which way you jumped.

EDIT:- Apologies, the site is an American astronomer who reviews scopes. Castle Point use his beginners advice HERE.

[shepsboss]

Hi Walsh and welcome, you may well have progressed beyond the, which telescope should I buy? However I found www.astro-baby.com and her info 'So you want to buy a telescope'. I am still researching and found the advice invaluable, take a look it may be of use.

[Daz Type-R]

Hi.

I`m a newbie and have just order myself a Skywatcher Skyliner 200p - it's an 8" dob for £275 from FLO (site sponsors) cant get much better bang for your buck!!!

[Walsh]

Hello again and thanks for the interesting links.

Plenty of newcomers here....bulldog_keiran appears to be the veteran at coming up for almost a year. (I admire your large Dobsonian at such a price, and yes I have got room to store one very conveniently. Here's hoping I can find a bargain like you did.)

The Explorer 130 looks very good indeed but I have read that refractors provide sharper lunar and planetary images (thus possibly enthusing the children), they will be easier for youngsters to look through, and are more portable and easier to set up, thus being useful in the long term when I can afford a bigger scope (I aim for a 10" Dobsonian). I wonder if some of the old lags can attest to the usefulness of smaller telescopes that they bought earlier in their astronomical careers.

[paulbeer]

I started with the 130p a fantastic scope very easy to use and it gave clear views of the moon and saturn, only reason i got rid was because of aperture fever i upgraded to the 10in dob and then to a 12in goto dob.

I still wish i had kept the 130p as my kids are now interested in astronomy