Should I buy it? Advice needed please!

[Comatose1 (Perth WA)]

Hi All,

All round newbie here so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am looking to purchase a 10" Dobsonian Sky-Watcher with GoTo is this a good idea?

I am looking to get into Astrophotography, deep sky objects and planets.

The kit includes -

10" dobsonian scope
Celestron eye piece set
2 eye pieces that came with scope
Laser collimator
Sun filter
Spirit level
Compass
Big magnet

I look forward to hearing from you all.

[Merlin66 (Ken)]

A 10" Dobbie is a great visual telescope. Close, in my opinion, to the "sweet spot" of amateur aperture.
Unfortunately it is NOT suitable for astrophotography - well maybe short exposures of the moon and planets - but that's about it.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

I agree that apart from planetary imaging, goto dobs are not ideal at all for astrophotography. It is however an excellent visual telescope.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Even for Local stuff (planets), there may be a problem achieving focus if the focuser is average length and you use a DSLR. Small webcam should be ok
Nice visual scope though.

[Comatose1 (Perth WA)]

Thank you all for your advice.
Greatly appreciated !!

[AstralTraveller (David)]

The astronomy learning curve is pretty steep, trying to get into photography from the start makes it that much steeper. Also, good visual scopes and photographic scopes tend to be very different beasts. Photographic scopes also vary a lot depending on the target. My advice is to cut your teeth with a visual scope a stay away from photography until you can explain to others what you want and why. You'll keep the visual anyway. A 10" is a god size too.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Nothing better than a god sized scope...
All encompassing eh?

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by jenchris

Nothing better than a god sized scope...
All encompassing eh?

You try typing on this £€<^%|$ tablet.

[Comatose1 (Perth WA)]

Originally Posted by AstralTraveller

The astronomy learning curve is pretty steep, trying to get into photography from the start makes it that much steeper. Also, good visual scopes and photographic scopes tend to be very different beasts. Photographic scopes also vary a lot depending on the target. My advice is to cut your teeth with a visual scope a stay away from photography until you can explain to others what you want and why. You'll keep the visual anyway. A 10" is a god size too.

The Dobsonian idea was put forward by my Dad but overall the scope was never my cup of tea and I had read that they can be cumbersome to move, set up and aren't suitable for AP, so I am glad you have all confirmed that here!

I am doing a crash course in Astronomy during the summer school session at my university and have been lucky enough to be using a 8" Starbright XLT on a EQ4 mount (Which isn't calibrated correctly I believe but that's for a later post) and having a lecturer that is Astrophotography mad has had me fall head first in

I just have to convince Dad to splash some cash - 31st birthday present I am led to believe !!

P.S Good or God scope - I'll take either

[el_draco (Rom)]

You can pick them up second hand for a song... if you are patient enough.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Typing on a smartphone adds a sort of panache to astro.
the apps available for this phone are amazing and can even be used for guiding apparently.
But sadly not for ap........