Guan Sheng telescopes at Andrews

[Analog6]

The blurb on there says these parabolic mirror Newtonian reflector are "Absolutely outstanding quality and value" and includes "SkyView 1 high grade medium duty equatorial mount with adjustable height aluminium tripod. Includesa6 x 30 finderscope andpremium GSO 6mm, 9mm, 15mm and 25mm Plossl eyepieces!". Comes in 4.5", 6" and 8".

Now, I know you get what you pay for, I'm a fairly pragmatic person, but has anyone used/got one of these? I am a beginner to telescopes and want one to take photos with. I don't have a pot of money, and gave just been told my job fionishes as my employer is closing down next week due to the financial crisis.

If anyone can answer my questions I'd be delighted. I do not want to start a debate about brands and retailers.

1. Would this do as a starter telescope for me?
2. Can I take photos through it? I know I can attach my camera to this type for tracked shots through my telephoto lens.
3. Are equatorial mounts difficult to learn to use? I am no great mathematician but am an OK tinkerer and gadget person.
4. Could I (eventually) attach a laptop and what is the advantgae in being able to do that? I assume (hate that word!) you get programs that drive the telecope.

If you think of any other pros/cons feel free to mention them.

I'd far rather have a great brand like a Celestron but the fuinds juts are not available. At least this would get me viewing, and hopefully photographing..

[acropolite]

Odille, as a novice I would stay away from an equatorial mount. The quality of mount on offer with budget scopes is not adequate for anything other than visual use and those in the package you mention aren't even motorised. The optics on GS scopes are usually of a high standard.

As a starter you would be better off to go for one of the dobs (andrews has the basic 8 inch model for $399). You can mate the OTA from the dob with a suitable equatorial mount at a later date when you have the funds. Equatorial mounts suited for astrophotography really start at the HEQ5 / EQ6 level; with hand controller and go to capability, these mounts list on the Andrews site $1499 and $1999 respectively for the mount only.

If you have the inclination to tinker, the HEQ5 and EQ6 are available without the Synscan hand control for around $500 to $600 less and can be controlled using the laptop (eqmod) with some minor additional hardware.

[Tilt]

When I started I bought a 10" GSO dob from Andrews, then later (when I saved up the cash) I replaced the rocker box with a EQ6 mount for the go-to + tracking capabilities. If you don't have plenty of funds spare at the moment then I would just start visual work, its a great way to discover the night sky.

Michael

[ozskywatcher]

I use a 12 inch GSO for visual observing and can confirm that the optical quality is very good.

I would agree with the comment about steering away from the smaller eq mounts. They are too flimsy and flex too much to be of any use.

Regards,

Paul Floyd.
www.nightskyonline.info (http://www.nightskyonline.info)

[rmcpb]

The dob to EQ progression is a very logical way to go IMO.

Depends if you want to photograph then a GEM is the standard but if you want tracking at high magnification for visual then an equatorial platform is more than adequate and they can be made for a couple of hundred dollars or bought commercially.