Anyone own a telescope?

[moggy]

If you're going to go that route, could I suggest that you ensure that you also get one with a GPS too. There are two things that a scope has to "know" if it is going to find a particular object in the sky: where in the sky the object is, relative to other objects, and from where on Earth you are observing. Some cheaper auto-search systems only give you the former; for the latter input to be automated, it needs a GPS.

Enjoy, and good luck!

Thanks for that, will probably up the price of the scope a lot if it has GPS I'd imagine?

 

[Goldstone1976]

Thanks for that, will probably up the price of the scope a lot if it has GPS I'd imagine?

It's been a while since I bought my kit, but somewhere around £100 I'd have thought. I find a "goto" system (which combines the two things I mentioned) invaluable. Setting up a scope without one is a real pita, easily taking at least half an hour (in the cold and dark, remember). Such a system is unnecessary if all you want to do to start with is point the scope up and see what you can see. It comes into its own when you want to see a specific object; the more so if said object is small and faint.

Talking of faint - the single most important thing to take into account when buying a scope is aperture - or size (typically diameter). Many very interesting objects are very faint. The bigger the aperture, the more light your scope captures = the more likely you are to see the object you're targetting.

The second most important thing is a stable mount. An unstable mount = an image bouncing all over the place.

Remember that if you do get a "goto" system, you'll also probably want a motor drive to move the scope. The night sky moves constantly. A centred image will move out of your eyepiece in low single digit minutes if you keep the scope fixed. It's perfectly possible to manually move the scope, but for this you need a fine tune manual cog system, which also costs money.

I'd have two pieces of advice for you. With a relatively low budget, I'd get a scope and decent mount and forget the techy stuff to start with, but buy a scope which can be retrofitted. That way you can start by having a manual look around. If you like it, and you have the budget, you can get the techy stuff later. Secondly, get yourself along to the local amateur astronomers club and go out with them. You'll find them helpful and enthusiastic, and most will let you look through their eyepieces, so you can see what different scopes (and budgets) can do. In fact, you might want to do this before buying anything - it might inform your purchasing decisions. Be aware that amateur astronomers are typically opiniated (their kit is obviously the best) and can be a little geeky - don't be intimidated by the language. Purists will a abhor "goto" systems, saying that it's cheating; instead you should learn by heart where 50,000 objects are and learn how to manually find them. Personally, I think life's too short.

Finally, remember that in order to observe successfully, you need dark skies (so winter is better unless you're happy to be up at 2am), you also want as little light pollution as possible, as little wind as possible and as little cloud cover as possible. Oh, and if you're after a faint object, not when it's a full moon. See what I mean?!

Seriously, get along to a club, have a look through a few scopes, buy something that you liked, and point it upwards at night. Everything else can wait until you decide whether you like it.

 

[moggy]

It's been a while since I bought my kit, but somewhere around £100 I'd have thought. I find a "goto" system (which combines the two things I mentioned) invaluable. Setting up a scope without one is a real pita, easily taking at least half an hour (in the cold and dark, remember). Such a system is unnecessary if all you want to do to start with is point the scope up and see what you can see. It comes into its own when you want to see a specific object; the more so if said object is small and faint.

Talking of faint - the single most important thing to take into account when buying a scope is aperture - or size (typically diameter). Many very interesting objects are very faint. The bigger the aperture, the more light your scope captures = the more likely you are to see the object you're targetting.

The second most important thing is a stable mount. An unstable mount = an image bouncing all over the place.

Remember that if you do get a "goto" system, you'll also probably want a motor drive to move the scope. The night sky moves constantly. A centred image will move out of your eyepiece in low single digit minutes if you keep the scope fixed. It's perfectly possible to manually move the scope, but for this you need a fine tune manual cog system, which also costs money.

I'd have two pieces of advice for you. With a relatively low budget, I'd get a scope and decent mount and forget the techy stuff to start with, but buy a scope which can be retrofitted. That way you can start by having a manual look around. If you like it, and you have the budget, you can get the techy stuff later. Secondly, get yourself along to the local amateur astronomers club and go out with them. You'll find them helpful and enthusiastic, and most will let you look through their eyepieces, so you can see what different scopes (and budgets) can do. In fact, you might want to do this before buying anything - it might inform your purchasing decisions. Be aware that amateur astronomers are typically opiniated (their kit is obviously the best) and can be a little geeky - don't be intimidated by the language. Purists will a abhor "goto" systems, saying that it's cheating; instead you should learn by heart where 50,000 objects are and learn how to manually find them. Personally, I think life's too short.

Finally, remember that in order to observe successfully, you need dark skies (so winter is better unless you're happy to be up at 2am), you also want as little light pollution as possible, as little wind as possible and as little cloud cover as possible. Oh, and if you're after a faint object, not when it's a full moon. See what I mean?!

Seriously, get along to a club, have a look through a few scopes, buy something that you liked, and point it upwards at night. Everything else can wait until you decide whether you like it.

thanks for that summary goldstone, valuable info there

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Ignore all the above - you really want one these

 

[Camicus]

Excellent advice there from Goldstone get along to a club. See what suits you best. I like manual scopes over goto systems because I like looking at the night sky in a random fashion but I also believe that you become a better astronomer by finding and tracking manually. But as I say it's horses for courses

 

[Papa Lazarou]

[MENTION=236]Papa Lazarou[/MENTION] has a bit of a beast.

I own one of these.

http://www.meade.com/products/telescopes/lx90/lx90-acf-8-f-10-with-standard-field-tripod.html

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Whichever make of telescope you decide on, it pays not to skimp on accessories. Use only the finest Kiwi Shoe Polish for the telescope prank.