Telescopes

TriedandTested · 9 Apr 2009 at 02:20

Does anyone here have any experiences with, or own, a telescope? I'm considering getting one but don't know much about them. I saw this website: http://www.deepastronomy.com/your-first-telescope.html

Is that good advice? It's the sort of money I'd want to spend (up to £500 or so).

Thanks.

Pinter75 · 9 Apr 2009 at 02:47

Yup, I have a Meade LX200R 10" I bought this after going through nearly the entire budget range of scope on the market!

It is a beast and was about £3.5k Factor in the other stuff like eyepieces and cameras bla bla bla and you are into new car money!

All depends what you want to look at. £500 will get you a good look at the local solar system, and some faint fuzzies. With scope the more you spend, the more you can see. At the end of the day the biggest primary lens you can afford is the one to go for.

I would put my money on a Celestron http://www.telescopeplanet.co.uk/ViewProdDetails.asp?prod_code=PON07A000004

I have one as a grab and go scope, and it is great. I also had a 102 SLT and that was great for the price.

Some may say don't bother with the computerised GoTo technology, but I find it very good. If you want to do long exposure photography, the nearby stuff is doable for £500. For the faint deepspace £500 ain't going to cut the mustard. You can do it, but is is very hard due to the poor tracking of the cheaper scopes.

Have a look at my website to get a bit of info on gear http://www.astroshots.co.uk/

Azagoth · 9 Apr 2009 at 02:54

At the moment, all I have left after the thieving ****s had finished is my 5" Refracter. The ****s took my 12" reflector, which my Granddad had hand built, and smashed it up on the spare ground opposite because I'm guessing it was too heavy to carry off.

PhillyDee · 9 Apr 2009 at 08:22

Christ Azagoth. Shocking, no hope at all for a rescue? I can only imagine how *cough* annoyed/angry you must be.

I personally have a Skywatcher 200P.
I recommend going to www.stargazerslounge.com loads of people in there with fantastic advise. How much in to astronomy do you want to go?

This is a nice scope, has GOTO on it, so you dont need knowledge of the sky (But as always, it WILL help).
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=skywatcher_explorer_130p_AZ_goto&cat=133
£259.

You can run these from any 12v supply, of some AA batteries (Though they only last a couple of hours)

A '12v power tank' is available from anywhere as a portable jump starter. I got mine from <A competitor!> for £20. These give more time than AA batteries.

But anyway, go to the stargazers lounge forums and ask them to spec you . . . .

Steve and James from First Light Optics (The sponsors of the forum) are both very helpful and are also good with advise. You can give them a ring and see what they recommend! They arent just out to make money, they are also budding astronomers too!