My Scope capability?

I recently bought a Bushnell scope for £200 and posted a message asking if I
had bought a good'n. I didn't like what I was gathering from the opinions I
received and fortunately I was able to get a refund (phew), thank's for
every ones advice.
I now have a Helios 130mm Newtonian 1000mm focal length scope with
equatorial mount and motor drive. The quality difference between this and
the Bushnell is vast. Am I safe in assuming that this time I have made a
sound purchase for a first time telescope?
What can I expect in the way of performance from this scope? If I set the
scope up in a remote area away from light pollution on a night of good
seeing, how well will it display Mars and the other planets? Will I be able
to see the rings of Saturn?

I now have a Helios 130mm Newtonian 1000mm focal length scope with
equatorial mount and motor drive. The quality difference between this and
the Bushnell is vast. Am I safe in assuming that this time I have made a
sound purchase for a first time telescope?

Did you seek out some advice before leaping into the second scope?
Glad that you got the refund. I'm not familiar with the make. 5" of mirror
should get you off to a reasonable start.

Capt RB

Robert Summerfield wrote in
:

I recently bought a Bushnell scope for £200 and posted a message
asking if I had bought a good'n. I didn't like what I was gathering
from the opinions I received and fortunately I was able to get a
refund (phew), thank's for every ones advice.
I now have a Helios 130mm Newtonian 1000mm focal length scope with
equatorial mount and motor drive. The quality difference between this
and the Bushnell is vast. Am I safe in assuming that this time I have
made a sound purchase for a first time telescope?
What can I expect in the way of performance from this scope? If I set
the scope up in a remote area away from light pollution on a night of
good seeing, how well will it display Mars and the other planets? Will
I be able to see the rings of Saturn?


I don't know this particular brand of Newt but is is always a good idea to
read up reviews and even better, join your local astronomy society and talk
to others and even get to look through a few scopes before buying. The
general opinion appears to be that you should steer clear of so called
"department store scopes".

You don't need to go to a dark area to view any of the planets you
mentioned. Planets are bright. Your five inch scope should certainly be
able to resolve Saturn's rings. Saturn and Jupiter are the most interesting
planets to view (don't forget the Moon though).

As with any Newtonian, you are going to have to learn the art of
collimation, i.e lining up the optics of your scope is essential to give
the best quality views. There are lots of web sites that explain how to do
this.

For viewing deep sky objects, a dark site is desirable. Your scope should
allow you to see all of the Messier objects. Working through them is a good
way to learn your way around the sky.

Regards Llanzlan.

"Llanzlan Klazmon The 15th" wrote in message
.6...
Robert Summerfield wrote in
:

I recently bought a Bushnell scope for £200 and posted a message
asking if I had bought a good'n. I didn't like what I was gathering
from the opinions I received and fortunately I was able to get a
refund (phew), thank's for every ones advice.
I now have a Helios 130mm Newtonian 1000mm focal length scope with
equatorial mount and motor drive. The quality difference between this
and the Bushnell is vast. Am I safe in assuming that this time I have
made a sound purchase for a first time telescope?
What can I expect in the way of performance from this scope? If I set
the scope up in a remote area away from light pollution on a night of
good seeing, how well will it display Mars and the other planets? Will
I be able to see the rings of Saturn?


I have the 114 and the 200mm scopes and have had no problems. Collimation
is quite easy and they represent VFM.

Good luck!

Martin A

I also have a 114mm, (excellent starter scope), collimation seems to be
something simple, however I haven't ever had to collimate it yet.

Saturn was cool to look at. Just as everything else, it's not at big as I
would like for it to be. The planet, that is!

D-

"Llanzlan Klazmon The 15th" wrote in message
.6...
Robert Summerfield wrote in
:

I recently bought a Bushnell scope for £200 and posted a message
asking if I had bought a good'n. I didn't like what I was gathering
from the opinions I received and fortunately I was able to get a
refund (phew), thank's for every ones advice.
I now have a Helios 130mm Newtonian 1000mm focal length scope with
equatorial mount and motor drive. The quality difference between this
and the Bushnell is vast. Am I safe in assuming that this time I have
made a sound purchase for a first time telescope?
What can I expect in the way of performance from this scope? If I set
the scope up in a remote area away from light pollution on a night of
good seeing, how well will it display Mars and the other planets? Will
I be able to see the rings of Saturn?


I don't know this particular brand of Newt but is is always a good idea to
read up reviews and even better, join your local astronomy society and
talk
to others and even get to look through a few scopes before buying. The
general opinion appears to be that you should steer clear of so called
"department store scopes".

You don't need to go to a dark area to view any of the planets you
mentioned. Planets are bright. Your five inch scope should certainly be
able to resolve Saturn's rings. Saturn and Jupiter are the most
interesting
planets to view (don't forget the Moon though).

As with any Newtonian, you are going to have to learn the art of
collimation, i.e lining up the optics of your scope is essential to give
the best quality views. There are lots of web sites that explain how to do
this.

For viewing deep sky objects, a dark site is desirable. Your scope should
allow you to see all of the Messier objects. Working through them is a
good
way to learn your way around the sky.

Regards Llanzlan.