Telescope for a newbie

[consoles]

Hi Guys,

looking to take up a bit of star gazing and this is prob the most apt section to ask.
I've been mulling over this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Top-Qualit...item53f59dd6d9 and was wondering if anyone on here has/is doing some star gazing and could give me some advice.

cheers

Consoles.

[blaggard]

Cheaper at John Lewis and you'll get proper customer service with a 2 year warranty
http://www.johnlewis.com/celestron-a...=c&tmcampid=52

[Oily]

I'd try and find a local astronomy group and try out different scopes and see which one suits you best.
What are looking to do with your scope?Casual observing,astrophotography?
If casual then these type of 'motorised' mount can take a bit of setting up,getting it level&lined up with Polaris to get the tracking perfect,every time you take the scope out unless it's permanently set up or you have marked out where the tripod goes after lining up etc.Although once learned it can take 5/10mins to set up.
If you want a quick 'grab and go' scope,go for something like a 150/200 Skywatcher dobsonian.With these type of scopes you just take it outside and start searching for what you want to look at,no setting up time etc.The only down side is once you've found your target you have to keep 'nudging' the scope to keep the target in view!
Next ones to consider are the 'goto' scopes,again you have to level and line them up but once lined up you just tell it to slew to a target and it's there ready for you to view.

[consoles]

astrophotography is something id like to do, it's ok seeing with your own eyes what you have found but taking your own images to look at later to me is a plus point. I just don't want to buy a cheap entry level to only have to buy something with a bit more clout later.

at the same time I don't want to join a club, as it will be purely hobby when I want to go and chill out and grab some me time.

[Oily]

astrophotography is something id like to do, it's ok seeing with your own eyes what you have found but taking your own images to look at later to me is a plus point. I just don't want to buy a cheap entry level to only have to buy something with a bit more clout later.

at the same time I don't want to join a club, as it will be purely hobby when I want to go and chill out and grab some me time.

Well to future proof your purchase I'd go for a HEQ5 mount:http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skyw...o-synscan.html .They do come up 2nd hand for around £500+ or if you can afford it,an NEQ6:http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skyw...o-synscan.html
Both of these are 'goto' mounts,there are cheaper ones if like looking for objects yourself.Scope wise,aperture is king,both can carry anything up to and over 200mm(8") scope+camera etc,the NEQ6 has a bit more weight capacity.
I took these at the weekend:
http://www.digital-forums.com/showth...26#post3665326

I've taken these photos on a budget,my setup cost just over £400(heavy duty EQ5 mount with dual axis motors fitted)+Canon 350D and software,it's not ideal,any gust of wind and it's all the place as the mount is over loaded,lol.But it's what I could afford at the time,plus I didn't want to spend big money on something that i may not take to or have it sat collecting dust!
Next year I'll be buying one of the above mounts I've mentioned.

[_Belial]

I bought a new scope and mount a week or two ago (Skywatcher 200P-DS and a HEQ5-Pro mount) from firstlightoptics

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/refl...-heq5-pro.html

I'd bought one of these a few years ago and tbh, was a bit disappointed with it

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-g...n-az-goto.html

The 127, was great for lunar and planetary observation, but for DSO's it was useless really, and the mount wasn't really strong enough to carry too much weight either. So this time around I decided to do it properly, did some research and a load of people said the 200P is a superb scope for beginner and advanced and there's loads of tips out there for using it and accessories too.

I'm in the process of building this kit at the moment

https://sourceforge.net/projects/iastrohub/

It uses one of those mini android PC's to do all your guiding + imaging for you, all over wifi to an app for your tablet, so you don't need to have a PC at all.

If you get a HEQ5/HEQ6 mount there's a load of really good tutorials on youtube for stuff like setup + polar alignment etc which are invaluable, and i'd recommend taking it out during the day a few times to practice setup + balancing. And don't do what I did last night which is spend an hour setting up the telescope only to realise you'd not charged the power brick up and then have to dismantle it all again

Ooh and get yourself a copy of this book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Or...+left+at+orion

Oily, what software are you running on the PC? I've installed the eqmod stuff, ascom, and phd guider, but wondering what people are using for finding + tracking objects, stellarium?

[Oily]

Forgot to add some 80mm refractors punch above their weight too.

@Belial
At the moment I'm taking photos 'un-guided' but I have the necessary gear to guide.When I do,I'll be using a Shoestring Astronomer GPUSB:
http://www.store.shoestringastronomy.com/gpusb.htm
Like you I'll be using PHD to guide but finding objects for me is taking a 15/20 sec shot then seeing what comes up on the screen in BackYardEOS!Not easy but until I can afford a 'goto' mount it'll have to do.But when I do get one I'll probably use Stellarium to find objects

That link looks interesting,can you let me know how you get on with that please

[EvilBoB]

I have one of these sat in my living room http://www.flybird.co.uk/helios_newtonian_422.htm - bought it for the wife a few years back but we moved to a top floor flat and she decided that it was too big and heavy to cart up and down the stairs. I've thought about giving it another go now that she has moved out but I think it will probably end up on flea bay.

Last time I used it was to show it off to a friends kids and look at the moon