New member looking for advice

[{RainmakeR} (Colin)]

Hi all,

Good to be here, this looks like a great site. I'm looking for a little advice on what's the best choice for my future amateur astronomy exploits. I'm sure many of you have some really awesome kit, but I am currently about as amateur as you can get with a rather pathetic cheap 60mm refractor! But even with it's terrible optics it's enough to whet my appetite for more.

Even with this cheap scope I can see great lunar detail (even though it's blinding without a filter), Saturn's rings are clear and Jupiter + the 4 large moons can be seen clearly, at least when it's in view at a reasonable time rather than the current 2-3am.

So... I am trying to decide what to do next. I guess it's prudent to state my requirements:

• I would love to see greater detail on the planets, such as the banding on Jupiter
• I would love to be able to see deep space objects with some clarity
• I understand that DSO's will always appear as fuzzy grey blobs to the naked eye, so eventually I'd love to try astrophotography
• Motor tracking/goto would be nice, I'm sure I can manage without it though
• Budget is not huge

But, being an amateur, I have no clue about what to get. A great big Dob is obviously the best choice for sheer aperture to cost ratio, but then there is no hope of motor tracking, and photography is really difficult, yes?

There is a Celestron Nexstar 4 for sale that I have my eye on at the moment. Are they any good; would it be a good scope to move up to from the one I have at the moment?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Kind regards,

Colin {R}

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Hi Colin,

Here's my 10 cents worth. I started with a 10" dob and later bought an EQ6 and mounted the 10" optical tube on the EQ6. I can put the tube back on the dob base for a quick visual setup or do astrophotography on the mount. I subsequently purchased an ED80 for widefield DSLR photography that can go on the EQ6 and then a guide scope.

The great thing about this approach is you get aperature at quite low cost early but can upgrade progressively as the budget allows (and I've done a lot of upgrading over the past year).

You can take basic lunar and planetary images through a dob without tracking but need to track for longer exposure deep sky imaging.

One issue with imaging using a dob is achieving focus as typically there isn't enough inward travel on the focuser (especially for DSLR's). There are a number of ways to get around this depending on how much the focus needs to move in.

Peter

[{RainmakeR} (Colin)]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the reply... OK I think I've decided against getting one of these smaller aperture reflectors (like the 4" or 5" Celestron NexStars) because I guess you're paying mostly for the mount and I've seen a lot of very mixed reviews of these scopes - plus the Alt/Az tracking is useless for long-exposure astrophotography, yes?

Anyway... I've been looking at GSO dobs from Andrews, they seem to be highly regarded for budget scopes...? What can I expect to see with an 8" or 10" GSO dob? Will I need to buy extra eyepieces, filters etc? I think what you suggested, i.e. start with the big scope but simple mount, and then eventually move to a more complex mount is a good approach for managing budget and bang-for-buck over time.

So is a big Guan Sheng dob a good choice? Sorry for so many questions, but I want to get it right.

Cheers,

Colin {R}

[sheeny (Al)]

Yep, a GSO DOB is a great place to start.

You will notice a big improvement in resolution and light gathering over your 60mm scope.

As for extra EPs and filters. I would suggest you hold off on the filters for a while with the exception of a moon filter (or neutral density filter) to tone down the moon because you will want to look at it.

Good filters for astrophotography will be reasonably expensive compared to the cheapies that are offered up for visual work, so I recommend holding off on buying coloured filters until you need them for astrophotography, or you are getting serious about using them visually. I have a set of Celestron filters that to perfectly honest I don't use much.

If you can afford the 10" DOB, get that in poreference to the 8". It'll give you a bit more than 50% more light gathering power, so faint DSO's will be easier to see, and more detail will be visible in the brighter ones. Aperture rules, OK?

If you are going to buy extra EP's I'd suggest you buy the best quality EPs you can afford. If possible, get along to some viewing nights and try different EPs.

Al.

[Kevnool (Kev)]

I cant give you more advice because Al has said it all.
Aperture rules.
Jump in get your dob and give us a report on how it all goes.
P.S. when you decide to buy ask the seller for a quick guide to collimation of the mirrors.

Cheers Kev.

[Robert9 (Robert)]

Hi Collin,
The Nexstar 4 would be a nice telescope which would be an improvement on what you have, but if you were to go that way, I would suggest one with a larger aperture. I love my 6" which is wonderfully transportable when I head off with wife, dog and caravan. If however you want a scope for general home use, I would definitely support the others and say go the DOB - the bigger the better, as long as you can physically handle it.
Robert

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by Kevnool

I cant give you more advice because Al has said it all.
Aperture rules.
Jump in get your dob and give us a report on how it all goes.
P.S. when you decide to buy ask the seller for a quick guide to collimation of the mirrors.

Cheers Kev.

I meant to mention that, but Kev got it anyway.

You will need to come to grips with collimation of the newt right from the start so make sure you get what you need to do this. I used to use a cheshire EP, etc back in the old days when I had a newt. These days there are laser collimators which I can't advise about, but whatever, way you go, you need to learn to collimate the scope right from the start.

Al.

[BC]

Hi Colin,

I have done the same as peter_4059 by starting with the GSO 10" dob and 3 years later, buying an EQ6 mount. The tube can go on either the EQ mount or dob base. This does make a pretty large arrangement so you need to consider how you get the whole setup into place. In dob setup, you can easily wheel the whole setup into place on a red Super Cheap trolley. It gets trickier on the EQ mount, but perhaps that's for later anyway, considering the budget. I know some have mounted 12" tubes on these mounts but I find the 10" to be pretty hefty as it is. The 10" gives great aperture but leaves it more open to EQ mounting later, with tube rings being much more affordable (or at least this was true when I did it)

Bruce

[peter_4059 (Peter)]

Hi Colin,

I agree with what the others have said. I reckon a 10" scope on an EQ6 is a great all-round setup and starting with a GSO dob and then adding the EQ6 later is an affordable path to get there. As Bruce says you can also maintain the dob versatility.

My GSO dob came with a couple of basic eyepieces. I traded these for a couple of Orion Expanse eyepieces when I purchased the scope and these have served me well. I wouldn't go buying a whole lot of filters and eyepieces up front until you've had a chance to look through a few and really work out what you want - try to get along to an astrocamp somewhere where you can look through a few different bits of kit.

As for what yo can expect to see with 10" dob - great for saturn, jup and the moon (need a moon filter). Really good for Nebulae, open clusters and glob clusters from suburbs. Can make out some of the brighter galaxies from suburbs depending on the sky-glow. At a dark site you'll see heaps.

Peter

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

Hi Colin

How much do you have to spend? Maybe find someone in Canberra with some gear and go have a look through thiers, see what you think !!

[rmcpb (Rob)]

All the above advice is great. Go for a dob, get familiar with the sky, SLOWLY upgrade to better eyepieces, learn to collimate, purchase a GEM and camera and you have the best of both worlds for visual and astrophotography.

Take it in pieces and don't rush it.

[goober (Doug)]

Yep, given your criteria - get a dob, perhaps 8-10", and use it for a year. If you're still happy to lug it outside, collimate it, let it cool down and all the other things you need to do with dobs to keep them happy (better springs, teflon pad upgrades, etc) then maybe get a bigger one