hey everyone my names Nick from Adelaide South Australia!

[XSSV (Nick)]

Hey everyone my names Nick and im from from Adelaide South Australia! im very glad to joining the site!

I know you guys have seen these posts a lot my apologies im new to all of this!!

ive always thought about the sky and have watched so many documentaries over the years and to be honest am constantly humbled and mind blown by whats above us!

after viewing and appreciating the night sky with binoculars on and off over the last 6 months im really considering taking my passion further and getting a telescope , 2 nice eye pieces, a nice diagonal, a nice 2x barlow and a web cam (for planetary astrophotography) I live near the beach and about 10 km away from my small city.

im still not sure what style of telescope, size or what necessary eye pieces, brands & or accessories to get mainly for decent real time views, a little convineincy, a little mobility, decent planetary viewing and some astrophotography (the typical shots - saturn, jupiter ect)

i do understand alot of this comes down to $$$ and viewing conditions
my budget is around $3-4k and i do want a decent scope i can keep for years.
at the moment im looking at
-Celestron evo 9.25
-William Optics 2" Dielectric Diagonal
-Tele vue 2x Barlow
-Tele vue 6mm & 13mm ethos eyepieces
-celestron SKYRIS 618M
- some filters
- due shield
-maybe a better finder scope?

i know you guys will probs laugh at my list (i kind of like the idea of the convenience with the inbuilt battery and app feature) but i would really appreciate some advice from anyone of you experienced folks who has free time and am more than open to your suggestions. What would be a more appropriate setup? what do you guys have? what would you guys do different if you could start again? am i missing something? do i need 2inch eyepieces or different mag eyepieces? is there something i can achieve with out the ethos's eyepieces and spend less on? do i need a bigger telescope to get a clear close up view of saturn ad jupiter in real time?
any recommendations on what my viewing experience would be with this setup or your setup?

Thanks heaps everyone!!

[Atmos (Colin)]

Hey Nick,

That looks like a fantastic setup to begin with, FAR better than my choice some 6-7 years ago! I have a Meade LX200 which I started using batteries in the fork arms for convenience. Later got a 12v battery so I wouldn't gave to keep buying little batteries.

I think you'll be really happy with your choice there

[Somnium (Aidan)]

Hi Nick,

Sounds like a good set up. Each scope style, size and design have their place. So it really comes down to how you want to use it and for what type of observing. You have to weigh up size v portability, focal length for wide or narrow fov, dso imaging v planetary (eq mount v alt az), how much time are you willing to spend setting up each night. The set up you are looking at is nice but be aware of its limitations. It is an alt az mount so not great for imaging dso's, has a very long focal length so the fov will be small and it does not have a huge aperture so the f ratio is 10 making deep sky objects fainter than say a f4 dob. This set up would be good to image and view planets though.

Amateur astronomers are always happy to talk to you about equipment etc, so my advice is to make your way to a star party in your local area. There should be a variety of scopes you can have a look through. If your main focus is observing rather than imaging, I would do that. Not only can you see the view you get but you also see the set up, size, complexity of use etc.

Spending this sort of money is a pretty big commitment so look around, do your research ( not saying that you haven't) and make sure the scope you buy is the one that will get used often and provide the most satisfaction.

[rbronca]

Hello Nick. Before painting yourself into a corner, I strongly recommend attending an ASSA public viewing night to get a feel of what others are using and what various scopes are capable of.
I'm the coordinator for the Heights night on Friday the 21st August, with the Starparty at Stockport on the 22nd. (The Star party is part of science week and is free entry).
It is also well worth becoming an ASSA member as there are numerous other member events and a far larger range of scopes than at the public events.
There are lots of members that are willing to help guide you.

[SkyWatch (Dean)]

Hi Nick,

I agree with Rob: no need to rush in until you have had a look at what others are doing, and it is a great idea to join the ASSA. Lots of friendly people who are very happy to show you their stuff.
Looking at your proposed setup, you have some serious kit there, but you might want to look at at least one lower power eyepiece. The 13mm will give you around 180x (360X with the barlow!), and the 9mm 260x (520x with the barlow!!!). It is not all that often that atmospheric conditions will allow 260x and above, and you might be disappointed with fuzzy views at those powers unless you have a really good night.
I would strongly suggest you get something that will give you lower power, wider field views as well; say an eyepiece in the 26mm (90x) - 40mm (60x) range.

All the best,

Dean

[XSSV (Nick)]

Thanks Colin for your encouragement which i need haha! im still deciding but will probably get something this year!!

Thankyou Aiden for your insightful post, yea im mainly looking at planetry viewing but could be swayed on dso as i havent looked through a decent telescope. ill take your word and keep doing some more research

Hey Rob i agree i think its a great idea i come and visit you guys on the heights night to have a chat and check it out! ill suss out assa and join for sure Rob cheers see you next friday! when what time is it ok to come down?

also thanks dean for your take on eye pieces too, im still not sure if its worth getting something crazy as a 6mm (u could be right i probs might get disapointed with viewing conditions and blurryness and can achieve something simmilar with a 2x barlow) will definatly suss out the 26mm instead of the 6mm now!

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Nick
I am agreeing with Dean. A 6mm Ethos is a very expensive way to discover the frustrations of high power observing. 6mm in that scope will give 391x which would be really pushing it. I only occasionally go over 150x and find that adequate for most objects. Yes planets are a target that require a bit of power, but you will be surprised how much you can see at moderate (ie: 100x to 150x) powers.

Malcolm

[rbronca]

The night starts at 8PM on the 21st.
Location details are here. https://www.assa.org.au/facilities/theheights/

I'm currently getting the date added back into the calendar again as it's slipped off.

If the weather is cloudy it will likely be canceled. Final decision is an hour or two before hand.

We tend to be busy at the start, but this should quieten down later, depending on how many people attend.

[XSSV (Nick)]

Hey man! i will see you at the next night! cheers heaps!