Newbie help appreciated

[pulsar pete]

Hi,

Having got the bug with my sons 4" reflector, I invested in a decent pair of 10x50 binoculars to get to know the sky a bit better.

I'm now ready to invest in something a bit bigger. So far I've obtained a second hand Orion Skyview Pro mount with polar scope and DEC and RA motors and spent some time getting know how to set it up and polar align it. I'm looking for an ideal telescope to suit the mount. I seem to like star clusters and nebula viewing rather than the planet side of things, and pehaps some photography later using my DLSR.

You probably get this question all the time but any help would be appreciated.

ps budget is approx £300.

[brantuk]

FYI here's a review of the mount you have - looks like a good start:

Orion SkyView Pro Equatorial Mount - Review

I have a very similar Celestron mount allmost equivalent to yours. I got it to mount a short tube wide angle appo which I got s/h for £310 (with extras) - and I'd recommend the same or similar bearing in mind your stated objectives. FLO are doing the William Optics Megrez (original model with regular focuser) for £319 new right now.

A friend of mine got a WO 90 s/h for £120 (very good bargain) which would also suit the mount. I can't comment on other makes cos WO is the only one I have experience of, but they are great instruments. Do look into others though and satisfy yourself. Hope that helps

(these will meet your needs for viewing and photography very nicely)

[pulsar pete]

Many thanks for the help