Newbie Telescope Questions

[Dujon]

koolio, I am posting this purely as support for the majority of the posts above.

In view of your location/situation I'd reckon a Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount is the way to go. Keep in mind, though, that if your balcony is narrow you could have problems looking in certain directions and elevations. Please keep this in mind (mind you, this can also apply to other mounts and depends on the pivot point of the unit, the length of the OTA - that's the telescope housing - and the height of any obstruction - e.g. railings and the like).

Colours? Certainly. Even my ancient 2" Tasco shows planetary colours, star colours and colour in the Orion nebula - though the latter is only green to my eyes and not like the images you will find on this site.

I am looking forward to viewing the Orion region once it turns up high in the sky at a time when I can haul my 'Dob' outside to have a gander. I need my 'beauty' sleep these days.

As others have said, value for money - in the sense of light gathering - a Newtonian is the way to go. If you wish to progress to imaging then something else (like money) will be necessary. Whatever you decide I wish you well.

[maksutover]

Hi Koolio!
First of all welcome! i have just recently joined this community too and have benefited alot already.
i just wanted to express my opinion about the etx's. I originally wanted to but the etx125 and after some research i concluded exactly what others have said which is youll be paying atleast half the price for the electronics. I would definately advise on bigger apertures, since i bought a 6" with a german mount for my 1st scope and i could've bought 8" or higher aperture dobs for the same price.

By the way, im in inner syd too. Im in rockdale. Good to know theres some locals here.

[Kal (Andrew)]

My first scope was an ETX90EC, about 5 years ago. To be honest it was (and still is) a wonderful scope. Being a long focal length maksutov design it is great for planets (which you are mostly limited to with light pollution) but being so small and portable it is the type of scope that you can easily drag along with you when you travel, yet with only 90mm aperture you will still be able to see many deep sky objects from a dark site. With the tour function, you don't even need to know what objects are out there, you just do your initial alignment with the telescope and then tell it to select the nights best objects, and it will slew to them automatically. As a newbie to the hobby, I was able to see 20+ objects in under an hour using this feature.

Great beginner scope, and if you are like me and enjoy the introduction to astronomy, you might get a larger scope down the track (I now own a 10" scope to complement my etx)

[paninaro]

A quality GSO 8" dob can be had at andrews and bintel for around $500, I get it that you are in a unit, 10" and up dobs get very large, where as an 8" will fit in a wardrobe and leave some room for clothes (which is what I think wardrobes are dsigned for, but DON'T tell my wife as I told here they are designed for storing telescopes).

Use the other $200-300 to buy a telrad as every on has mentioned and some nice eyepieces.

[Copernicus]

Hi Everyone,I'm new to this, and have got myself an Optex 8 inch telescope (Newtonian). I have a digital Canon 350D camera. What do I need (accessories) to set up my camera with the telescope. Any help would be appreciated it.

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi Copernicus.

to IIS.

You're probably better off asking the question in a new thread, since it's not really related to this thread.

Is the scope mounted on an EQ mount, or is it a dob?
What do you want to take pictures of?

Astrophotography is a whole new ball game, time consuming, frustrating and potentially expensive (to do it right). Are you sure you want to go down that track if you've just started in the hobby?

[Copernicus]

Thanks Iceman,

I have started a new thread just like you suggested. I suppose I want to take pictures of Nebulae and or Planets. I'm hoping that my existing digital photography equipment and years of practice will bridge the gap to astrophotography. Its mounted on an EQ