Discussion
As I've moved out to the country now and there is very little light pollution I'm considering buying a telescope to look for little green men in the sky.
Has anyone got any suggestions? I've been looking at what Warehouse Direct has to offer and they have a few on offer at the moment. I've a £2-300 buget
Ta
K
Has anyone got any suggestions? I've been looking at what Warehouse Direct has to offer and they have a few on offer at the moment. I've a £2-300 buget
Ta
K
A friend bought one of these off eBay/Hong Kong for 11p + £30 delivery and at the same time (he's a bit de-ranged) bought a £300 fully computerised jobby.
They both happened to arrive the same day. The computerised one has hardly been used, such is the quality of the £30 cheap one from HK - mostly metal construction. It's also so easy to use rather than complicated to setup.
If you're not sure what to get, you could do a lot worse than a cheap one off eBay and see how you get on and if you like it, then invest in a much better quality one later on.
They both happened to arrive the same day. The computerised one has hardly been used, such is the quality of the £30 cheap one from HK - mostly metal construction. It's also so easy to use rather than complicated to setup.
If you're not sure what to get, you could do a lot worse than a cheap one off eBay and see how you get on and if you like it, then invest in a much better quality one later on.
I have one of these. http://www.bintel.com.au/Oriontel.html
It tripples up... astronomy, wildlife and with the right T ring you can fix your DSLR to it (not that brilliant, but fun). I think it was about £200. It's got a really clear bright image, and it's small enough to cart about for wildlife.
Steve
It tripples up... astronomy, wildlife and with the right T ring you can fix your DSLR to it (not that brilliant, but fun). I think it was about £200. It's got a really clear bright image, and it's small enough to cart about for wildlife.
Steve
Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 20th June 09:47
First off, join ukastroimaging.co.uk but bare in mind this is a VERY expensive hobby. Most people have scopes costing far more than a semi-pro photographers lens collection. Go to a cheap bookshop like "the works" and spend a few quid on an astronomy book - that'll tell you the different types. Then buy an astronomy magazine and have a look in there.
Stop and think about what you will be using it for before buying - planets / deep field etc. It's a bit like buying a lens - you need a long one for planets - short wide one for deep field (galaxies, nebulas etc). Like a lens, the longer the scope, the more magnification AND the more accurate your tracking has to be. Therefore something sort would be good to start. Avoid most of the stuff off ebay - there's some nasty cheap chinese junk on there, but some cheap good stuff as well. About 95% of the ebay scopes are junk though. Dont buy anything off ebay that you dont see sold in the astronomy press basically... That said I have an ebay scope, but it's a good un!
First scope you want something fairly short (600-1000mm fl), and as wide as you can afford. In astronomy the most important thing about a telescope is its diameter - this determines its light gathering( ability to pick up faint objects) and resolution (to a lesser extent). You want a decent mount, something like a motorised EQ5 or above. Getting decent astro images is impossible without a decent mount. I'd advise something like a skywatcher 6" reflector (Explorer 150 or 200)on a motorised EQ5 / HEQ5. Get a goto mount if you don't know your way around.
Be aware that astrophotography is IMO THE hardest form of photography. You're looking at 1hr+ set up time, 20mins to find a deepsky object, 2 hours to take an image. Everything has to be perfect and you may only get 2 or 3 sessions a month during the winter, during which it will be sub zero.
Just warning you...
but if you are still keen and up for a challenge take a look at some of my (very amateur) images here:
http://www.pbase.com/duncan_c/astro
Stop and think about what you will be using it for before buying - planets / deep field etc. It's a bit like buying a lens - you need a long one for planets - short wide one for deep field (galaxies, nebulas etc). Like a lens, the longer the scope, the more magnification AND the more accurate your tracking has to be. Therefore something sort would be good to start. Avoid most of the stuff off ebay - there's some nasty cheap chinese junk on there, but some cheap good stuff as well. About 95% of the ebay scopes are junk though. Dont buy anything off ebay that you dont see sold in the astronomy press basically... That said I have an ebay scope, but it's a good un!
First scope you want something fairly short (600-1000mm fl), and as wide as you can afford. In astronomy the most important thing about a telescope is its diameter - this determines its light gathering( ability to pick up faint objects) and resolution (to a lesser extent). You want a decent mount, something like a motorised EQ5 or above. Getting decent astro images is impossible without a decent mount. I'd advise something like a skywatcher 6" reflector (Explorer 150 or 200)on a motorised EQ5 / HEQ5. Get a goto mount if you don't know your way around.
Be aware that astrophotography is IMO THE hardest form of photography. You're looking at 1hr+ set up time, 20mins to find a deepsky object, 2 hours to take an image. Everything has to be perfect and you may only get 2 or 3 sessions a month during the winter, during which it will be sub zero.
Just warning you...
but if you are still keen and up for a challenge take a look at some of my (very amateur) images here:
http://www.pbase.com/duncan_c/astro
Actually - scrap all that! just realised you basically want something for visual astronomy, not astrophotography. Doh! In which case the requirements are a bit different! The scope you bought should be okay as a first scope as it's quick and easy to set up and use. Buy the cheap book though. And bare the above in mind if you decided to try astrophotography!
GetCarter said:
you can fix your DSLR to it
I bought all the fittings to enable me to attach my camera. Quite look forward to having a play with it all.Will probably need to buy a new tripod head now though that has a fine adjusment...... You were right Duncan, I can see this getting expensive... nice pic of the moon by the way
Krusty,
Have you got any big camera lenses? SOmething like an 80-200 F2.8 or 300mm f4?
If you do get a fancy equatorial mount you can use the camera lens as a telescope for wide field shots. M31, the Great Andromeda galaxy for example is so massive a 300mm lens (as long as it's fast, ie big apperture) is perfect for capturing all of it. I had a telescope like yours that I used as a "guide scope" - basically you take the photo though one telescope (or lens) and use the guide scope to follow one of the stars in the image, making corrections to ensure the mount tracks correctly (and eliminate star trails). Something like a 400mm short field refractor is perfect.
Have you got any big camera lenses? SOmething like an 80-200 F2.8 or 300mm f4?
If you do get a fancy equatorial mount you can use the camera lens as a telescope for wide field shots. M31, the Great Andromeda galaxy for example is so massive a 300mm lens (as long as it's fast, ie big apperture) is perfect for capturing all of it. I had a telescope like yours that I used as a "guide scope" - basically you take the photo though one telescope (or lens) and use the guide scope to follow one of the stars in the image, making corrections to ensure the mount tracks correctly (and eliminate star trails). Something like a 400mm short field refractor is perfect.
I bought a Skywatcher 200 with no motorisation on an EQ5 mount as a first scope. Kept the cost down on the initial purchase. I can add motors later. More than happy with it for a starter although the rings took a bit of getting used to and still a bit puzzled at times.Photography through it is coming along but work and weather means it isn't a quick process.
imperialism2024 said:
I've an idea for you:
Nikon 1200-1700mm f/5.6~8.0s P ED IF
Minimum Focal Distance: 10m
Weight: 16kg
Cost: If you have to ask, you can't afford it
So, on a digital body, that turns into 1800-2550mm, eh?
Which would shake like anything and still wouldn't track stars! Nikon 1200-1700mm f/5.6~8.0s P ED IF
Minimum Focal Distance: 10m
Weight: 16kg
Cost: If you have to ask, you can't afford it
So, on a digital body, that turns into 1800-2550mm, eh?
If you don't need a motorised mount, you can get a decent 12" F5 (so I suppose that's 1500mm as standard) Dobsonian reflector for £500 and a very nice one indeed for £950. Add various eyepieces to wind up the magnification.
http://www.celestron.uk.com/catalogues/view_item.a...
Unbelievable!about 2 years ago i bought a skywatcher 200mm (8 inch) reflecting telescope with a HEQ5 goto mount i.e. it's computerised and slews the telescope round to what ever you want to look at and tracks it too all for £900.
then bought a canon 300D to go on it to take pics, heres some of the results
http://paulj1969.fotopic.net/c1257965.html
then bought a canon 300D to go on it to take pics, heres some of the results
http://paulj1969.fotopic.net/c1257965.html
Thems nice shots. My moon shots were all blurred and took a while to sus the problem, with the help of the web. Waiting for the weather and moon to try again now I know what the problem is, hopefully some nice ones in the offing. No motors yet but in the grand plan, along with a filter for the light pollution.
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