half decent telescope

Have you collimated it yet? A laser collimater makes this very easy. They range from 6 quid to 50 odd quid. I picked up a cheap one as a trial and didn't feel the need to spend more once it arrived.
 
FurryLemon said:
Looks fine.

Always keep your scope pointing down that way nothing can be dropped down the OTA. Always keep the dust cap on when not in use too. If it didn't come with one, buy one. Only a tenner or so I think.

You don't need the goto. It does make life easier though. Just enter a planet/star in the hand controller and it will find it for you. There is a nifty little program called Stellerium which is worth a look. See here - http://www.stellarium.org/
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He said he has a motor, not a goto. I don't think those scopes generally come with a goto (unless it's one of the bigger varieties). The motor just saves you having to turn the equatorial axis by hand. Personally, I don't bother since it's easy enough to turn it by hand and keep the thing you're looking at in view. The motor is just a faff to set up at the exact speed it needs to be.
 
Noob question - can you actually see much detail in the night sky with these types of telescopes or do the stars just look like slightly bigger white dots?
 
MoRT489 said:
Noob question - can you actually see much detail in the night sky with these types of telescopes or do the stars just look like slightly bigger white dots?
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Mostly different coloured blobs tbh. :D

Some people go in expecting hubble like views and come out really disappointed....

For detail, the planets/moon are the best. I can see the great red spot of jupiter, individual rings of saturn, various moons etc

EP's - much like camera lenses, some of these can get quite pricey. Higher end EP's go for thousands. Best to create yourself an account here - https://stargazerslounge.com/. One of the only forums where I've not seen any trolls. Everyone is generally very helpful. Some are a little up their own ass, but that's life.
 
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Not set mine up yet. Moving house to the sticks on Friday so will hopefully will soon.

Got a couple of quick questions. From what I have I gather I need -

1. Moon filter.
2. Collimator.
3. Red light head torch.

Where does one shop for these things and get a good price?

Cheers!
 
FurryLemon said:
Have you collimated it yet? A laser collimater makes this very easy. They range from 6 quid to 50 odd quid. I picked up a cheap one as a trial and didn't feel the need to spend more once it arrived.
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My cheapo laser collimator wasn't collimated itself, and the adjustment screws were covered with a black glue to stop tampering. I had to pick out the glue and collimate the collimator before I could collimate my scope.

It seems to have done a decent job though in the end!
 
PapaLazaru said:
Not set mine up yet. Moving house to the sticks on Friday so will hopefully will soon.

Got a couple of quick questions. From what I have I gather I need -

1. Moon filter.
2. Collimator.
3. Red light head torch.

Where does one shop for these things and get a good price?

Cheers!
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Amazon
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/

FLO pretty much stock everything telescope related. All the staff are in the hobby too, which helps when you have questions. Amazon is probably cheaper (as always).

topgun06 said:
My cheapo laser collimator wasn't collimated itself, and the adjustment screws were covered with a black glue to stop tampering. I had to pick out the glue and collimate the collimator before I could collimate my scope.

It seems to have done a decent job though in the end!
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Yeah I've heard about this. Mine was spot on when it arrived though. Guess it's just a lottery. Very well made for 6 quid +pp.
 
tried looking at the moon last night, could only see a bit of light in the corner.
i take it the telescope needs to be on a certain angle to emit the light properly ?
 
wedrum said:
tried looking at the moon last night, could only see a bit of light in the corner.
i take it the telescope needs to be on a certain angle to emit the light properly ?
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It works just like binoculars - what ever you are pointing the scope at produces the image you see. Did you try moving the scope as you'll find pointing at the moon without a moon filter can be really bright certainly towards a full moon.
 
managed to get the moon using the 25mm, then tried the barlow x2.
how do you take good pictures ?
looking through the lens was so clear but picture is crap ?

15909980_10211196110478264_687238989_n.jpg
 
Taking good quality pictures requires you to remove your lens and mount the camera in its place. For taking pictures of the moon, you need to lower your exposure time. The reason it looks like a white blob is because too much light was let in. If you lower your exposure time, you'll not only have less blurring but also more detail. For taking quality pictures of subjects other than the moon, it requires some pretty expensive equipment to get any good detail. As detail requires a long exposure time, sometimes hours. The only way to do that is with a good quality, motorised EQ mount that tracks your subject, ensuring the subject stays within your view finder.

If you just want to snap some high quality moon pictures though, you can do that by mounting your bog standard DSLR camera to your telescope with a T-ring (they're cheap). Here's an example of a quick snap I took with a cheap DSLR and a T-ring a few years back. It's not a very well composed image, but you get the idea of what's possible.

TfIvgAi.jpg
 
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If you dont have a dslr and want to get into astrophotography grab a canon 1200d or similar. You dont need expensive gear to take good pictures. Most of astro is based on patience.
 
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