Wanting to buy first scope in wa

[dan_b85 (Dan)]

Hi all, I want to buy my first scope,
I was going to buy a seben but a goggle search told me otherwise,
I'm just kean on looking at the moon,mars, and the closer planets at this stage,
I travel a bit so I wana some thing easy to move but I can lift heavy things tho.
If some body around Perth has any of the below and woudnt mind me haveing a look see would be top notch
Dan


http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx


http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx


http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx

[Starcrazzy]

The 8" dob would be best bang for buck out of those 3. Easy to set up and operate, and 8" of aperture will yield nice views. Collimation is a bit of an art though, nothing to be scared of but certainly needs doing at least occasionally..The refractor would also be nice, with an easy alt mount. And would need no collimation. The newt on the eq mount would require the most work, set up and collimation wise, but, it would track for you..(I think) Horses for courses really.

[Sarge (Rod)]

I agree, the Bintel or SW 8" reflector on a Dob mount is really good value for money. Spend a little more and you can get the goto version. EQ mounts are better, but they take a bit of learning and knowledge (polar and star alignment), best to leave that till later. An easy to use dob is a great starting point. But if you are only interested in looking at the moon,mars, and the closer planets you may find some of them a little disapointing - Mars is really a let down, small brown fuzzy disc. The 8" will let you see the wonders of our galaxy and the universe, and don't be fightened by "collimation" - its really not that hard to master with the right tools.

Clear skies

Rod

[Niall]

FYI, google BTOW. They are a store in perth that will do an 8" Dob for the same price and will provide a free lesson. And assuming you live in the metropolitan area you will be able to save on shipping. They were at the Perth Astrofest and seemed very friendly and knowledable.

[ColHut (Colin)]

I think an 8"F6 is a great compromise. Plenty of light grasp, easy to use, More forgiving on eyepieces then faster scopes (like a 10"f5 say). An acquaintance of mine has one and it is very good.
You will have to find something to look at other than planets though!
There are reviews on this site of similar products, and also on cloudynights.com

regards and welcome

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

My opinion is this

Stay away from the refractor that you have shown, its a achromatic not a apochromatic. Difference is colour correction, aka the colours do not focus at the same point hence you will have purple fringing and the like.

You have shown in those 3 that although your looking for portable your possibly not looking for micro, its all in what you are prepared to lug around.

The 10" and 8" telescopes are the same length (eg focal lengths are both 1200mm) though the 10" is slightly fatter the OD of the tube is approximately 300mm for the 10 and about 250 for the 8. I used to carry my 10" and base around in a mazda MX6 coupe so they are portable and now i carry close to 150kgs of equipment and the 10" across the back seat of my magna wagon here if you look in the reflection of the window on the left hand side you will just see the tube and of course the seat belts are holding it down

I have the 10" SW dob but it has been majorly modified for use as a astrograph (see my website below for what they are capable of).

Collimation is a piece of P155 and its not till you start doing photography and get down into the F4 and under that they become a little pedantic so there is no dob that you will buy that is in that range a good combination cheshire/sight tube will do for your collimation until you figure out where to go. If you want I can teach you how to collimate your telescope in about 30 minutes. I live down in Mandurah but work in the city so there is no issue of catching up sometime

Brendan