Guest The_Bagel_Guy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hello everyone, I'm Chris, a second year mechanical engineering student from the university of Nottingham. Me and my girlfriend have recently decided to find ourselves a hobby, her being a physicist the first choice was to buy ourselves a telescope. What should we buy? We don't have a huge budget at the moment, perhaps £100-£150 at a push, so we're aiming for a s/h scope. Saving up isn't the issue, we just don't want to commit £300 having never looked through a telescope! Is there any advice you can give? I've been trawling through reviews etc and have got my eye on some potential victims on ebay. namely a sky-watcher Explorer-130P. I know that ebay isn't the best place to buy but to me it looks like our best bet with what we're willing to spend for now. Unless anyone has anything they want to sell within our budget! Thanks for any help you can give me! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glider Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi, welcome to EMS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi Chris, Welcome to EMS! Why not come to one of our observing sessions? Everybody will be more than happy for you to look through their scopes. Failing that, there's plenty of advice here on the forums from our more experienced members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BAZ Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi Chris and girlfriend, A warm welcome to EMS. Personally I would advise not buying a scope until you have had a look through one or two, and decided which would suit both the objects you want to observe and fit in with your budget. As Craig mentioned, come and have a look next time we have a meet and have a look through some scopes. Keep an eye on the threads, as it gets posted when the weather looks like we may get a good night, mostly Friday and Saturdays due to peoples work commitments. If you see a scope you really fancy, just ask if it's any good, we wouldn't want you to be disappointed. Stay well clear of Seben, or anything that makes reference to hundreds of times magnification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi and welcome to EMS. Don't buy from supermarkets, Argos, Jessops etc. E-Bay can be a mine field unless you know what you are looking at. I think take the advice above but if you insist on buying something like this from a reputable dealer will be OK. />http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130m.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tweedledum Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi Chris, Welcome to EMS, ditto above, welcome to look through kit before parting with beer vouchers!!. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi Chris and welcome to EMS to both of you For your budget the 130P is an ideal little starter scope that will show all the brighter dso's - or if you can push the budget to £180'ish a 150P will show you a fair bit more. Second hand is a good idea once you know what you're after. And it's is a great idea to come have a look through a few different scopes first to make an informed choice. It's too easy to make a "beginner mistake" in this lark so take your time choosing - meanwhile a pair of binocs on the sky to find a few things is a great way to get going. Get a copy of Sky at Night from a newsagent (due out tomorrow) and see if you can spot some of the suggestions in the center page night sky guide. Hope we see you both soon at a meeting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman161 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Welcome to EMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Strings Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi and welcome from me too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The_Bagel_Guy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I will try to make my way to the next meeting! I need some help choosing, they're both the same price at £135. Both get good reviews for the most part. I was originally aiming for the 130p (not the flextube) but I found these two... I don't have huge expectations for now, but I do expect to buy a bigger scope this year if we really get into it! That'd save fighting over it First Light Optics - Skywatcher Explorer 130 First Light Optics - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube Which would you guys recommend? Is the flex tube any good? I like the idea that it takes seconds to set-up and is easy to move around etc. Also... Does the parabolic mirror make a huge deal of difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Parabolic mirrors focus the light better than conical mirrors so that's a good choice. The EQ mount has to be polar aligned but that's no biggie once you know what you're doing with it - then you can track in a single plane just by turning the RA slo mo knob. The tripod put's the scope at a useable height for observing standing up. The dob flex tube based model folds down nicely for storage and sets up extremely quick and easy. It's floor standing however and may need a levelled table to stand it on or you could be stooping all night (not a good idea in the cold). It can be used seated but you need to track by nudging it frequently cos of the small aperture. My preference would be for the EQ model which is more in tune with the natural movement of the Earth and skies and lends itself nicely to a little photography by adding an RA tracking motor. Either way - one scope between two is very easy to manage - me and my missus never have to fight over it cos you need as much time away from the eyepiece as you do on it lol. At observing sessions you'll often find half a dozen folks gathered round one scope taking turns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The_Bagel_Guy Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thankyou for the help! Just bought the Skywatch 130, no parabolic mirror but an extra £40 to spend on any accesories! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brantuk Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Good luck with it Chris - still a nice entry level scope - let us know if you need any more help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Congrats on the purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Fluke Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Hi Chris Welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy your new scope! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Thankyou for the help! Just bought the Skywatch 130, no parabolic mirror but an extra £40 to spend on any accesories! Hi Chris, welcome to EMS. £40 won't get you too much these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The_Bagel_Guy Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) Hi Chris, welcome to EMS. £40 won't get you too much these days. Packet of peanuts and a pack of beer should do. No? I have more than that left to buy everything else, but every little counts. Just need to invest in some nibbles now. Am I right in thinking that lenses and barlows etc are pretty much universal? So everything I buy for the skywatcher will be easily usable on the next scope? Edited February 20, 2012 by The_Bagel_Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daz Type-R Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) Yes that is correct but don't jump in too quick. Ep's are a very personal choice, what I like somebody else will hate but a very general rule of thumb is, the more you pay the better you get. If you really want to upgrade your ep's (and I suggest you do) perhaps start with the BST EXPLORERS from skies the limit. About £40 an ep, loads better than the stock ep's, but also not into the £400 Televue market. I was going to get 4-5 BST but decided on a Baader Hyperion Zoom instead. Your best bet would be to keep the stock ep's, then try ours out at s meet then decide for yourself! Edited February 20, 2012 by Daz type-r Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest black eyed hexy Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Hi chris & partner, and warm welcome , this hobby Is like a super massive black hole,==suck,s you in nice and sweet lol , sounds like your both keen though , in which case your heading for one hell of a ride ! hope you enjoy. regards dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cazz Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 Hi Chris, congrats on your purchase and welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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