Help me please

Looking for advice on which Telescope to buy.
I was living in London for 8 years and have now moved upto Northumberland,
and as it's actually dark at night,
I thought I'd buy myself a Telescope.
Astronomy is always something I've had a slight interest in, but have never
took up except when I was about 13
and had a little telescope that I could not even use, I look through the
view finder at the moon, then through the telescope
eyepiece and there would be nothing there.
SO I guess you can say I'm a total beginner.

I'm wanting something that will do for a beginner and a intermediate level
of use.

I'm under the impression that Meade are pretty good, am I right in thinking
that?

I was toying with the idea of the Meade DS-2114AT 114mm Reflector, any good?
What will I be able to see with that?

I'm looking to spend no more that£800 but would if possible like to keep it
around the £600.

Again, what will I be able to view with Telescopes in this price range?

Any suggestion on telescope makes and using the things are most welcome
drop me a line at gavin_hunt_@excite dotcom or respond to this email.

Thank you
Gavin

Gavin,
Is telescope portability and weight an issue or is it going to be
permanantly set-up somewhere? You mention the meade DS2114 which is
computer controlled- is computer control/GOTO essential or are you willing
to find objects yourself? Do you want the option of motor drives?

Sorry I havent answered any of your questions but the above will greatly
influence what telescope choices there are.


Regards, Mark

Hi Gavin.

You've got a pretty healthy budget for your scope £600 is good, but the £800
is alot better. The biggest piece of advice is to spend all that on the
optics and mount. Getting the biggest studiest scope possible will give you
the best results.

First thing that you need to do is decide which scope to get. This is
really only a decision that you can make, as only you really know how the
scope is going to be used and what other things need to be taken into
consideration (portability etc)

OK, working at the lower end of the spectrum. I've just bought a 3"
SkyWatcher StarTravel 80 (from www.warehouseexpress.com) It's a good scope,
and at £149 it's cheap (I'm using is as a guide scope). This scope is very
basic - no motor drives. It's actually quite difficult to use to aim at a
target. Although basic, I'd certianly not reccomend it to a beginner!

For ease if use, although the GOTO scopes add a level if technicality,
they're great. It means that you don't need to learn the night sky, indeed
the scope will teach you this given enough time. All the professional
observatories use GOTO, so for maximum ease of use, so should you. Some
people want to learn to use the scopes without the aid of GOTO, good for
them, it's definatly a skill in itself.

Now onto the matter at hand.....

For your budget, I've have to go with the ETX105 Premier Edition UHTC at
£774.99. This have the #497 Autostar, which I have for my LX-90. I know
this scope is at the top of your budget, but here's the thinking behind my
recommendation. Firstly the ETX ranges is scopes are a mature product
line. There are still alot of people getting these scope's who complain
about them, but I think you'll find that these are the minority. My Uncle
has an ETX125 and it's great. If you talk to Telescope House, (I think
they're they dealers for the UK) they should be able to give the scope the
once over to make sure that it's 100%, although I really wouldn't worry
about this, it's what the warrenty is for. On a more positive note, you'll
be getting about 5" of good quality optics, a sturdy mount, and a GOTO! The
scope can be connected to a computer to improve make the GOTO even easier to
use, but this isn't necessary. There are loads of resources on the internet
that support the Meade Autostar scopes check out Mike Weasners site to get
some idea of the scale this support.

I wouldn't bother with the 114mm (4.5" scope) as you'll soon outgrow it, the
extra .5" of optics translates to alot more light gathering power. If you
did get that scope, I'm fairly certien that you'll outgrow it very quickly,
and want to get something bigger.

One more thing that I should mention aboutht ETX scopes (infact this seems
to be all Meade scopes) don't bother with the internal batteries - they're
useless for these scopes in the UK. You're best off getting an external
power supply, but don't get one from Telescope house. You can easily build
a power cable using parts from Maplin's for about a tenner, just be sure to
get it right, and don't forget to add a fuse into the mix, the Mease scopes
are not fused! You'll also need a meaty battery to plug the power cable
into you can get one of these from Lidl, they go on offer every so often for
about a tenner, complete with charger. Using this will give you a few
nights observing, and I'd be shocked if you managed to flatten one within a
week of charging.

Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com


"gavin" wrote in message
...
Looking for advice on which Telescope to buy.
I was living in London for 8 years and have now moved upto Northumberland,
and as it's actually dark at night,
I thought I'd buy myself a Telescope.
Astronomy is always something I've had a slight interest in, but have
never took up except when I was about 13
and had a little telescope that I could not even use, I look through the
view finder at the moon, then through the telescope
eyepiece and there would be nothing there.
SO I guess you can say I'm a total beginner.

I'm wanting something that will do for a beginner and a intermediate level
of use.

I'm under the impression that Meade are pretty good, am I right in
thinking that?

I was toying with the idea of the Meade DS-2114AT 114mm Reflector, any
good?
What will I be able to see with that?

I'm looking to spend no more that£800 but would if possible like to keep
it around the £600.

Again, what will I be able to view with Telescopes in this price range?

Any suggestion on telescope makes and using the things are most welcome
drop me a line at gavin_hunt_@excite dotcom or respond to this email.

Thank you
Gavin

Oh yeah

You might also want to take a look at other scopes, Orion, SkyWatcher, and
the many, many others. Obviously, my view is very blinkered by my good
experience with Meade. However the Best scope that I've every seen though
was Mike Alexanders (At the Galloway Astronomy Centre) Orion 8", for the
size of scope it performed more like a 10"! But that was a few years ago.

I do heavily recommend that you don't take one persons advice, look around
at the multitude of different scopes that are available. But I do recommend
that you blow your entire budget on the optics and mount, these are the
foundation of your setup, get this right and you'll be set for a long time,
get it wrong and you'll either sell up and forget the hobby, or throw lots
more money at getting a new scope!

Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com

"Colin Dawson" wrote in message
. uk...
Hi Gavin.

You've got a pretty healthy budget for your scope £600 is good, but the
£800 is alot better. The biggest piece of advice is to spend all that on
the optics and mount. Getting the biggest studiest scope possible will
give you the best results.

First thing that you need to do is decide which scope to get. This is
really only a decision that you can make, as only you really know how the
scope is going to be used and what other things need to be taken into
consideration (portability etc)

OK, working at the lower end of the spectrum. I've just bought a 3"
SkyWatcher StarTravel 80 (from www.warehouseexpress.com) It's a good
scope, and at £149 it's cheap (I'm using is as a guide scope). This scope
is very basic - no motor drives. It's actually quite difficult to use to
aim at a target. Although basic, I'd certianly not reccomend it to a
beginner!

For ease if use, although the GOTO scopes add a level if technicality,
they're great. It means that you don't need to learn the night sky,
indeed the scope will teach you this given enough time. All the
professional observatories use GOTO, so for maximum ease of use, so should
you. Some people want to learn to use the scopes without the aid of
GOTO, good for them, it's definatly a skill in itself.

Now onto the matter at hand.....

For your budget, I've have to go with the ETX105 Premier Edition UHTC at
£774.99. This have the #497 Autostar, which I have for my LX-90. I know
this scope is at the top of your budget, but here's the thinking behind my
recommendation. Firstly the ETX ranges is scopes are a mature product
line. There are still alot of people getting these scope's who complain
about them, but I think you'll find that these are the minority. My
Uncle has an ETX125 and it's great. If you talk to Telescope House, (I
think they're they dealers for the UK) they should be able to give the
scope the once over to make sure that it's 100%, although I really
wouldn't worry about this, it's what the warrenty is for. On a more
positive note, you'll be getting about 5" of good quality optics, a sturdy
mount, and a GOTO! The scope can be connected to a computer to improve
make the GOTO even easier to use, but this isn't necessary. There are
loads of resources on the internet that support the Meade Autostar scopes
check out Mike Weasners site to get some idea of the scale this support.

I wouldn't bother with the 114mm (4.5" scope) as you'll soon outgrow it,
the extra .5" of optics translates to alot more light gathering power. If
you did get that scope, I'm fairly certien that you'll outgrow it very
quickly, and want to get something bigger.

One more thing that I should mention aboutht ETX scopes (infact this seems
to be all Meade scopes) don't bother with the internal batteries - they're
useless for these scopes in the UK. You're best off getting an external
power supply, but don't get one from Telescope house. You can easily
build a power cable using parts from Maplin's for about a tenner, just be
sure to get it right, and don't forget to add a fuse into the mix, the
Mease scopes are not fused! You'll also need a meaty battery to plug the
power cable into you can get one of these from Lidl, they go on offer
every so often for about a tenner, complete with charger. Using this will
give you a few nights observing, and I'd be shocked if you managed to
flatten one within a week of charging.

Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com


"gavin" wrote in message
...
Looking for advice on which Telescope to buy.
I was living in London for 8 years and have now moved upto
Northumberland, and as it's actually dark at night,
I thought I'd buy myself a Telescope.
Astronomy is always something I've had a slight interest in, but have
never took up except when I was about 13
and had a little telescope that I could not even use, I look through the
view finder at the moon, then through the telescope
eyepiece and there would be nothing there.
SO I guess you can say I'm a total beginner.

I'm wanting something that will do for a beginner and a intermediate
level of use.

I'm under the impression that Meade are pretty good, am I right in
thinking that?

I was toying with the idea of the Meade DS-2114AT 114mm Reflector, any
good?
What will I be able to see with that?

I'm looking to spend no more that£800 but would if possible like to keep
it around the £600.

Again, what will I be able to view with Telescopes in this price range?

Any suggestion on telescope makes and using the things are most welcome
drop me a line at gavin_hunt_@excite dotcom or respond to this email.

Thank you
Gavin

Originally Posted by gavin

Looking for advice on which Telescope to buy.
I was living in London for 8 years and have now moved upto Northumberland,
and as it's actually dark at night,
Thank you
Gavin

Gavin - my advise is to go along to a local astro soc observing night and try some scopes and talk to as many 'experts' as you can. Take your time! Good luck.

Nytecam

The reply from Colin has given you some good information, I would also
consider 2nd hand.
I was in your position a couple of years ago and bought a 2nd hand Meade
LX10 for £600. It's a good basic 8" SCT scope ie no GOTO etc.

Take a look in the classifieds ads in Astronomy Now magazine or a site like
www.dhinds.co.uk, currently they have a 2nd LX90 for £800.

One bit of advice I would give is try and see the scopes first, it's amazing
how big a 8" scope is in reality !

regarding what you will see take a look at http://www.scopesim.com/

I'm looking to spend no more that£800 but would if possible like to
keep it
around the £600.

I was down at the Kent branch of Telescope house a couple of weeks ago
and their 12" dob offer looks unbeatable. Even if the mirror were
re-figured and re-aluminised (of course one hopes it wouldn't need to
be, but at this price....) it would still be a bargain.
jc


--
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/jc_atm/

gavin wrote:

Looking for advice on which Telescope to buy.
I was living in London for 8 years and have now moved upto Northumberland,
and as it's actually dark at night,
I thought I'd buy myself a Telescope.
Astronomy is always something I've had a slight interest in, but have
never took up except when I was about 13
and had a little telescope that I could not even use, I look through the
view finder at the moon, then through the telescope
eyepiece and there would be nothing there.
SO I guess you can say I'm a total beginner.

I'm wanting something that will do for a beginner and a intermediate level
of use.

I recently bought a Skywatcher Explorer 150 (6") reflector from Sherwoods
(they're online) after doing a lot of asking.
Meades were too expensive for my budget, the Skywatcher comes with a mount
that can be motorised later if you feel the need. Something I may be doing
if my astrophotography takes off


I'm under the impression that Meade are pretty good, am I right in
thinking that?

good but expensive

As someone else has said, Meade are not the only scopes out there, so check
some of the others, go to you local astro society meeting, read some
reviews in mags etc etc, I'm sure you know the drill...

--
birch