Greetings!

[Guest Crifter]

Greeting peeps, I'm another newbie into the fold!
Iv had an interest in space and the objects that surround us for quite some time however iv always contented myself to watch TV docu's or read and view on the internet. Well no more! I have finally decided its time to take the plunge and get my first telescope.
So here is my hello!
Iv got some reading to do to try and figure out what would be a good starting point for my first telescope purchase. Please bear with me if i throw some newbie questions about, il figure it out eventually...

Iv just registered on Astronomy Shed as well and I was put onto you guys so fingers crossed I can get to grips with it all fairly quickly

[Guest Crifter]

OK well after a few hours of reading ect im begining to build a picture of what sort of service I want from a scope.... 

I think...

I want to be able to veiw the likes of a few planets (Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn as the daughter is starting to show an interest) as well as the comets that should be passing us this year.

As for my own interests I want to be able to look a bit deeper at some DSO's (check me out with the abrv lingo, lol) And possibly even take photo's eventually.

Im guessing really im after some sort of all rounder scope???

[Sheila]

Hi and welcome to EMS.

 

You have asked for the holy grail of telescopes.  But sorry there is not one.  Visual initially can be achieved at a

reasonalbe price for your pocket.  if you want to go DSO photography it is a whole new ball game and will set

you back a lot more money at first.  have a real think on what you want to do as its best to try and get the

right kit in the first place as it will save you money in the end.

 

Your budget initially will determine what you can achieve.

 

Regards

 

Sheila

[Daz Type-R]

Hi and welcome to EMS.

 

As Sheila has said above, for us to give you any advice as to what scope to get, it would help if we had the following info...

 

1.  How much have you got to spend.

2.  Do you want it to be portable.

3.  Is it just planets or DSO's you want to observe - answered above, both.

4.  Do you want to do astrophotography or are you happy with just visual.

5.. Do you want a GOTO/Tracking system or are you happy to do it by hand. (by GOTO, that is a function where you tell your scope what you want to look at and it will point to it, after of course some inital set-up)

 

By knowing the above we can help to guide you to getting your first scope and not letting you get a dud that you will not use and waste your hard earned cash on.

 

Also, DO NOT get a scope off EBAY/Amazon/high street shops until you know what you are looking for.

 

Anyways, welcome to this wonderfull hobby, we are a friendly bunch with some really good knowledge, so you are in good hands.

 

Enjoy the forum.

[Guest Tweedledum]

Hi Chris,

 

Warm welcome to EMS. Echo comments above, but also allow some budget for a couple of ep's.

 

If you are new to stargazing it is worth considering getting a pair of binos, a copy of Sky & Telescope Pocket Star Atlas and a copy of Turn Left At Orion !!.  These will guide you round the sky and let you get familiar with how to find those faint DSO fuzzies.

 

Also worth downloading a planetarium program. One of the best is Stellarium, best of all its free and can be found here :-

 

http://www.stellarium.org/

 

Good luck with the scope choice!

[philjay]

Hi and welcome to the EMS

[Guest Turtleboy]

Hi Chris from a fellow newb.

 

Some great advice on here. I've just ordered my first scope and have just started reading "Turn Left at Orion". Some very helpful stuff in there.

 

Also the Stellarium programme as recommended by Damien above is a fantastic resource. I would also recommend Google Skymaps if you have a smartphone. Great for helping you figure out what and where everything is.

 

Martin

[Doc]

Welcome to EMS Chris.

[catman161]

.....Iv just registered on Astronomy Shed as well and I was put onto you guys so fingers crossed I can get to grips with it all fairly quickly

Hi Chris, glad you made it over here ok

[Craig]

Hello and welcome to EMS!

 

There's no such thing as a silly question, so ask us anything you like. Buying a scope is a big deal as you want to get the right scope for your and your budget. The folks on here have loads of advice and experience to offer.

[Stephen]

 Hi Chris welcome to the EMS

 

 

   Stephen

[Brantuk]

Hi Chris and welcome to EMS.

[Guest Crifter]

Many thanks for the comments peeps and the plain speaking.

Ok, this how i see things...

1. How much have you got to spend.

My max on this is probably 40

2. Do you want it to be portable.

It would be nice

3. Is it just planets or DSO's you want to observe - answered above, both.

Yeah pretty much, however my thoughts are that there is more dso's to look at then planets, so more useability

4. Do you want to do astrophotography or are you happy with just visual.

Visual for a start, maybe photography later on

5.. Do you want a GOTO/Tracking system or are you happy to do it by hand. (by GOTO, that is a function where you tell your scope what you want to look at and it will point to it, after of course some inital set-up)

Think a GOTO scope would be preferable...

Thoughts?

[catman161]

£40 is probably best to look at binoculars first chris

[Guest Crifter]

Lolz ment to be 400!!!

[Guest Crifter]

Really should proofread my posts

[catman161]

Ahhhh thts a bit better then

[Guest Crifter]

Just a tad ;-)

[catman161]

You can do a lot worse than one of these. Great little scope, easily portable, great views and goto Alt/Az mount, so easy to setup too.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-skymax-127-synscan-az-goto.html

[+DaveJW]

Hi & welcome Chris.

[BAZ]

Hi Chris, a warm welcome to EMS.

 

I can only echo the advice already given. I would suggest you come over to one of our dark sites next time we have a get together and have a look through some scopes and see what suits you.

If you want a goto, the the scope Felix suggested would do lovely for planets and the moon, it would show you a good deal of the brighter DSO's as well. It would struggle a bit with the fainter stuff as you need some thing with a bigger light grasp for them.

I would steer away from the Meade goto's, as although the optics are good, but the goto isn't the best. Mine broke, poor build quality.

 

Look forward to bumping into you soon.

 

Enjoy the forum.

[Tweedledee]

Welcome to EMS Chris.

[Guest Fluke]

You can do a lot worse than one of these. Great little scope, easily portable, great views and goto Alt/Az mount, so easy to setup too. http://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-skymax-127-synscan-az-goto.html

Welcome to the forum Chris - I'll second Felix's view that the 127mak goto would be a superb first scope

[Guest Crifter]

£40 is probably best to look at binoculars first chris

Evening!

First and formost, thanks for being so polite when you thought I was on a £40 budget. Most forums iv been on would of had a stream of piss taking ect flying my way, lol.

Secondly, iv had a look at that scope and tbh im quite taken by it. Seems like a fairly reasonable starting point as well! So how many of you out there are using the 127? Any other kit I should be looking at to accompany the scope?

[catman161]

My dad uses one and I have used it too

He got a Right Angled Correct Image (RACI) Finder Scope to replace the "straight through" finder scope that comes with it as he said it was breaking his neck using the straight through finder. Then of course there's upgraded eyepieces. I highly recommend the baader Hyperion zoom eyepiece. Is awesome and versatile. Clicks through a range of 8-24mm. I have one and its the only eyepiece I use. Mainly cos I haven't felt the need to buy any others at the present time. I do have some others but they came with the scope and aren't great. I would also recommend a field power source of some kind as the supplied battery pack runs out in less than 10 minutes.