|
I agree with Rob_K, in that a smaller scope can still show plenty in the sky to keep a keen observer interested for many a night, and as my current scope is a tiddly little Tasco Galaxsee (a freebie from a relative), I'm learning my sky craft the old fashioned way: star maps (stellarium) and no GoTo on my converted camera tripod/ball head....I've got to try to find the fuzzies/smudgies myself!!!
When we started using the scope, I was able to show the wife/kids the planets Jupiter and Saturn (we could just make out Jupiters bands, and Saturn's rings in the 10mm eyepiece - the only one the scope has with it) Mars is just a red-orange dot in the Galaxsee!!! We can see the Jewel box, Pleiades, the coathanger (but missed the nearby comet Garradd....will try once again as soon as the moon goes away) The moon itself got gasps when it was bought into view.
That's the pleasure of the night sky, when someone looks into the eyepiece and goes 'wow', not necessarily when they first see the scope setup on the mount, but more of what they can see through it.
Having said this, I'm still going to get a bigger scope (Mewlon 210 or 250), and a motorised mount - not sure if Goto is all that important (is it???) I've seen photos of fancy setups with cables/laptops/controllers/battery packs all a-tangle - is it getting a bit complicated??
I can have the little Galaxsee scope set up in the backyard within a few minutes, and should the clouds roll in (as they love to do here...I can put it away in even less time and get back to the net to do more research, and IIS...) OK, it can be a challenge finding things in the sky, but I'm having FUN doing it - everything's nice and simple. OK, so the stars aren't perfect points, and the bigger planets are still pretty small, it is still a pleasure to look at something up there in the sky for the first time.
So Mick, you'll have plenty to see no matter what scope you decide on, and the Keep It Simple rule is a good one to follow. Having a scope is one thing, wanting to use it regularly is another.
Enjoy the views
John
|