What to buy

s3bl3x

Hi All,

First of all id like to appologise for the "what to buy" post. But im at a dead end here.

My son has asked for a telescope for his birthday.
I want to buy something good so we can both enjoy it.
i was looking at the Celestron 130 EQ. Are they any good??

I was thinking of going motorised so it would automatically find things.

What will i actually be able to see with the 130EQ and will it be a nightmare to even find anything??

What we want to see;
Most of the plannets, in good detail
The moon obviously with good detail
and everything else up there has to offer

Any help would be greatly apreciated!!

Thanks in advance

dublin_daveyboy

Hey,whats your price range?,even small enough telescopes will give decent detail of the moon,as for the planets the bigger the aperture the better the detail.motorised go to scopes are pricey enough to buy brand new im on my 3rd one now,my last scope was a celestron 102mm go to scope and it cost me 500euro,i didnt see great detail of planets with it but could make out the cloud band on jupiter and see some of its moons,also could see saturns rings and moons.theres so many options just do your research and see what scope suits you best.

s3bl3x

Hi,

thanks for the reply. I suppose price range is anything up to 500.
My son (3) is really interested in it and is always wanting to go out and look at the moon and the stars. Im interested too and have been looking for a good reason to buy a good one.

there is a motor celestron for around the 500 mark but i think the telescope itself is taking a hit to keep the price down as you are paying for the motormount.

I am seriously considering the 130EQ-MD. Are they any good or can anyone recommend anything else???

peterako

Hi there,

Even the motorised Astromaster 130 will not automatically find things.

What the motor allows you to do is track an object.

All the stellar objects appear to move (it's the Earth's rotation rather than the object's movement that you see).

The higher the magnification the more they will seem to move

Just to get it out of the way....I have an Astomomaster 130EQ (no motor) for sale as I do not use it any more.

When well collimated the Astromaster gives very sharp images.

You can expect excellent views of the Moon, pretty decent views of the planets (especially Saturn and Jupiter) and even Deep Sky views. (I first saw teh Whirlpool Galaxy through my Astromaster and have not seen it as good since.......seeing conditions are a big factor).

Magification is limited to about 160x, which is fine.

The finder on the Astromaster is less than ideal, but others have workarounds on this on this forum

The Astromaster 130EQ is becomming the dominant scope on this forum!

If your budget is €500 I would seriously consider an 8" Reflector though!

Clear Skies,
Peter

s3bl3x

Hi,

Thanks for that.

What is a good scope with an 8" relector and what are the extra benefits of it over the 130EQ??

peterako

Not sure what to recommend on the 8" Reflector front.

But for €500 you should be able to get a decent Skywatcher Explorer.

8" is bigger than the 5" in the the 130EQ.

That's more apperture = more light capturing = more magnification and detail possible.

Downside.....it's a MUCH bigger and heavier scope. So if storage and move-abilty is the main concert then the 130EQ would win.

Clear skies,
Peter

s3bl3x

O went looking at the skywathcer ones and they look fairly decent alright.

one question though... why dont they just make it obvious whether they are 8" or not?1?!??!?

what about this one??
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Skywatcher-Skymax-127-SynScan-Telescope/dp/B0039ZRIRG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1299154970&sr=8-3

s3bl3x

or this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SkyWatcher-Explorer-200P-1000-EQ5-Telescope/dp/B002OTZZPA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1299157093&sr=1-2

peterako

s3bl3x wrote: »

or this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SkyWatcher-Explorer-200P-1000-EQ5-Telescope/dp/B002OTZZPA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1299157093&sr=1-2

If it were my money I'd go for this (the 8" reflector). BUT!!! MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH IT!!

The 127 SkyMax looks like it has Goto, which will 'find' objects for you.

The 200 will mean that YOU have to find things yourself also it does not look like it has tracking.

One danger is that you go and spend a lot and find it's not for you.....

Peter

s3bl3x

I want to see the moon in great detail.
Plannets and other things fairly clearly.

I know to look for 8" now but none seem to display this clearly?!?!??!
Is tracking necessary?? obviously it follows what im looking at but do we move that fast that things move out of view that quick??