Selecting a telescope

I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some investigation I
now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector. I would like the
opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see what can actually be
seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in Ross on Wye,
Herefordshire.
Also, how worthwhile (for a beginner) are the computerised GoTo systems.
They sound like a great idea, but they add a lot to the cost, and are they
accurate and reliable?
One more question while the going's good. Both Meade and Celestron appear to
have good ranges of telescopes. Does anyone have any comments about these
makes, good or bad.
Thanks

"Peter Clarke" wrote in
:

I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some
investigation I now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector.
I would like the opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see
what can actually be seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in
Ross on Wye, Herefordshire.

Much depends on whether or not you want to regularly transport the scope.
You will want to consider how easily it fits in your vehicle. Most six or
eight inch Dobsonian reflectors can be transported in a typical family car.
The "lazy susan" base is likely to be the difficult part to deal with.
Beware of the cheaper equatorial mounted scopes as the mountings are often
unstable. Try before you buy is alwats a good idea. Whatever you do, don't
buy one of those fast F4 reflectors on an equatorial mount!

Also, how worthwhile (for a beginner) are the computerised GoTo systems.
They sound like a great idea, but they add a lot to the cost, and are
they accurate and reliable?

I believe the Meade and Celestron ones can work very well but how reliable
they are is another question. The more electronic gee-gaws you add, the
more that can go wrong. Choose a dealer who is prompt at dealing with
warrantee issues. Join an Astronomy society in your area and you will have
a local source of advice and the chance to check out various scopes in
action.


One more question while the going's good. Both Meade and Celestron
appear to have good ranges of telescopes. Does anyone have any comments
about these makes, good or bad.

For their SCT's they are much of a muchness. Celestron nearly went broke a
year or so ago and was rescued by the Taiwanese company Synta Optical Corp.
Synta themselves primarily make Dobsonian reflectors and small refractors
which are sold under various brand names in different parts of the world.
The Celestron SCT's are still manufactured in the US I believe but any new
Dobsonians or refractors with the Cellestron brand name are most likely
made in Synta's factory in mainland China.

Synta's main opposition for the cheaper end of the scope market would be
another Taiwanese Company called Guang Sheng Optics (GSO). They supply
Meade with some stuff but Meade's SCT's and RCX's are manufactured in North
America or Mexico.

Klazmon.



Thanks

In article ,
Peter Clarke wrote:
I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some investigation I
now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector. I would like the
opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see what can actually be
seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in Ross on Wye,
Herefordshire.

Trying to find a star party would be the obvious approach. They don't
seem to be very common in the UK though.

Also, how worthwhile (for a beginner) are the computerised GoTo systems.
They sound like a great idea, but they add a lot to the cost, and are they
accurate and reliable?

I have two Meade scopes, an LX90 and an ETX-105, so they both use the
same Meade GOTO system. It works fine. As long as I take care with the
initial alignment, it's usually good enough to remain accurate for a
couple of hours' observing before needing realignment.

One more question while the going's good. Both Meade and Celestron appear to
have good ranges of telescopes. Does anyone have any comments about these
makes, good or bad.

I'm happy with both of my Meade scopes. The drive system on the LX90
is rather better than the ETX, but of course the ETX was a *lot*
cheaper. I actually bought the ETX second, to provide me with a
portable scope (the LX90 is not really portable - luggable, maybe).
I've set both scopes up at the same time in the past to compare the views
between the two. Unsurprisingly the resolving power of the LX90 was
considerably better than the ETX-105. Still, the ETX was a joy to use
when I took it to the Caribbean last month, and I got some nice views of
various deep sky objects which are a bit too far south to get decent
views at home (e.g. Lagoon Nebula, Swan Nebula etc).

Tim

In article ,
Llanzlan Klazmon wrote:
"Peter Clarke" wrote in
:
Much depends on whether or not you want to regularly transport the scope.
You will want to consider how easily it fits in your vehicle. Most six or
eight inch Dobsonian reflectors can be transported in a typical family car.
The "lazy susan" base is likely to be the difficult part to deal with.
Beware of the cheaper equatorial mounted scopes as the mountings are often
unstable. Try before you buy is alwats a good idea. Whatever you do, don't
buy one of those fast F4 reflectors on an equatorial mount!

What, you mean something like a Meade LXD-55? Why? I'm just curious -
not thinking of buying one.

Tim

I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some
investigation I now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector.
I would like the opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see
what can actually be seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in
Ross on Wye, Herefordshire.


there are three local societies near to Ross.

Worcester AS
Cotswold AS
Monmouth Astro. Research Group

(websites and/or contacts are on the Federation of Astronomical
Societies website www.fedastro.org.uk )

I am sure all would be able to help, and give you some advice, and
might have observing nights where you could try out different scopes.

For visual observing you can't beat a big dobsonian for value for
money, so unless you are infirm, my advice is to buy as big a scope as
you can afford !

Clear skies,
Callum

Llanzlan,
Thanks for the comments. This gives me more to think about.
Regards
Peter

"Llanzlan Klazmon" wrote in message
7.6...
"Peter Clarke" wrote in
:

I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some
investigation I now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector.
I would like the opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see
what can actually be seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in
Ross on Wye, Herefordshire.

Much depends on whether or not you want to regularly transport the scope.
You will want to consider how easily it fits in your vehicle. Most six or
eight inch Dobsonian reflectors can be transported in a typical family
car.
The "lazy susan" base is likely to be the difficult part to deal with.
Beware of the cheaper equatorial mounted scopes as the mountings are often
unstable. Try before you buy is alwats a good idea. Whatever you do, don't
buy one of those fast F4 reflectors on an equatorial mount!

Also, how worthwhile (for a beginner) are the computerised GoTo systems.
They sound like a great idea, but they add a lot to the cost, and are
they accurate and reliable?

I believe the Meade and Celestron ones can work very well but how reliable
they are is another question. The more electronic gee-gaws you add, the
more that can go wrong. Choose a dealer who is prompt at dealing with
warrantee issues. Join an Astronomy society in your area and you will have
a local source of advice and the chance to check out various scopes in
action.


One more question while the going's good. Both Meade and Celestron
appear to have good ranges of telescopes. Does anyone have any comments
about these makes, good or bad.

For their SCT's they are much of a muchness. Celestron nearly went broke a
year or so ago and was rescued by the Taiwanese company Synta Optical
Corp.
Synta themselves primarily make Dobsonian reflectors and small refractors
which are sold under various brand names in different parts of the world.
The Celestron SCT's are still manufactured in the US I believe but any new
Dobsonians or refractors with the Cellestron brand name are most likely
made in Synta's factory in mainland China.

Synta's main opposition for the cheaper end of the scope market would be
another Taiwanese Company called Guang Sheng Optics (GSO). They supply
Meade with some stuff but Meade's SCT's and RCX's are manufactured in
North
America or Mexico.

Klazmon.



Thanks

Callum,
Thanks for the info on societies.
I wasn't really considering a Dobsonion, but I will now have to look at
them.
Regards
Peter
wrote in message
oups.com...


I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some
investigation I now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector.
I would like the opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see
what can actually be seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in
Ross on Wye, Herefordshire.


there are three local societies near to Ross.

Worcester AS
Cotswold AS
Monmouth Astro. Research Group

(websites and/or contacts are on the Federation of Astronomical
Societies website www.fedastro.org.uk )

I am sure all would be able to help, and give you some advice, and
might have observing nights where you could try out different scopes.

For visual observing you can't beat a big dobsonian for value for
money, so unless you are infirm, my advice is to buy as big a scope as
you can afford !

Clear skies,
Callum

Tim,
Your comments on GoTo systems are interesting, thanks.
I liked the look of the ETX but discounted it due to the limited aperature
size. Maybe I should think again.
Life is hard.
Regards
Peter

"Tim Cutts" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Peter Clarke wrote:
I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get. After some investigation
I
now am thinking of something like a 6" or 8" reflector. I would like the
opportunity of looking through some telescopes to see what can actually be
seen. Does anyone have any suggestions. I live in Ross on Wye,
Herefordshire.

Trying to find a star party would be the obvious approach. They don't
seem to be very common in the UK though.

Also, how worthwhile (for a beginner) are the computerised GoTo systems.
They sound like a great idea, but they add a lot to the cost, and are they
accurate and reliable?

I have two Meade scopes, an LX90 and an ETX-105, so they both use the
same Meade GOTO system. It works fine. As long as I take care with the
initial alignment, it's usually good enough to remain accurate for a
couple of hours' observing before needing realignment.

One more question while the going's good. Both Meade and Celestron appear
to
have good ranges of telescopes. Does anyone have any comments about these
makes, good or bad.

I'm happy with both of my Meade scopes. The drive system on the LX90
is rather better than the ETX, but of course the ETX was a *lot*
cheaper. I actually bought the ETX second, to provide me with a
portable scope (the LX90 is not really portable - luggable, maybe).
I've set both scopes up at the same time in the past to compare the views
between the two. Unsurprisingly the resolving power of the LX90 was
considerably better than the ETX-105. Still, the ETX was a joy to use
when I took it to the Caribbean last month, and I got some nice views of
various deep sky objects which are a bit too far south to get decent
views at home (e.g. Lagoon Nebula, Swan Nebula etc).

Tim

Tim Cutts wrote in
:

In article ,
Llanzlan Klazmon wrote:
"Peter Clarke" wrote in
:
Much depends on whether or not you want to regularly transport the
scope. You will want to consider how easily it fits in your vehicle.
Most six or eight inch Dobsonian reflectors can be transported in a
typical family car. The "lazy susan" base is likely to be the difficult
part to deal with. Beware of the cheaper equatorial mounted scopes as
the mountings are often unstable. Try before you buy is alwats a good
idea. Whatever you do, don't buy one of those fast F4 reflectors on an
equatorial mount!

What, you mean something like a Meade LXD-55? Why? I'm just curious -
not thinking of buying one.

That mount is probably ok as long as it is not overloaded. I suspect that
some of the OTAs that Meade sell with it are too heavy or too long for it.
This may well be the case with putting an 8" F4 newt on it. Besides which a
Newt with an F4 mirror has horrific off axis aberrations which goes against
why you would buy such a scope - i,e for wide field views. Also most
eyepieces will not work well with an F4 scope. A friend bought a similar
mount and scope combination (not a Meade one) before seeking advice. He had
to take it back in disgust.

Klamzon


Tim

On Sun, 3 Sep 2006 21:34:05 +0100, in uk.sci.astronomy , "Peter
Clarke" wrote:

I am looking to buy a telescope but never having had one before, I am
uncertain what size (aperture) telescope to get.

Read this, by one of the regulars he

http://www.astunit.com/tutorials/tutorial.htm

its also in the FAQ for this group.

Also, how worthwhile (for a beginner) are the computerised GoTo systems.
They sound like a great idea, but they add a lot to the cost, and are they
accurate and reliable?

Waste of money. Learn to do it by hand first, its part of the fun.

One more question while the going's good. Both Meade and Celestron appear to
have good ranges of telescopes. Does anyone have any comments about these
makes, good or bad.

Some will tell oyu they're ripoffs, expensive though reliable. There
are many other makes that are good too.
--
Mark McIntyre