hi guys

[astrum (tony)]

hi guys.noob here.

i want to re-kindle my love of the stars and telescopes.i had a 4"reflector when i was growing up in the 70's and wish to slightly upgrade lol

was going to ask about this http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3302424 97473

but after reading a few threads here im not going to bother lol

however this is one im seriously looking at
Bintel BT-302 12" Premium Dobsonian
do u think its a good entry level scope?

id really like a drive with my scope and though i like to find my way around the heavens myself,a computer(aided)drive sounds interesting....i want to spend about 1500$
does anyone on here know of any good shops in wollongong that i can visit?
cheers tony

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Tony,

to IIS.

Stay away from Ebay. cheap nasty scopes there.....simple.

I would start here for references of suppliers.

Take a look at Bintel, Andrews Comms and York Optical for the different ranges, prices and types of scopes that might interest you. As for Wollongong, I think there is a supplier called Survey and Instrument or something like that but I cant remember the actual name.

As for spending $1500 with computer control or GOTO, there are so many different options for that price bracket that I am sure the experts here at IIS can help you spend your hard earned cash faster than you can earn it.

My personal choice for that budget would be this:

8 inch Skywatcher reflector on a sturdy and strong Skywatcher mount from Andrews Comms where you get free freight and a SIX year warranty. Cant really go wrong for that money and the HEQ5 would be beefy enough to hold a 10 inch scope later on if the need arose.

200 x 1000P with HEQ5PRO Go-To mount (white) and V3.0 Go-To hand controller
$1399.00 AUD
(Why pay A$2795 elsewhere?)

Keep in mind that a 12 inch dob is a great "starter" as this is probably the best views per buck you can get. Andrews also has the new collapsible 12 inch Skywatcher Dob for only $899! with the remaining $600, you could get some very nice Eyepieces and Barlows etc to go along with it.

A 12 inch Dob is VERY heavy when assembled and hard to transport, so the extra $100 for the Skywatcher solves this and in my opinion has better tension adjustment (handles over BT302 's springs) and better optics. You do however get more fruit and a 10:1 crayford focuser with the BT302, so that could sway you. The BT302 is essentially a GSO dob, so the Andrews GS-980 Super Deluxe for $749 is a better deal and has the same if not better extras thrown in.

My two cents to start things off.

Cheers

Chris

[astrum (tony)]

thanx chris ill pour over those online shops first ,just to get an idea about what i want.(i know what i want,but i dont,if you know what i mean lol)might check out the yellow pages and find any shops in the gong as well....cheers mate

[Zuts]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Hi Tony,

to IIS.

Stay away from Ebay. cheap nasty scopes there.....simple.
Chris

Thats not strictly true Chris, sometimes they have expensive nasty scopes...

Paul

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Very true Paul,

But the plastic is a good look!

Chris

[JethroB76 (Jeff)]

Do you want to spend $1500 on the scope alone or $1500 on scope + accessories?

For $1500 you could pick up a secondhand 12" or new 10" dob, put on an Argo Navis and have, not a driven scope, but a powerful tool for searching down objects..would leave you without accessories, EPs etc though

[astrum (tony)]

wow! things have come a loooonnngggggg way since the late 70's,i just googled the 'argo navis'

methinks i have a lot of researching to do......thanx for the reply s guys.

[Jen]

Tony
Happy shopping

[astrum (tony)]

hey thanks jen! im a bit blown away with the hardware available today.......im starting to like the idea of the scope driving itself to a known star/constellation etc i.e the argo navis....i have a loooonnnggg list of questions and im going to find the nearest shop and boor the salesman stupid lol. ill check out the online prices though,seems one can save quite a bit shopping online...lol.

[astrum (tony)]

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/mygallery/displayimage.php?pos=-532
taken with a 10" dob.

screwdriver1 could i expect to see images like the on above using the scope u recommended?

200 x 1000P with HEQ5PRO Go-To mount (white) and V3.0 Go-To hand controller
$1399.00 AUD
(Why pay A$2795 elsewhere?) (with the right conditions of course )
or would you really need the extra light a 10" affords?

and the hand controller ,the go-to,do you enter where u are and then just enter the co-ords of were you want to look and it will 'drive' the scope there? sorry about the noob questions lol. cheers tony

[Jen]

Originally Posted by astrum

hey thanks jen! im a bit blown away with the hardware available today.......im starting to like the idea of the scope driving itself to a known star/constellation etc i.e the argo navis....i have a loooonnnggg list of questions and im going to find the nearest shop and boor the salesman stupid lol. ill check out the online prices though,seems one can save quite a bit shopping online...lol.

hey your welcome yeah i think it pays to shop around

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Originally Posted by astrum

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/mygallery/displayimage.php?pos=-532
taken with a 10" dob.

screwdriver1 could i expect to see images like the on above using the scope u recommended?

200 x 1000P with HEQ5PRO Go-To mount (white) and V3.0 Go-To hand controller
$1399.00 AUD
(Why pay A$2795 elsewhere?) (with the right conditions of course )
or would you really need the extra light a 10" affords?

and the hand controller ,the go-to,do you enter where u are and then just enter the co-ords of were you want to look and it will 'drive' the scope there? sorry about the noob questions lol. cheers tony

Hi Tony,

Well, you probably could, however Mike is a gun at Planetary imaging so I wouldnt use him as a yardstick. The main reason I suggested the 8 inch Heq5 combo is the fact that 8 inch scopes are great starters and especially on GOTO mounts would do most things you would need them to do/see as well as Astrophotography later on either with that tube or a bigger one. See some pics from AlexN who takes shots using a webcam and an 8 inch Dobsonian Reflector.

As for the GOTO moung the HEQ5, yes, you align it, tell it 2 or more stars to look at and then you dial up the item or object you want and off it goes auto slewing to the target and then maintains tracking on it for as long as you want. Just like Argo Navis only built into the mount.

10 inch scope would give you more light and details, but its a trade off on size/cost and light gathering. Most people here I have seen joining start with either an 8 or 10 inch DOB or EQ mounted OTA.

I have a 5 inch Skywatcher and am screaming out for some more aperture to be able to see stuff. As they say, APERTURE RULES, so the bigger the better. My suggestion was a compromise to be able to meet your budget but it still is a great combination of gear to start with, especially the computer control afforded by the GOTO mount. Keep in mind Argo Navis is great but generally is PUSH TO ( like a GPS navigator in the car - where it TELLS you to go somewhere) and GOTO mounts are like Autopilots who take you there like a chauffer driving you there.

I hope this helps.

Chris

[astrum (tony)]

ahha! thanx chris. i rather like the idea of the go-to. going to do some looking here in wollongong first ,then some looking online.eg andrews.and along the way lookup some more of these terms....lol.all we had in the late 70's as a kid was a 4" kmart reflector and starchart lol.used to get the ****s as you would focus on the moon and it would wizz past out of the field of view very quickly lol.want something that will 'track' as well. cheers