Beginner first telescope

[pk3lee]

I am a beginner in this area. I would like to buy a telescope, but I don't know which one I should buy. My budget is about AUD600.00. I found one in www.aoe.com.au (http://www.aoe.com.au) model AOE203A 203mm ( 8" ) F=800mm Newtonian Reflector. I wonder anybody have some idea, this is suitable for beginner or not, I am also worry about the quality. It looks like a OEM product.

Pamela

[h0ughy]

i think you are barking up the right tree mate, a large app dob is great value for money. Do some shopping around and you will find some good deals. Also do a search in this site for some information on exactly the subject you have just posted. there are lots of dobbers here ;) , but that can't be helped too much :lol: , for cost benefit analysis they are tops, easy to set up and use. you just have to learn the sky a bit. you might want to find out if you can get a good second hand scope from a Astro club member too, see what societies have a for sale section in your area.

[[1ponders]]

I don't know if the EQ4 mount is the most suitable for someone just starting out. Unless it comes with good instructions or someone to show you how to set it up the first time. It's not hard, but its definately not a "plonk" it on the ground and look through it. Try something here in the dobsonian range..
http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

or here...
https://www.bintelshop.com.au/welcome.htm

Or the top one here
http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/reflectors.asp?ProdID=MAS-063

[davidpretorius]

i would take a walk into bintel melbourne and have a look at a 8" dob.

check it out for weight for carrying outdoors and indoors. $600 should get you a good dob and necessary accessories.

The guys at bintel melbourne are very good and will help a heap. it you do decide to go with a 8" dob from bintel, get them to shoe you how to collimate the scope.

I would not worry about a tripod (ie telescope mount) at this stage.

[davidpretorius]

by the way pamela, welcome to the site.

We have a great bunch of ladies on the site, but unfortunately no gentleman apart from myself, ving, ken, asimov & houghy.

The others are really old guys (>90) and don't have much fun.

We have a star camp at snake valley (south west of ballarat) in march this year, so depending on whether you have a scope by then, it would be a great time to come and see little scopes and big scopes to help make up your mind!

Just jokes about the old guys, it is a great place for getting help.

[pk3lee]

thanks everybody. I am just a poor student. Will the dob scope able to upgrade to fit for a more advance use? To put it back to a EQ4 mount?

Pam

[janoskiss]

The scope you picked looks like very good value and AOE's service is fantastic, but you would get more bang for buck with a Dobsonian mounted telescope (otherwise known as a Dob). Also the AOE203 scope is very fast (i.e., short tube / short focal length), which means it will be more touchy (have to realign mirrors more often), and more fussy about what eyepieces will work well. For $600 you should be able to get an 8" (200mm) Dob with a Crayford focuser plus a good set of eyepieces from BINTEL which is a much better general purpose scope IMO.

As you're in Melbourne, you should definitely check out BINTEL. Roger who runs the shop is very experienced and most helpful. BINTEL's address: 519 BURKE ROAD CAMBERWELL VIC 3124. Phone: (03) 9822 0033. There are scopes on display in the shop and you can get a feel for how big they are and how they work.

[[1ponders]]

:hi: Pam. Buy the time your ready to go up a level you'll be starting to get an idea if you want to stay with visual or try your hand at imaging. If you want to stick with visual then there are plenty of options for going up in scope size. If you want to go imaging then mounting an 8" on a suitable mount won't be a problem. Just be aware that a truely suitable mount (min EQ6) would cost more than a 12" dob

[davidpretorius]

down the track yes, you can buy some rings etc and a eq mount. you can motorize your dob, you can put is on a motorized platform etc.

the main question is what do you want to do with it. if it is for simply viewing and little bit of imaging, then the dob setup is the easiest and cheapest, but once you have the tube, then you can buy a mount later etc if you want to do some hardcore imaging, but your mount will be in the $1000's and then camera likewise!!!

i believe you will get many years of enjoyment with a dob, before moving on up!

[janoskiss]

Been there done that, just when I bought my scope. If you are a really poor student and every dollar counts, you might want to order the 8" Dob from Andrews Communications in Sydney for $399 + $40 for shipping. You should spend an extra $29 on the Cheshire/sighttube to help with collimation (aligning the mirrors from time to time). When I got my scope (from Andrews, because I was a poor student like yourself) it came with four eyepieces. I believe it's only two now, 25mm and 9mm perhaps. You'd probably want to get one more (15mm) and a barlow lens. See what's on offer and get back to us, we can help you out if you're unsure about anything. ;)

Bintel will cost more, even if you buy locally, because they have better quality control and service. They dissassemble the telescope, inspect it, centre spot the mirror (mark it with a circle, which make collimation a lot easier), and collimate it before selling it to you. If you want to stretch every dollar as far as it goes then you might want to buy from Andrews and do these things yourself.


You can put the tube on an EQ mount. EQ4 is probably not strong enough to be of much use. You'd need an EQ5 at least, but even that is pushing it. HEQ5 for around $1000 or EQ6 for $1500 is what you'd need. Or a custom made EQ. David (Ving) put his 8" Dob tube on an EQ mount.

[pk3lee]

Is Dob the only type need to cool down? I am very confuse about this point.

[davidpretorius]

let us forget about the mount ie the dob bit for a second.

the tube that the mirror is a cylindar that has the mirror at one end. the other end is open. The system is open to the elements, so that the air that is in the cylindar can be colder than the mirror as the temperature at night cools down.

this leads to what i can best describe as a small heat haze that distorts the view. not a lot when you are a beginner, but as you get more experienced, the more finicky you get about it.

so to get around this you let your scope cool for say one hour so that hopefully your mirror and the surrounding air are the same temperature

[janoskiss]

All scopes need to get close enough to thermal equilibrium with their surroundings before they are usable. The bigger the scope, the longer the wait for this to occur, or the more effort required to bring it about. Since I fitted a cooling fan to my 8" Dob, 1/2-3/4 hour is all I need to get viewing at high powers even when the temperature is falling rapidly, but usually it's ready to go before I know it. The 8" is a good size for quick cooling. Still needs the fan (or a long wait) at the highest powers.