Telescope Recommendations

[GAS747]

Hi Guys,

Im very new into the whole astronomy side of things and wanted to get a decent telescope to start exploring etc.

Currently Im looking at a "Celestron NexStar 4 SE Computerized Telescope"

Can anyone vouch for these or possibly recommend something better? Im a bit unsure when it comes to hardware and dont have anyone I know to ask that actually knows a lot about them.

Thanks...

[erick]

Dear Paul

4" is not a lot of aperture. You are mostly paying for mount, motors, electronics, computer with this scope - around $1,100? You can get four times the light collecting ability for much less $s in a different type of scope - and I expect that is your main aim- to see things, including faint and distant objects?

I suggest that you search out other threads on this forum about buying a first scope. Then read these articles:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-260-0-0-1-0.html
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=63,261,0,0,1,0

Then walk into these shops and ask/answer a lot of questions and play with the floor models.

Bintel
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm
519 Burke Road (cnr Clifton Road)

York Optical
http://www.yorkoptical.com.au/
114 Flinders Street Melbourne

and compare prices on this online supplier in Sydney:-

Andrews Communications
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

But be patient and sit on your wallet. Then come back here and ask more questions. :)

[GAS747]

Hi Eric,

Thanks a lot for the info.

Yep thats the main aim, but I want something electrionic also. I dont mind spending the money just want something good and now too sure how far those 4 SE's go really. But the better the distance etc the better for me :)

I'll check out those shops and see, i found some specials on ozscopes.com.au but the specials have finished now

[erick]

Then try to get to 8" aperture at least.

[GAS747]

Will do thanks very much for the info!

How far do you think I could see with something like that? On a clear night of course.

Also how much should I look on spending on one?

[mithrandir]

It's not how far, it's how bright. Larger diameter means more light collected, which means you can see fainter objects. An 8" collects about 4 times as much light as a 4". A 10" about 50% more than an 8".

When you say you want something electronic, do you mean you want a motor driven mount?

An 8" dob with Argo Navis might count as electronic, but wouldn't have motor drive.

[erick]

"Far" is not quite the right question which I why I recommended that you read some more. Even in a small aperture telescope, one can see very distant objects - it's just that they will be faint and very unresolved in such a scope. Increasing the aperture means that you collect more light so they are brighter and you increase your resolving power meaning you can see more of the features.

Here is a comparison of a globular cluster - starting from 8" aperture - would you really want to go smaller?

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/m13/index.html

Here is someone's impression of a galaxy going from 6" --> 8" --> 12.5"

http://www.clarkvision.com/visastro/m51-apert/index.html

How much? Well an 8" reflector on a dobsonian mount (a "dob") can be around $400-500 new. Of course, that does not have all the additional electronics, motors & computers. For that, probably $2,500-4,000 for various versions of 8" scope (SCTs on various mounts with various sophistications of alignment and goto software). On the secondhand market, you can make a considerable saving on this and still get an excellent scope.

Cheers
Eric

[rmcpb]

If you are prepared to pay for the "electronics" I would also put in a vote for a dob (8" or greater) with an Argo. All up it would not be too much more than the 4" but it would surely blow it out of the water.

Cheers

[GAS747]

Yeh motor driven mount would be nice

But i think the 8" sounds a lot better, but from what I can see there a lot more money hehe

[GAS747]

thats a really good insite, thanks heaps! I can see what you are saying now. makes a big differnce, thannks so much for the info guys :)

Just gotta try finding something for a good price :)

[GAS747]

what about something like this guys?

http://www.telescopeshop.com.au/p/1021407/dobsonianauto-track10--254-mm-x-1200mm-with-collapsible-flexi-tube-dob-mount-swtrackdob-10---one-only-available.html

from what I can see its computerised etc...

[floyd_2]

That looks like a good scope Paul. Doesn't look like it comes with the SynScan controller, but no doubt that could be added on later if you so desire. Certainly that mount would remove the pain of continuously nudging your scope to follow objects (especially at high powers). If I wasn't on the lookout for a new guidescope and camera I'd be taking a closer look at that one too :) 10" is certainly ample aperture to get you going.

Dean

[erick]

OK, 10" of aperture in a flextube dob - that's more like it. I don't know much about the Skywatcher autotracking system - anyone else?

A pretty reasonable price for what you are getting there.

But still there are questions to answer:-

Where do you plan to use it?
What is the sky like there - light polluted?
Will you transport it to dark skies in car/van etc?
Are you mechanically minded - collimation is a must for these scopes, but it can be a simple task.

To name just a few Qs.

[mozzie]

there a nice scope have a 8"no tracking for a camping scope have had no probs at all with it and bought it at nvt where your looking

[JethroB76]

The one you are looking at there will track objects but not find them for you, without an additional controller.

[OzRob]

Do you think that you may like to get into imaging? If so then you should really be looking at a mount that will allow you to do that. I see people here who are using the EQ5 Pro mount for imaging. This will give you the electronics you are after too. It will cost you a bit more but you seem to be stating that you are prepared to fork out for something good. Andrews has a 200mm newtonian on the EQ5 Pro mount for $1949 or a 250mm for $2199. Although I suspect the 250mm would be better on the EQ6 Pro for imaging.

Andrews (http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm)

[GAS747]

- I will use it in the backyard but if thats terrible I will head out to mount Dandenong which would be nice.

- Sky isnt that good im about 30 kms from melbourne CBD

- yep im happy to transport to darker skyes for a better view :D

- Im techincally minded being in I.T. for a job, but not as much mechnically, maybe my GF is better at that part haha. I think if i get one of these, i will get the computer unit with it as an extra

[GAS747]

yeh i would love to get into some sort of imaging/astrophotography

[erick]

OK Paul

Now the bad news - your backyard will be tragic and Mount Dandenong won't be much better if you want to see "faint fuzzies" like nebulae and galaxies. To be honest, you need to get about 100km from the outskirts of Melbourne (and not near any big regional town/city) before you have skies dark enough to go tracking down lots of interesting things.

But if you can head to the East, I can tell you about two locations a bit further into the Dandenongs that are reasonable to the North, East and South.

May I suggest that you don't think of any serious imaging/astrophotography yet. From what I have seen over a few years now, the scope/mount for the best observing is quite different to the scope/mount for the best astrophotography. Eg. a good mount for astrophotography is an EQ mount. A good scope for observing is a reflector. Observing through a reflector on an EQ mount is downright painful - height to eyepiece and rotation of the tube (and therefore of eyepiece and finderscope) as the EQ mount is pointed elsewhere in the sky.

Yes you will be able to take images with the scope you are thinking of buying. In fact, if the collapsible works the way I think it does, it may avoid a major problem of solid tube scopes - not enough focusser in travel for using a camera. But it has several drawbacks.

Unless someone can give a critical reason not to, I think you should go with that scope you have seen if it is still available at that price. Also look now at the computerised GOTO option or buy it later. This will be a nice observing scope - good aperture with tracking motors. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience I can share about that vendor - backup, warranty etc.

BTW, have you read the useful articles on their site:-

http://www.telescopeshop.com.au/g/42455/choosing-a-telescope.html
http://www.telescopeshop.com.au/g/42457/telescope-basics.html
etc.

[GAS747]

Yeh i can also use my GF's dad's property in toobrak out in the country. Thanks heaps for the info guys its greatly appricated!

im going to keep my eyes open for a decent 2nd hander for now. most likley 10" but would like at least auto track at minimum

[mill]

If you want, you can come past my house to have a look at some different types of scopes and a auto tracking mount.
I dont know how far you are from Mount Evelyn so if you want, you can pm me.

Martin.

[Paddy]

Hi Paul,

I would heartily agree with the suggestion of a 8-10" dob and with Eric's advice to focus first on a mount that is suitable for observing rather than imaging. I would really very strongly recommend that you have a look through someone else's scope first to get an idea of what you are likely to see. You may already have done this - if so, please disregard the next bit. It seems to me that a lot of people get a bit of a shock when they observe visually as deep sky objects mostly don't look like they do in astro images as the human eye cannot perceive colour under low light conditions. They are referred to as "faint fuzzies for good reason. Having looked through the kind of scope that you're thinking of buying is a great way of having realistic expectations of what you'll see and you will enjoy astronomy a lot more. So I reckon it would be good to take up Martin's offer, or get along to a star night before you buy.