Telescopes?

[Dan_1981]

I *think* this is the right forum for this kind of thread?

Anyway - with a wad of fresh notes in my hand from Father Christmas - i'm considering getting a telescope.

Currently considering this one.....

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/catalogue/orion-starmax-...

How would people rate it?

What sort of detail am I going to be able to see with it?

And also - is there anyway to use a telescope such as this one with my DSLR to take space pictures? Or is that not possible?

If the above scope isn't particularly good what would people reccomend? - Budget wise its about right!

Thanks

[Simpo Two]

Photo forum I think!

[nellyleelephant]

You're in the right forum, although there is talk of us getting a science / space forum in the new year.

For that money I would be looking at a 150mm skywatcher dobsonian. Much more aperture for your money and a more robust mount. Or, spend the money on some celestron astronomical binoculars and a decent tripod, you can then learn the sky before jumping in and getting a telescope.

The sky is big, if you don't know where you're looking you may soon lose interest, bins would be ideal to learn with.

[Dan_1981]

Is that this one?

http://discounteddigital.hostedbyamazon.co.uk/Skyw...

I saw this one in Currys today of all places.....

http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/telescopes/cele...

[nellyleelephant]

Dan_1981 said:

Is that this one?

http://discounteddigital.hostedbyamazon.co.uk/Skyw...

I saw this one in Currys today of all places.....

http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/telescopes/cele...

The first one of your links is the one I meant. The mount on the Skywatcher one is a very simple system to use, you push it around manually to find what you're looking for.

The second link is also manual in that you have to push it to where you want to look, but, once the mount is aligned it will then track what is in the eyepiece.

Personally I would go for the Skywatcher as it's about as simple as a scope can be.

[CHIEF]

I've a 5 inch refractor and it is pretty good but it's a big bd to haul about and living close to streetlights kill image quality.

Bear this in mind:

Look at what your requirements are, Aperature, portability etc.

If it can be static then get one with the widest Aperature as possible, ignore power as it's unimportant. A 250x eyepiece on something like a 60mm refractor or a 4-5 inch reflector is nigh on useless.

A refractors aperature per mm is better than a reflector I.e a 4 inch refractor is just as good as a 8 inch reflector.

If used for astronomical work make sure it has an equatorial tripod and not an azimuth mount and better still a motorised mount as when your peer through an eyepiece you are magnifying the earths rotation as well as the object you are viewing and constant manual fiddling about with an azimuth mount is annoying,

I would recommend a proper specialist and not some reseller who doesn't and won't care about what YOU want,

Speak to these people in Stockport as they are very good

http://www.telescopes-binoculars.co.uk/

[CHIEF]

Just looked at the link you posted. I'm no expert but I'm sorry I dont believe a 90mm cassegrain collects 225% more light than a decent 60mm refractor.

Here ya go fill your boots.

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

[Zad]

There is a thread here that may be of interest:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[nellyleelephant]

CHIEF said:

Just looked at the link you posted. I'm no expert but I'm sorry I dont believe a 90mm cassegrain collects 225% more light than a decent 60mm refractor.

Here ya go fill your boots.

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

The 90mm sct will collect about that compared to a 60mm refractor, either way, they're both pretty small.

It all depends what you want to look at, and to work that out it may be best to get along to a local astronomy society and have a look through what they have.

[Gokartmozart]

CHIEF said:

Just looked at the link you posted. I'm no expert but I'm sorry I dont believe a 90mm cassegrain collects 225% more light than a decent 60mm refractor.

Here ya go fill your boots.

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

Just based on the difference in area of the primary mirrors.
I would certainly think yo uwould have less contrast espically if using a star diagonal

[CHIEF]

Now I'm going back a few years here but the general consensus was a refractor had almost double the light grasp as a similar size reflector due to the quality of its optics a mirror does not have the quality of a lens or this was the case a few years ago anyway.
If you look through an astronomical refractor the light travels through the objective lens and then straight into
the eyepiece. (unless your using a Barlow lens) with a reflector and certainly a Cassegrain the more light i is reflected off mirrors which aren't as good as a similar size lens the more
it degrades. This is why Cassegrains achieve their compact size.

Light comes into the scope and
reflects off a parabolic primary mirror then back up to a hyperbolic mirror then back into the eyepiece.

Like I said technology moves on
massively and I don't know how good these latest batch of Cassegrains are nowadays.

Make plays a big part. I've no doubt the optics on a Meade 90mm refractor are vastly superior to the optics on a cheaper Starwatcher type 90mm Refractor.

[nellyleelephant]

Meade and skywatcher as far as I'm aware are made in the same factory, possibly celestron too.

A refractor has more than just the front lens, pretty sure its a lens cell. I think the pricier ones may have more to cancel chromatic aboration. (may be making that up as I'm a reflector man)

[jmorgan]

I would recommend visiting a club first and see what is what before any money is spent.

[Dan_1981]

Hmmmm I have definitly underestimated this malarky!

Does anyone have a beginners website or similar - something to walk me through the different type of scopes, what I can expect to see at different price leves etc.

Also found out that these guys are located just round the corner from where I work - does anyone have any experience of using them?

www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk

[CHIEF]

Dan_1981 said:

Hmmmm I have definitly underestimated this malarky!

Does anyone have a beginners website or similar - something to walk me through the different type of scopes, what I can expect to see at different price leves etc.

Also found out that these guys are located just round the corner from where I work - does anyone have any experience of using them?

www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk

Mate your not that far from Stockport. Give the binocular and telescope centre a call. They're dead friendly and won't sell you something you don't and won't need. Maybe pop over and have a butchers.

The biggest mistake I made is buying a Telescope that was too big to be portable and because it's a pain to take it anywhere that is away from light pollution means that it can spoil my viewing. Get a 90mm refractor (yes I'm biased) or 6 inch Cassegrain so you can pop it in the back of a car (if big enough) and get out into the country. Honestly being away from light pollution makes all the difference.

[jmorgan]

I took a year before I shelled out but that was down to work getting in the way and trying to get to a club and so on. Latter never worked.

For me I kept it simple on the scope. That is I could attach a camera as I already had one that could be but the adapter purchased separately. Same for any goto stuff. The points are there but it is still manual, it kept the cost down and I could put more initial money into getting a bigger light bucket. The legs are very important as a stable base for me nearly beats all comers in the overall assembly. We also made sure it would fit in the boot of the car to get to dark sites. We also decided on what we were going to do and that dictated the end result really, and it was a newtonian, that seemed to suit us better for planets and the moon etc as the light pollution is a mare around here.

The biggest issue I can see is running out with the telescope goggles on and buying the one that will not suit you or is not quite right. This will make it awkward and get less use. We bought the one that we could expand at leisure. So if I want to add the goto then it is doable but it kept the initial cost down and we have not lost any functionality. It means we learn the sky to point rather than let the scope do it and that adds to the enjoyment.

Good luck.

PS Skywatcher 200 here with an EQ5 mount.

[nellyleelephant]

Is there any chance you can get to http://www.sheffieldastro.org.uk/ one evening?

You'll work out much quicker which direction you want to go by using some gear.

[dr_gn]

Dan_1981 said:

Hmmmm I have definitly underestimated this malarky!

Does anyone have a beginners website or similar - something to walk me through the different type of scopes, what I can expect to see at different price leves etc.

Also found out that these guys are located just round the corner from where I work - does anyone have any experience of using them?

www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk

I'm in Sheffield too. Yes, they are very good, they are specialists. - I was in there last week looking for a new pair of binoculars. They have loads of telescopes on display, and they know what they're talking about. Ask for Ian.

I've got an old Meade 10" Newtonian - very good optics, but very bulky and not a very good mount. These are the reasons it hardly ever gets used. Whatever you get, don't be dazzled by 'bigger is better' - it's not necessarily so if the thing is so cumbersome to use that it stays in a box. If I could be bothered I'd sell mine and get something more user friendly TBH.

[nellyleelephant]

That's more like it!

Makes my 12" look, er....tiny.....

[Dan_1981]

Well i've spoken to both of the companies mentioned above - and predictably they came back with similar but slightly differing suggestions....

Once I mentioned i'd like to take photos they both said i'd need a motorised mount.

So these were the suggestions....

I know these guys are the experts but does anyone have any comments on either of the two suggestions?

http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/celestron-astr...

or

EXPLORER-130M 130mm (5.1") f/900 MOTORISED Newtonian Reflector Telescope

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/...

The Sheffield Astro club is also pretty close to me - they have a sky at night viewing night on the 19th of Jan so i'm going to try and get along to that before I spend my hard earned.