Help with first scope and gear.

[Lucid]

Hi guys,

Just wondering if anyone here can give me some advice\opinions before I take the plunge and buy my first scope.

I have already gone out with a friend from work who has a Celestron 8SE and had a great night gazing and also got a pretty good idea of what to expect from this new found hobby\addiction.

After a bit of reading around I'm looking at getting a Celestron C9.25 SGT (http://www.ozscopes.com.au/celestron-advanced-series-c9-25-sgt-schmidt-cassegrain-telescope.html) with a celestron power supply.

The main problem I'm having is choosing some eyepieces to start with. At the moment leaning towards a Vixen eyepiece and filter kit (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-013H) but I'm wondering if this Prostar 2' eyepiece kit (http://www.myastroshop.com.au/products/details.asp?id=MAS-004U) would be better :confused2:

Any thoughts\opinions would be much appreciated :)

[brian nordstrom]

:) Hi Charles and :welcome: , On the scope its probably the best all round scope out there , I would personally love one , the 9.25 inch Celestron gets rave reviews every where and the mount is perfect for it , if you are up to a steep learning curve when you first get it .
Goto mounts aint hard and once you learn how to drive them they work very well .
The eyepieces are a little differant , as do you know what things will be your main targets ? :shrug: .
If its deep sky the 2 inch set would be the go , but if its the moon , planets and double stars I would go for the Vixen set , these are of knowen good quality so they would be a good choice .
I would use the supplied eyepieces untill you decide what you enjoy looking at first , we all have differant likes in the sky ( there is so much to see) , me its lunar/planetary viewing , I enjoy deep sky but lean torwards lunar/planetary .
Good choice of scope , so if you get it good luck and enjoy .:thumbsup: .
Brian.

[Lucid]

Hey thanks for the great reply Brian, from what Ive read of setting up EQ mounts it looks to be quite the learning curve but worth it in the end :) Ive also decided to go with a simple zoom eyepiece and moon filter for now to get a better idea of where I want to go.

[leon]

Charles, mate yes, the learning curve can, and will be a pain at some point, however, I was once in your position and ended up mastering my on imaging rig with the help from this great site IIS.

Stick with it mate, ;) you will wonder why you actually asked the questions once you have it up and running.

Leon :thumbsup:

[Lucid]

Thanks Loen :) Im glad I was told about this great community, I doubt Ill have to much trouble with help from everyone here.