First purchase

[shallowskies]

Hi there

I'm in the process of buying my first telescope and I am seeking advice. The telescopes I am interested in are the Sky Watcher 150P EQ 3-2 and the Sky Watcher 150PL EQ 3-2. I'm not too sure which one to get or if there is another suitable telescope in the same price range. In the near future I would like to add the GOTO system because I would like to explore astrophotography. I do know not to expect too much with the telescopes in my budget ( £250).

I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks.

[JamesM]

The 'L' denotes a slightly longer tube which facilitates greater magnification (planets) and because this change will amend the focal ratio (length of tube divided by aperture) compared to the 'P' version, it will mean that the scope is 'slower' and so less demanding on eyepieces, namely that you don't have to spend as much on quality.

Astrophotography requires a mount that has a good load capacity whilst retaining tracking accuracy and so is the most important piece of kit if you have designs in the imaging direction. The EQ3-2 although it facilitates the edition of motors is not accurate enough and has insufficient load capacity. You can certainly put a web cam on it and take images of Moon and planets but the general rule seems to be that the minimum for deep sky imaging (hence your need for GOTO to find these faint objects) is a HEQ5 - it has the polar scope for accurate alignment, good payload capacity and of course the Syntrek version allows it to be connected to a planetarium via a computer to facilitate 'GOTO'.

Can I recommend you get hold of a copy of Steve Richards "Making Every Photon Count" as a way of informing you of all the facets of imaging be it simple stuff to the more exotic deep sky images. When starting out it is important to have a grasp of what you will need so that you can avoid buying the wrong kit. A lot of people say they only want to take snaps but it is such a seductive part of astronomy, that this very quickly changes - so its better to get it right from the start.

James

[E621Keith]

Apart for the 200p dob, I think the two 150p on EQ3-2 is probably the best you can get at that price range. The shorter one will be better for DSO and the longer one better on planets. EQ3-2 is a decent mount for visual observation.

I agree with what James said about astrophotography. It's one of the most expensive part of amateur astronomy, and the EQ3-2 will be too weak.

[shallowskies]

Thank you for the advice and taking the time to reply to my post. Its appreciated.

[ollypenrice]

More confirmation of the above. For AP you start with the mount. The benchmark minimum is the HEQ5. it might be best to get started first just visually and then think about AP.

Olly

[shallowskies]

Cheers Olly.

[malc-c]

Advising people on what is "suitable" is always difficult as we are all different and have different budgets and observing strategies. There are some really stunning images of the brighter DSO's taken with the 150P EQ3, but the other guys are right, the EQ5 -HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts are the mounts that most deem the mounts suitable for imaging. However most scopes on these mounts will likely be well over your £250 budget, especially when drives are added (in the case of the EQ-5).

[shallowskies]

I just bought my first telescope and I can't wait for it to arrive. I choose the explorer 150pl. Thanks again for your input.

Cheers

[malc-c]

Nice choice... I'm sure you will be pleased with it's performance

[shallowskies]

I was arriving home tonight and I noticed what I thought was Jupiter low in the west. I ran up the stairs, took out my new scope and I witnessed Jupiter and four of its moons. One of the best feelings ever.

Thanks

David