Need advice on Telescope buying

[Emre Üçöz]

+1 on starry nights. The best advice I got there was to start with some star charts and a good pair of binoculars (I have a set of 7x50 Fujinon that I still use). If you start with a high power scope you're going to spend all your time searching for an object (let alone photograph it!).

I was actually looking for a GoTo telescope with equatorial mount where you can really track and observe starry nights.

Are you hoping to photograph deep sky objects or planets/moons?

yes would love to see M42 or Orion and all the other messier objects.

 

[MasterChief]

Thanks for the info on mount and eyepieces, I do have a Canon D40 that I will use for Astrophotography. I have seen also good application on appstore for scanning night sky.

There is a bunch off different programs to use. If you use Mac there is usually some additional tweaking because most mounts use serial ports and Mac is, well, Mac. But it is easy to find guides how to fix that.

 

[MasterChief]

Big reflectors do best but littler refractors usually often higher magnification and are arguably easier to use, cheaper, and better for a beginner.

Advice I have seen repeatedly over the years is a close parallel to cameras: buy a decent scope, then get the very best eyepieces (like lenses) you can get. The eyepieces can be used when you upgrade, and you do not want them to be the limiting factor in performance.

The level of magnification that is possible to use is a function of the diameter of the lens/mirror. So a big reflector can always use higher magnification than a small refractor. But if they have the same diameter refractor can more often go a little higher (but the level of magnification is not so important and rarely an observer use the maximum magnification that the scope can manage). Refractors are usually much more expensive than the reflector. You can get a very good 200 mm reflector for under $1000. A refractor with the same size and level of optical quality will cost you at least $10.000.

A nice 100mm refractor is a fantastic instrument to use. Fairly light and doesnt need any collimation. But when hunting for Messier objects nothing can compete with bigger light gathering equipment.

Some of the best eyepieces made is from Televue but they are pricey. Baader Hyperions give you, imho, 95% of the performance for 25% of the price. OP:s budget is $3000 and therefore, i wouldnt choose Televue, Zeiss, Takahashi ( or other of the highend brands). For astro photography it is critical to get the best possible mount and in that budget I strongly recommend the NEQ6 (I have owned it myself).

 

[Bill Hart]

When i was in college (circa 1973), I used to borrow a Questar, i think it was, from the science lab, it was a small nicely made telescope that was built in New Hope, Pa. Curious to know how those stack up after all these years.
There is a place we like to visit in Big Sur that has a pretty sizeable amateur telescope and we always enjoy the guided tour of the heavens there- virtually no ambient light (apart from the natives smoking whatever in the bushes); it is usually set up on a outdoor terrace overlooking the Pacific, but within the zone of service by waiters serving wine and cocktails.
Hardly science in the rough, but for a dilettante like me, it's quite a nice experience.

 

[MasterChief]

When i was in college (circa 1973), I used to borrow a Questar, i think it was, from the science lab, it was a small nicely made telescope that was built in New Hope, Pa. Curious to know how those stack up after all these years.
There is a place we like to visit in Big Sur that has a pretty sizeable amateur telescope and we always enjoy the guided tour of the heavens there- virtually no ambient light (apart from the natives smoking whatever in the bushes); it is usually set up on a outdoor terrace overlooking the Pacific, but within the zone of service by waiters serving wine and cocktails.
Hardly science in the rough, but for a dilettante like me, it's quite a nice experience.

Everyone of us doing this hobby for +20 years have a relationship to Questar. My dream telescope as a kid! Beautiful made instruments but optically they dont excel anymore. But still, they are wonderful and I would love owning one (they are still made).

 

[Bill Hart]

Everyone of us doing this hobby for +20 years have a relationship to Questar. My dream telescope as a kid! Beautiful made instruments but optically they dont excel anymore. But still, they are wonderful and I would love owning one (they are still made).

Thanks for that, MC. I'll buy you a hot dog at the place i like in Stockholm! (with boston gherkin!).

 

[MasterChief]

Thanks for that, MC. I'll buy you a hot dog at the place i like in Stockholm! (with boston gherkin!).

Your welcome!

I actually live in Stockholm and of course I love boston gherkin ( or in swedish bostongurka). :b

 

[DonH50]

+1 to MasterChief -- I should have noted for entry level refractors tend to dominate, mainly because a small refractor costs less than a larger reflector, for the reasons MasterChief stated. Finding a good refractor over 4" or so is a pricey proposition... A friend has a 6" (I think, might be 8") and it was indeed around $10k USD.

Questar is still around, still a decent brand, but appears to have fallen behind some of the other top players.

Anybody else miss getting the Edmund catalog with all the lenses and kits?

 

[Greg_R]

I was actually looking for a GoTo telescope with equatorial mount where you can really track and observe starry nights.

yes would love to see M42 or Orion and all the other messier objects.

I think you can get what you want for observation; I'm not so sure you can find a GoTo mount with tracking + scope that is going to yield quality photos of deep sky objects. All the people I've see shooting Deep Sky stuff are using large SCTs or refractors.

 

[MasterChief]

I think you can get what you want for observation; I'm not so sure you can find a GoTo mount with tracking + scope that is going to yield quality photos of deep sky objects. All the people I've see shooting Deep Sky stuff are using large SCTs or refractors.

For $3000 (OP:s budget limit) you can get the equipment I have recommended and imo you can get "enough" quality to feel that it is worth it. It takes a lot of time and it is demanding but in the process you learn a lot. I have seen a lot of people using reflectors on this level. But the choice between a 80mm refractor and a 200 mm reflector is a classic and there is pro and cons with both. Cloudy Night is a good source for helping OP to choose.

Here is a "internet friends" picture of M42 with the cheap reflector I recommended. Not top notch but I think it is quality considering he is a beginner and the photo was taken in a + 1.000.000 city in freezing winter climate on a small hill (where he carries the equipment everytime he want to take pictures). Also, the end result is also a result how well you manage to handle all the pictures and combine them in a good way with the computer software. That alone takes a lot of time to manage.

http://danielfranzen.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/m42_hdr_pi_ver2.jpg

Astro photography is a hobby for people with high degree of motivation. With simpler equipment it takes more of you than with state of the art. I have myself doing some astro photography but it wasnt for me. All the time goes to monitoring the equipment and no time goes to observations and that was not my cup of tea.

 

[Bill Hart]

For $3000 (OP:s budget limit) you can get the equipment I have recommended and imo you can get "enough" quality to feel that it is worth it. It takes a lot of time and it is demanding but in the process you learn a lot. I have seen a lot of people using reflectors on this level. But the choice between a 80mm refractor and a 200 mm reflector is a classic and there is pro and cons with both. Cloudy Night is a good source for helping OP to choose.

Here is a "internet friends" picture of M42 with the cheap reflector I recommended. Not top notch but I think it is quality considering he is a beginner and the photo was taken in a + 1.000.000 city in freezing winter climate on a small hill (where he carries the equipment everytime he want to take pictures). Also, the end result is also a result how well you manage to handle all the pictures and combine them in a good way with the computer software. That alone takes a lot of time to manage.

http://danielfranzen.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/m42_hdr_pi_ver2.jpg

Astro photography is a hobby for people with high degree of motivation. With simpler equipment it takes more of you than with state of the art. I have myself doing some astro photography but it wasnt for me. All the time goes to monitoring the equipment and no time goes to observations and that was not my cup of tea.

That's a really impressive pic, given the circumstances you described.
Do you guys go out to all the little islands (archipelago? I don't know the swedish word) for star gazing? there has to be no light there at night.
Is your balloon festival soon? I fondly remember looking up one day and seeing hot air balloons dotting the sky everywhere over the city of Stockholm.

 

[MasterChief]

That's a really impressive pic, given the circumstances you described.
Do you guys go out to all the little islands (archipelago? I don't know the swedish word) for star gazing? there has to be no light there at night.
Is your balloon festival soon? I fondly remember looking up one day and seeing hot air balloons dotting the sky everywhere over the city of Stockholm.

The archipelago is good, but hard to reach in the winter. Overall Sweden has bad conditions for observing compared to many of the states in US.


No festival but hot air balloons are common in the summer.