Telescopes

[beefsteak]

Looking at the topic about the ISS has just jogged a braincell and prompted me to ask you good people a question.
I have been using my bird spotting scope for star gazing , but I find my self in the position to buy a proper "Star gazing" scope. Ideally one that can be connected to a laptop and automatically programmed to find certain stars/planets
The questions I have are :-
A, Does anybody know of a decent Telescope for up to £200 ?? or am I hoping for a bit too much ??
B. Does any body know of a decent web site that addresses these topics???
C. I see a few in my price range with motors attached, I assume these are just to track stars though, not to find them in the first place. ie this one
http://www.pulsar-optical.co.uk/prod/te ... motor.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any help will be much apprecited thanks

Ian

[Iceberg]

The best advice I can give is to find your local Astronomy group and go along and speak to them before spending any money.
These links should help.
http://www.uk-astronomy.co.uk/directory ... s_offline/
http://fedastro.org.uk/fas/index.php?op ... r&Itemid=8

Just tell them you are interested and would like some advice on how to start.

Personally I would recommend Binoculars for beginners.
You will use them much more often just because of the setup time!

Regards
Simon

[beefsteak]

Thanks for those links, I've been amature star gazing with my birding scope for about 10 years now and I have never found a 'local' group, hopefully I shall find one now.

[garyscott]

Join up here for top advice, im a member, and am now heavily into astro photography as well as aviation!

http://stargazerslounge.com/

Some top people on here.

[beefsteak]

Thanks it looks very interesting, and when I've got an hour or ten to spare...........

[garyscott]

Thanks it looks very interesting, and when I've got an hour or ten to spare...........

LOL

[TankBuster]

Hi,

I'm a bit of a keen stargazer myself

If you're after a good basic starter telescope then I'd certainly consider the Sky-Watcher explorer 130 Newtonian Reflector.
Its a good all round telescope that is of a high quality build. It is also highly recommended by many amatuer astronomers.
Overall It is a really good scope & is by far the best starter scope out there for a very good price. There are many other Sky-Watcher scopes to choose from but the 130 is by far the best value for money for a beginner. Whatever you choose make sure its from the Sky-Watcher range, you cant go wrong with them!

This 130 is not computerised in any way but is manually controlled, which is important for beginners as that helps you learn your way around the night sky...http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/85.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Finding objects in the night sky can be difficult, but is made so much easier with guidance from planetarium programmes such as Stellarium.

If you are looking to hook a telescope up to a laptop then I'm afraid thats going to be way above your budget. The other alternative is an Auto Track scope or a Go-To scope which can help you find the stars, nebulas, galaxys, planet for you.
See here...
Auto Track...http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/79.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Go-To...http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/documents/87.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Another good telescope type to consider other than the Newtonian Reflector is the Maksutov-Cassegrain type of scope, which is slightly easier to use and also has a smaller tube length which makes it easier to store when not in use. The only problem I find with this type of scope is that the lens can mist up when in use & that does not occur with the Newtonian reflectors.

My best advice to you would be..

1, To join the BBC Sky at Night forum for exellent tips & advice on everything you ever need to know about astronomy...http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2, Download the Stellarium programme to your PC...
http://www.stellarium.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

3, Contact Optical Vision for any purchases. They are by far the UKs best telescope dealer & offer a first class service second to none. They are one of the main UK importers and are also suppliers to most other UK telescope shops on the web. ...http://www.opticalvision.co.uk/default.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4, Also...get yourself a copy of the book 'Tun Left at Orion'...http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion ... 303&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just a word of warning... Pulsar Optical, or Scopes N Skies as they're also known are not the best when it comes to fast despatch and good customer service, they are well known for advertising items as 'in stock' when actually they're not! Probably best to steer clear of using them .

Hope this of help to you.

TankBuster

[beefsteak]

Many thanks Tankbuster, I've followed your sugestions and have opted for the Sky-Watcher explorer 130 Newtonian Reflector. Plus SynScan
http://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/aca ... .html#a209" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've managed to squeeze a few more quid out of my coffers and should just be able to run to it!!

Thanks again for all the advise.

Ian

[TankBuster]

Hi Beefsteak,

Thats a very good scope & a very good choice.

You will be very pleased with your purchase!

TB

[beefsteak]

I've just added something to that "Murphy's law" list, you know what I mean , wash your car and it will rain etc.
Howabout , buy a darn expensive telescope after weeks of clear skies, and as soon as you get it set up and programmed in, it's b y cloudy every night!!



Still I know what the weather vane on my local church looks like now!!!