My name is David Wright, and I live in Townsville NQ. I work as a chef, and as such, have time to spend at night under the stars winding down after work.
My wife (bless her!!!) bought me a my first telecope last Xmas, and since then we have both enjoyed breathtaking views of the moon (of course), Jupiter and Saturn. It wasn't until I got my first real look at a DSO (Omega Centauri) that I was hooked. And hooked I am. I think you guys and girls call it 'aperture fever'?
I have spent a very enjoyable few days reading many of the posts on this forum, educating myself as I go. Of course, my head is into magazines and almost every Aussie website dedicated to Astronomy - especially those dedicated to supplying the necessities of this wonderful hobby: nice shiny new larger OTAs!!!
This is leading to the question you all must get tired of answering: What is my next step? I have budgeted around $2k for my next telescope. I would like to have the capacity to dabble in astrophotography down the track, so I figure I'll need a EQ mounted Newtonian. For the money, Kirk's in Melbourne have the following:
SAXON 250MM REFLECTOR TELESCOPE # 254mm Aperture, 1200mm Focal length # 2 Plossl, 31.7mm eyepieces # Finderscope # Superb HEQ5 Equatorial mount For a review of the mount go to: http://www.cloudynights.com/mounts2/heq5.htm # Dual axis Motor drive included for easy tracking The long focal length provides large image size combined with good light gathering
They don't mention the size or type of finderscope, or the type of focusser, or the brand of the EPs. However, this package is selling for "under $1500". From what I've seen, this sounds good. There are other brands available. eg Andrews have the 'Skywatcher' on an EQ6 mount for around $2000.
Do you think I'm on the right track here? What are the pitfalls, if any, of larger EQ mounted reflectors? I am aware that a large Dob would be cheaper and easier to use. I am using an EQ mount at the moment, with the 114mm 'scope my wife gave me. It did, and still does, take some getting used to, especially for overhead objects.
What about DSCs? Are these successful with EQ mounts with dual axis drives? Would I be able to track my target using DSCs for photographic purposes?
Sorry for rambling on, but I've been thinking about the right questions to ask without sounding too dumb .
I'm no expert on motorised mounts, but from my knowledge an EQ6 is probably required for the 10" newt - particularly if you want to take photos. That kind of adds significantly to the price
I work for the State Gov and have some ongoing project work in the Burdekin area that sees me wander through Townsville every now and again. I will give you a bell when I'm next passing through and we may even be able to organise an observing session
It's ok mate.. There's no dumb question's in here. Welcome to the forum Dave (& wife)
That's a hard task, to answer all your question's lol. Not that I own one but the best (reported) deal at the moment is a GSO from Andrew's communication's. OR Bintel.. Dob's seem to be the weapons of choice, because their cheaper than EQs as you already know. I'm not sure of the quality of Saxon scope's....Iv'e read reports ranging from really good, to total rubbish. I suggest you have a look around in Andrew's communications/Bintel & possibly AOE web-site's. But as I said, GSO seems to be the leader, as far as affordable reasonable quality scope's go. I have Park's Optic's in mine....a bit more up-market.
There's heaps more advise coming from other member's here, dont worry, lol. You'll begin to see a clearer picture of the different quality scopes available..
The main thing is dont impulse buy, wait for some more (heaps more) advise before you make a decision..
As Andrew mention's, the HEQ5 not being quite big enough to handle that skywatcher OTA I totally agree...EQ6 minimum IMHO.
An alternative...(& it's only a thought) There is a second-hand EQ6 in here for sale (or was, last time I looked for a grand) If you could get hold of just the OTA....weather it's A GSO or Vixen or skywatcher is yet to be determined, yes?
Next have you thought about getting some of the gear second hand. There is an EQ6 up for grabs for $1k in the buy and sell section of this forum, step one. Have a look at either Bintel or Andrews for a 10" GS dob with a Crayford focuser, step two. If you added mounting rings to the dob you could use it either as a dob for cruizing or on the EQ for photography. Effectively you will have two scopes for the price of one.
It takes a serious mount to handle a 10 inch f5 OTA, and for photography this OTA may be too heavy and long even for the eq6. You really need rock solid stability.
The GSO 8 inch f4 newt is reported to be excellent optically and being shorter it could be a good candidate for photography on an affordable mount.
Why not just go for aperture and get the 12" f/5 dob from Andrew's After looking through such a scope, you won't even want to bother about taking pictures. And a very warm welcome to you....
I'm no expert on motorised mounts, but from my knowledge an EQ6 is probably required for the 10" newt - particularly if you want to take photos. That kind of adds significantly to the price
I work for the State Gov and have some ongoing project work in the Burdekin area that sees me wander through Townsville every now and again. I will give you a bell when I'm next passing through and we may even be able to organise an observing session
Hi Andrew
Give me a tingle when you're in T'ville, I would love to meet with you and 'chew the fat'.
It may be difficult to arrange an observing session though, as I work 6 days/nights per week! Hence, I haven't been able to catch-up with any other local astronomy groups, as they tend to meet on weekends.
Just email me when you're next coming to the area.
I am going to sit tight for a while, and learn more before committing $$$ to this project, although I'm itching to 'get into it'. I do think however, that I'll go a little more upmarket, or should I say, go for better quality components than those offered by the cheapest supplier.
There have already been many good suggestions in this thread- I especially like the idea of the large dob/EQ conversion. Food for thought.
Meanwhile, I'm having a ball exploring websites, learning and dreaming about my new OTA!!!
In the meantime while you are anxiously waiting for a scope here is an eyepiece for you to look into and pretend. Just look into the letter 'O' below!! Cheers.
Saxon And Sky Watcher are made by the same folks, They have Synta mirrors in them. I have an 8" f/6 version on an EQ5 mount. And the view through it is excellent for what it is, and it compared very favourably with others when I was able to do a bit of a side by side test and really only limited by it aperture. The focuser is what you will want to change. I also hear that Synta's 8" f/6 mirror is one of the few they got right. Check my website out to see images I have taken through it. I believe the you would be better off with the EQ6 than the hybred HEQ5 which is I understand a beefed up version of the EQ5.
Can say this and I'm sure it cut right across their line of scopes the EP's that come with them are Cr@p!!
So if you buy a Saxon your really buying a Sky Watcher. Sometimes one is cheaper than the other. Still I would want to see one in action for myself before I brought one. I've never really heard what other folks say about Saxon. I thought I was the only one that owned one lol
Yup! just thought I would mention that. Saxon are just Sky Watcher's painted black. On Saxon's website (not sure if they still do) even most of their catalogue is in sky watcher blue. So I did some research and found they are the same just ordered by two different distributers.
It's the same with the Celestron Dob's for $2000.00+ for their 12" or you could just buy GSO's off Andrews or Bintel for half the price for the same scope pritty much, just a different colour
Humm come to think of it you could get the 12" f/5 GS dob and an equatorial platform like Mike. That would be doable. You get tracking plus good light grasp!
Humm come to think of it you could get the 12" f/5 GS dob and an equatorial platform like Mike. That would be doable. You get tracking plus good light grasp!
Darren
Darren,
No Offence Mike, But I heard they are rather expensive to land here in Oz,
considering they are made with wood. I want to look at one first. May even
try building one myself. I do have idea's on building a semi permenent EQ
platform for my yet to be built light bucket. It will be an all steel
construction. And will sit semi permanently in the yard, polar aligned ready
for imaging.
Another new stargazer
.
to the family.
