Buying first telescope - what do I need?

[Chillie]

I now have enough credit to buy my first telescope.

I have a budget of $1,800 including postage/freight to Horsham Victoria.

I am after a Sky-Watcher 12" Black Diamond Dobsonian. Is this one here for $1,499.00 or is this one a cheaper version?
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-content-section-10-skywatcher.htm#dobsonian

It does look different from the picture on the Sky-Watcher web site.

I am also looking a buy a Laser Collimator if it doesn't blow the budget.

I will wait for a while before I buy a Barlow lens or any filters so I can get quality.

Is there anything else that I need to buy straight off?

I would prefer to buy everything from one shop. It doesn't have to come from Andrews Communications.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Henry.

[taminga16]

Hi Henry,
Have a look at the Bintel website, they have a store in Melbourne and stock many of the same products as Andrews, wherever you do the deal make certain that you know what you are getting as retailers tend to offer different packages (accessories ). Do you need a truss type telescope? a solid OTA will reduce your costs and allow more for other stuff later on, attend some astro club meetings and try other peoples gear before you make any future purchases. The SVAA are near Ballarat and meet monthly, Ken James would be a good contact or you could try Erick ( Eric Kingston ) on this forum.

www.bintelshop.com.au

Good Luck with your purchase.

Regards Greg.

[Screwdriverone]

Hi Henry,

With $1800 to spend I recommend that you maybe go for a 10" dobsonian rather than the 12" straight off the bat. You can pick up the 10" collapsible SW from Andrews for only $799 and this leaves you $1000 of your budget for some QUALITY eyepieces. You will get a 25mm and 10mm Standard Super Plossl with this scope and these are finer starters but a quality 2 x ED barlow and one or pehaps two different Ep's of the range 15mm and maybe a 30mm will give you a good range of magnifications across the board.

Good quality eyepieces (not the SUPER expensive ones) are about $150 - $300 EACH so a couple of $200 ones like the Baader Hyperion 15mm or Pentax XF are a good investment and will improve the views out of sight!

The reason for the 10" size is that its quite a bit more portable than the 12" which I have of the collapsible variety and even though I am 6 foot 9, its a bit bulky even for me to carry around when fully assembled. Remember! A bulky scope you never take out is an UNUSED scope. Its also easier to fit in the car (collapsible even better) when you have to take the OTA off the base and lie it on the back seat or in the cargo area of a wagon. The collapsed 10" Skywatcher should fit in the back of a wagon with the tube still connected to the base. In my case, the OTA JUST fits in the back of my high roof Ute canopy if I slide it in, which means I have to take the tube off the base and put the base beside it. Something you will HAVE to do with all other Dobsonians of the 1500mm focal length tubes.

Also, you could go for a 10" solid tube, and I recommend the ASDX 10 inch GSO version as it has 5 eyepieces, a fan, 10:1 fine focuser and could be converted later on to be mounted on a EQ mount for Astrophotography if that bug bites you. This costs $899 and is a GOOD starter package for you.

Add an adjustable chair (YOU WILL NEED ONE sooner or later) and maybe an EP case, barlow, LASER collimator and 2 nicer eyepieces and you should still have a few hundred left in the kitty to splurge on something later on. (there is always something else to buy)

As Greg said, you could wander into Bintel with your shopping list and get a comparable price and package as I think they match prices if you ask them. Also both establishments are reliable, experienced and very good to deal with.

I didnt worry about the white colour of my SW12" dob compared to the sexy BD version seen on most sites as the price I got mine for was significantly less than the others and still has a 5yr warranty to boot.

Something to get you thinking.....good luck.

Cheers

Chris

[erick]

Henry

Do yourself a favour and visit Snake Valley this weekend - best time late afternoon into early evening - We are all fast asleep in the mornings! Visit from tonight until Monday night. Last of us leave Tuesday morning.

Astrocamp is on and you can look at (and through) all types of telescopes and accessories and we can answer your questions there.

Details here:-

http://svaatest.site88.net/index.php?p=1_10_March-Camp

Cheers
Eric

[h45e]

I know, ppl here will linch me for saying this.. but what about??

http://camerahousewa.com.au/skywatcher-collapsible-dobsonian-telescope-12-inch-swflexdob12-p-360.html

or for cheaper option

http://camerahousewa.com.au/skywatcher-10-inch-dobsonian-p-1030.html

or

http://camerahousewa.com.au/skywatcher-collapsible-dobsonian-telescope-10-inch-swflexdob10-p-797.html

[Quark]

Hi Henry,

Eric has given you an excellent piece of advice, do your self a favor and act on it.

Seek out "experienced" amateurs, they are very aware of the pitfalls that face the beginner and their experience over many years is an invaluable resource to people such as you.

There is a very good reason why you should not source your equipment from camera shops, department stores and the like. In many cases they stock inferior equipment. The people selling you the gear normally have no clue, whatsoever, about how to set it up, how to collimate it, really clueless in astronomy generally.

There are only a handful of dedicated astronomy businesses in this county, that import good equipment and can advise you from a knowledgeable stand point on that said equipment.

If you do have problems or queries down the track they will still be there to support you.

If you do your homework throughly before rushing in to an impulsive purchase you will be far better off and will likely end up with equipment that will stand the test of time.

Good Luck
Regards
Trevor

[Robh]

Henry,
Sorry, I don't know anything about the Sky-Watcher DOBS. My advice is don't rush in, ring around and do your homework on prices so you get what you want at the right price. If you intend carrying it about in your car a collapsible or truss telescope makes a lot of sense. I have a 12" Meade Truss DOB which I am happy with.
If your Sky-Watcher 12" comes with 1.25 inch diameter 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, this will give you magnifications of 1500/25=60 and 1500/10=150. I'd forget the barlow. A x2 barlow will give you magnifications of 2x60=120 and 2x150=300. 120 is not that far from 150 and atmospheric conditions are rarely good enough to get decent viewing above a magnification of 250.
If you want a higher power I'd go somewhere nearer 200 to 220.
Instead of the barlow, I'd invest later on in a good 2" wide angle eyepiece. With telescopes, it's mainly about aperture size (the 12" is good) and not so much about high powers.
With truss telescopes and I assume also with collapsibles you will be doing a lot of collimating. You can use a laser collimator for alignment but I prefer a cheshire (cheaper at Andrews) for the final alignment.
All the best on your quest!

[Lyinxz]

SKY Dob all the way! love it

[toryglen-boy]

indeed !!

Gerry Gibbs cameras in Perth, has the 12" SW Felxtube Dob delivered to your door for $1150, some $350 less than Andrews, i know you wanted to buy all at the one place, but that cant really be ignored !!

get yourself a comfy chair, a couple of nice eyepieces, and thats about the same that you would have paid for the scope alone at $1500 ...


:thumbsup:

[Chillie]

Thanks for your replies. Sorry I didn't get back sooner as I didn't get online last night.

I've just got off the phone from Gerry Gibbs CameraHouse (very busy place) and was told that the Sky-Watcher 12" Flextube Dobsonian is in stock. Freight is very reasonable and would take about 7 to 10 working days to get to Victoria.

I was looking at some accessories to go with the order if I go ahead with the order. What do you think about the Optex Moon Filter? Is it any good?

I have printed out the page for the 12" Dob and shown it to my local CamereHouse dealer. His price is $1,785. I will give him until Monday to come up with a better price. If he can't get close to $1,150, I'll go with Gerry Gibbs.

Eric, Thanks for the invite but I can't get down. :( We don't have an Astronomy club here in Horsham, but the local Adult Learning Center (HUB) do run a star gazing night once per term with a local astronomer.

[PCH]

Henry,

I can't see the local guys wanting to come anywhere near to reducing his price by the necessary $635, so I'd be ordering from GGCH asap.

Regarding the moon filter, I use just the standard cheapies at about 15 bucks each, and they work fine. With a moon filter, you're only wanting to cut down on some of the brightness, so you don't need to spend a lot on one.

Cheers :thumbsup:

[Chillie]

Thanks Paul.

If I buy from Gerry Gibbs CameraHouse, I will add moon filter along with some other accessories to my shopping cart.

[PCH]

Henry,

one of the things I'd consider would be the necessary collimation gear. Either a laser collimator (about 70 bucks), or some of the guys here prefer a cheshire eyepiece collimator. I haven't used one of these but they get great reviews. If you get a laser collimator, remember to make sure the collimator is collimated first. This just involves resting the device lengthways on a very simple mini-trestle type thing, and beaming the dot onto a surface a couple of meters away. You expect the dot to turn on itself, not transcribe a circle on the surface. If it does transcribe a circle, you'll have to collimate the collimator first, which is easy enough most times.

Also, in time you'll probably want a better quality EP than those supplied with the scope.

Hope this helps.

Cheers :thumbsup:

[Chillie]

Hi Paul,

I already have plans to buy a laser collimator and maybe a cheshire eyepiece collimator as well.

Would a Skywatcher Laser Collimator OPCOLL for $104 be OK?

I have bookmarked a link to a site that show how to collimate a laser collimator:
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=520

Other items on my shopping list are:

Optex Moon Filter 31.5mm
Skywatcher Observing Torch Dual Beam
Planisphere Southern Hemisphere Small

I have some questions about eye piece diameter but I'll wait I have my telescope.

Cheers,
Henry.

[figgylion]

You should get an umbrella too mate.
With all the new gear you're buying, it's going to rain for at least a month :D

[toryglen-boy]

indeed.

coming from a Man City fan, thats advice indeed


:P

[barx1963]

Star charts! Planisphere is useful for seeing what is up there and naked eye identifying constellations etc but a set oif charts is a must once you are at the scope. I have a set of Will Tirions charts that I piocked up at the Aust Geographic shop that is my most used accessory. Has lots of DSOs and is great for planning a nights viewing. Almost all the objects are reachable with ,odest aperture and with light pollution. One reason I like these charts is they have the lines connecting the stars in the constellations while the bigger fancier ones just show the boundaries, which is not as easy for beginners.

A bit fancier could be the Cambridge atlas or go the whole hog to Uranometria or similar. Collins Stars and Planets is a great addition also!

[Screwdriverone]

Henry,

If you buy from the camera house, MAKE SURE that the price is $1149 DELIVERED as it states this VERY clearly in the ad on the website in the specials section that it is $1149 delivered to your door!

Do not pay for delivery, even if it does seem quite cheap.

Blatant false advertising if they try to add delivery to that price.

I have taken a snapshot of the ad, and can PM it to you if you have a problem so you can prove the point. I think Duncan may have had the same issue?

Cheers

Chris

[Jen]

And make sure you buy the 2009 Australian Astronomy Book that will give you something to read when all the clouds arrive on your first week of having your new scope :D

[Shano592]

Week? For that price, it will be at least a fortnight ...

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol:

[Chillie]

Hi all,

I had an interesting chat with the manager of the local Camerahouse shop Yesterday (Monday). He thinks the price on the Gerry Gibbs CameraHouse site are wrong because he can't even buy the scope for that price. He said that they are more like $2,000. There is a shop in Melbourne that sells them close to $2000.

I have ordered the scope & accessories Yesterday and added a couple more items to the deal.

I added a CCD camera:

http://camerahousewa.com.au/skywatcher-ccd-camera-swccdtele-p-815.html

And a cheap Barlow:

http://camerahousewa.com.au/optex-315mm-125-inch-2x-barlow-lens-opbar-p-810.html

Paying for the package was a PITA.:mad2: The only way I could pay using credit card was if I had PayPal. I am an ex-PayPal user and won't be rejoining. I ended up by having to transfer money from my credit card to my bank account, withdrawing what I needed, then depositing the money into Gerry Gibbs CameraHouse's bank account. A lot of stuffing around. Plus, I have to pay Cash Advance interest on my credit card instead of Purchase interest.:mad2: That's roughly $300 interest. I just hope that the prices are correct.

This is what I ended up ordering:

1 x Skywatcher Collapsible Dobsonian Telescope 12 inch -SWFLEXDOB-12 = $1,149.00
1 x Skywatcher Laser Collimator OPCOLL = $104.00
1 x Optex Moon Filter 31.5mm = $19.00
1 x Optex 31.5mm/ 1.25 inch 2X Barlow Lens OPBAR = $49.00
1 x Skywatcher CCD camera SWCCD-TELE = $146.00
1 x Planisphere Southern Hemisphere Small = $15.00
1 x Skywatcher Observing Torch Dual Beam = $29.00




Chris,

I have just ordered $1,511.00 of stuff there. I'm not going to quibble over $15.40 Flat Rate for delivery. Although I've never heard of Best Way. I don't even know if they have a deport in Horsham.

I will be happier when I see the status change to Shipped, and even happier when it arrives.

[h45e]

You could of rang up and ordered over the phone.

[Chillie]

Then I would have had to pay store prices. The prices on the web site are for online orders only. You get cheaper prices but no advice or instructions on how to use the device.

[toryglen-boy]

ok, i posted the price earlier, and it was blanked. i will go through it again.

the price of $1150 stands, i know, i bought one, and no matter where you buy from, you wont get any advice or a destructions manual on how to use it.

TBH, its a Dob, there isnt much to it, take the dust cover off, pop in an eyepiece, and point the thing "up"


;)

[Starkler]

$1149 is a great price and must be old stock bought at old prices. I imagine that when that stock is gone you wont see a price like that for a long time.

[toryglen-boy]

seconded.

lucky enough i was able to put some people in the know

;)

[White Rabbit]

That is a really good price. I was lucky as well when I bought my 12 Lightbridge. I got it when the exchange rate was good, saved myself a lot of money.

Enjoy the scopes guys the views are incredible through a 12"

Clear skies

[Chillie]

If you haven't got the manual, you can download it from here:

http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtsupport/Instruction_Manuals/Collapsible_Dob-120508V3.pdf

At this stage, they are still waiting for my payment to show up on their records. I paid by Over The Counter Deposit direct into their bank account late on Monday.:rolleyes:

[Chillie]

Great News!! My order has finally been approved.:jump:

There is a forecast for thunderstorms here tomorrow but not much rain.:cloudy:

OK! To help me get used to what I might see. What magnification am I likely to expect for the FOV in degrees by using the standard eye pieces?

It's no point zooming on something using Stellarium if in reality it's still just a point of light. If I know what to expect in degrees for the FOV, I can limit my zooming in Stellarium to that amount.

I hope you can understand my rambling. I've been up since 1:30pm Yesterday (Wednesday).

[Starkler]

Henry its quite easy to calculate. Simply divide the fov of the eyepiece by the magnification.

eg For a 20mm plossl, magnification = (scope focal length)/20mm . 1500/20= 75x mag.

plossl fov is 50 degrees, so 50/75= 0.66 degree fov with your scope.

[rustem]

this looks very interesting as ive been looking to buy one of these myself.

how long is the warrenty on these from camerahouse?

[toryglen-boy]

LOL

good question !!


i have no idea ...

:lol:

[Chillie]

Thanks Geoff. That info will come in handy.:thumbsup:

[Chillie]

Didn't you read the Shipping & Returns (http://camerahousewa.com.au/shippinginfo.html) and the Conditions of Use (http://camerahousewa.com.au/conditions.html)
before you bought your telescope Duncan?

I think I read somewhere that there is a 5 year manufacturer's warranty on the Sky-Watcher telescopes... but don't quote me on that.

[saturn c]

great scope > good choice