Help for new member

[rosey (Belinda)]

Hi, I just bought a Skywatcher reflector AW135 for my 12 y/o son for xmas, can anyone tell me if this is suitable for him, will it be too difficult for him to use? & any other useful information anyone may be able to give me about this telescope.
Thanks

[erick (Eric)]

Hi Belinda and welcome. I reckon he'll love you even more!

Now I'm trying to work out which particular scope it is. Where did you buy it from. Can you point me to an advertisement on a website?

Eric

[erick (Eric)]

OK, I've got it? This one?

http://skywatchertelescopes.com.au/H...%2cProductName

[erick (Eric)]

OK Belinda, I'll make a start. If he is a bit "mechanically-minded" he should not have any trouble getting it going. Just help him to follow the manual closely. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait some days until you get a nice crescent Moon after sunset to look at. That is the easiest target to start with.

Make sure he knows not to take it out when the sun is still up. Pointing the telescope at the sun will destroy eyes and may well destroy parts of the telescope!

It's got some nice features. A good size 130cm (5 inches) of aperture, a motor drive to counteract the rotation of the earth.

There are a few points we should note. Being 1000mm focal length in a tube 500mm long tells us that it has a lens located at the bottom of the focusser. This design proves to be a particular challenge if the mirrors require some collimation, which is aligning the mirrors and the focusser so that the images are nice and sharp and not fuzzy. We'll just have to see. Sometimes these cheaper mounts, it is called a GEM (German Equatorial Mount) by the way, can be a bit flimsy and the scope doesn't stay stationary - a small bump and it wobbles for a bit too long. Also a GEM needs to be set up to point towards what is called the South Celestial Pole for the best use of it (and of the motor drive). The manual should describe what to do, but it can be confusing at first. If the motor drive is using batteries, it might gobble them up - perhaps a power supply connected to 240V might be best in time.

Make sure that the counterweight screw and rings around the telescope tube are nice and firm so nothing slips or falls on someone's foot.

However, if you son could get an experienced astronomer to come around and visit, I'm sure your son would get it working to the scope's abilities in no time. Should be a good introduction to the hobby, if none of the problems I mentioned above become significant.

Come back here and ask questions on Christmas day if necessary!

[rosey (Belinda)]

Hi, Eric, thanks for the quick reply I just could'nt work out how to reply back dah!. The web site I purchased it from was www.telesope.com.au It is the Skywatcher 130mm Reflector with Tracking Model SW135. Hope that helps. Are they hard to set up and any hints to get him started would be great. Also as we live up here out of Coffs Harbour we have humidity whats the best wat to avoid any damage to lenses etc. Cheers

[erick (Eric)]

By the way, you should have nice dark skies there?

[erick (Eric)]

Actually, the SW680 would have been a better choice - but costs a bit more. It's a different type of mounting - that's the main diference. It is also bigger and longer - so a bit more effort to carry, but a growing 12 year old lad will be able to handle it. Some of the problems I mentioned will not occur with this one. The only downside is it does not have motor tracking but many people use very expensive scopes of this form without motor tracking and do just fine.

[rosey (Belinda)]

It does have the 240v charger for the Motor drive which is good as kids & batteries are like kids & lollies

[rosey (Belinda)]

Hi Eric, I only paid $399 for it which I think was a good price & being his 1st telescope I think it will be best to see if he is really that interested & is going to get into it. I hope so as we have brilliant skies up here as we are high up in the mountains out of Coffs.
If he does get right into it the I would like him to be able to take photos, what sort of Camera withou busting the Bank would suit.

[Octane (Humayun)]

Hi Belinda,

Welcome to IceInSpace. You've come to the best place for advice.

As for mounting a camera, the best thing to take photographs would be to use a DSLR as a lot of us use on this forum, and, indeed, astrophotographers, worldwide. Have a look in the Deep Sky forum section on here to see what people are producing.

As for what type of camera to get, a lot of us use Canon DSLRs, as they're quite suited to this type of thing. You could probably pick up a second hand Canon EOS-300D, or a Canon EOS-350D for between $300 and $450. You need to purchase the appropriate pieces to hook it all up (T-ring and tube) and these will cost around $50 in total and are readily available from places like Bintel and Andrews Communcations.

Be mindful, though, that to produce stunning images, a lot of work goes into capturing the images and then processing them on the computer. If your son is computer savvy, then, he should be alright.

Astrophotography gets expensive, quickly.

Another option would be to purchase a second hand Meade DSI one shot colour camera. I'm not sure how much these are going for nowadays, but, I can't imagine them being more than $200. This, I think would be a lot more suited to a 12 year old. It's relatively easy to use and there's plenty of software available (for free) which allows you to take multiple exposures and combine them altogether to produce pleasing images.

I hope this is a good start for you and your son. If you have more questions, just ask.

Regards,
Humayun

Originally Posted by rosey

If he does get right into it the I would like him to be able to take photos, what sort of Camera withou busting the Bank would suit.

[erick (Eric)]

To start with, Belinda, line up the Moon in the scope, then just put the camera to the eyepiece (a simple digital point and shoot, even a mobile phone camera) and click away. I've seen interesting and reasonable photos taken that way.