Hi All new to this, help appriciated. Got a BKP15075NEQ3

[Phil the Sparky (Phillip)]

Hi All

My wife has showen some interest in astronomy. To tell the truth she has been interested for a while I was just a bit slow on the uptake.

Anyway question is, I rang the guys at Sirius Optics in Underwood and they suggested the Skywatcher SW680 Dobsonian as a good starter scope.

Just wanted to know if its good advice or not. The guy on the phone was very helpful and seemed genuine.

Also I am into photography so I was thinking of getting the canon adaptor kit to suit.

The scope is $495 and the adaptor kit is about $150 so I dont want to go buy it then find out it was a waste of money.

Any help would be much appriciated.

Phil

[Paddy (Patrick)]

Hi Phil and welcome.

An 8" dob is a great way to start with visual observing. It will deliver excellent views of planets and deep sky objects( nebulae, clusters, galaxies etc). Bear in mind that these excellent views of deep sky objects will be in greyscale (except you will see colours in stars). The splendid colours of nebulae are for cameras only as our low light visual sensors don't code for colour. You will see colour on planets and be able to see clouds bands on Jupiter, Saturn's rings and features on Mars. But they will still be small in the eyepiece of any telescope.

Your photography will be limited by the dobsonian mount and lack of tracking. Astrophotography is a whole different game and others might inform you about this better than I. You may find navigating a challenge with the standard finderscope so I would put the camera adapter money towards a Telrad. they are only about $70 or so and make pointing the scope at the right bit of sky a lot easier.

Hope you both have fun and keep asking questions!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

G'day Phillip, welcome.

Yeah, the Dob is a good purchase
and Skywatcher are a pretty good brand

As far as putting a camera in a Dob, don't bother unless it is mounted in an EQ mount. Long exposure imaging with a Dob is really really hard.
In time you may get a tracking mount which is what you really need for photography.

But you'll be too busy enjoying the views through the dob to be wanting to do Astrophotography yet

[Phil the Sparky (Phillip)]

Thanks for the info, much appriciated.

The guy at the shop did mention i would need a computerised mount to be able to do astrophotography, I didnt understand why cos I know nohing about this suff but if you need to do long exposures then it makes sense as the earth moves.

Now I started reading about astronomy I realise how much there is to learn

[Phil the Sparky (Phillip)]

Might save my money on the camera mount for now and start with the scope. Oh and a whole lot of learning so I know where to point it!

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Hi Phil (and Mrs Phil).
Welcome to Ice In Space

Good questions you have asked, and all good advice given.

Hope you have fun with your new hobby.

You should also try to find some observing nights closeby.
These are usually scheduled for a time and place to get the most out of your observing time.
They are also places of friendly folk who love to share their experience, and you can get to see some various scopes and eyepieces in action.
These are listed periodically in the "Star Parties, Clubs and community events" forum.
And as said before, keep asking questions.

enjoy!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by Phil the Sparky

Thanks for the info, much appriciated.

The guy at the shop did mention i would need a computerised mount to be able to do astrophotography, I didnt understand why cos I know nohing about this suff but if you need to do long exposures then it makes sense as the earth moves.

Correct

Originally Posted by Phil the Sparky

Now I started reading about astronomy I realise how much there is to learn

Yes, at first it all seems overwhelming.
Finding objects amongst a Gazillion stars, Collimation, Focal Reducers, barlows, Moonshine washing objects out, etc etc.

But it is quite basic and simple really. Start with a large number eyepiece (like a 30mm or a 24mm etc) and look around with it in the scope. If you see something of interest remove that Eyepiece and put in a smaller one (15mm, 9mm etc). This will allow you to see the object a bit bigger but it will also move through the field of view faster too, so you will have to keep moving the scope to keep on it.

The larger EP's (eyepieces) are great when you are starting out and they help you learn the sky better than the smaller EP's

Slow down, take your time and just enjoy the views. The sky isn't going anywhere

[Forgey (Paula)]

Hi Phillip, welcome to IIS.
A Dob is a good starting point for a beginner. I got a Dob as my first scope and havent looked back.

Enjoy the views.

[Saturn%5 (Graeme)]

Hi Phil
I got my first 12" dob at siri they were just fantastic, after about 3 months the mirrior seem to get some strange marks on it i took it back and Ron looked at it and said do you got a dog as the marks looked like a dog had lifted its leg on the thing and well it just looked bad, I said nope no dog he said he would replace the mirror which they did also added a cooling fan to it ( the fans were not on this model yet) This was some 14 years ago and the scope is still going strong today after moving from queensland to tassy,

I guess what im saying is they will look after you and point you in the right direction for what gear you would like I say 12" dob is a good starter as we all know bigger is better in this hobby.

cheers and Goodluck in your hunt for a scope.

Graeme

[erick (Eric)]

Yep, get the SW680 and get started observing

[mikerr (Michael)]

Wecome Phil.

As Paddy said "You may find navigating a challenge with the standard finderscope so I would put the camera adapter money towards a Telrad."

Here is a link that shows what a Telrad is......
http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories...oductview.aspx

Michael.

[Phil the Sparky (Phillip)]

Thanks for all the feedback. Ended up getting a different scope. I got a BKP15075NEQ3 http://www.sirius-optics.com.au/index11.htm . They are on sale. Its not as big but we want to be able to take the scope camping etc and its we have a baby seat in the back and all the camping gear and photography gear so there wasnt much chance of getting the 8" dobsonion in the car as well. The one I got is alot more portable. Also I can add motor dirves to the mount down the track if I get the cance to learn a bit of astrophotography.

Does anyone have one of these scopes? How are they?

I hope I made the right decision.

Now to wait for it to stop raining so I can use it.