New Member advice on buying?

psymon

Hi ladies and gents.

I recently got into astronomy and it's the best thing I've ever done - shoul've stsrted years ago.

Great to be here with you all.
I'm going to buy some decent gear soon to replace my 'very amateur' kit.

Found this site: www.popcorn-uk.com
Does anyone know it? Their equipment appears to be amazingly good value and they've got a wicked comp to win a computer-guided telescope - I'm in!!

Anyway, great to be here and look forward to talking to you all soon

Psymon

Redshift

Well regardless of value for money or anything else they don't ship outside of the UK so it is useless to most people here.

Orion

Try these threads for some good advice that I received earlier in the year. I'd recommend Andy McCrea (North Down Telescopes) personally. He's quick to respond and his prices are very competitive.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=233800

http://www.irishastronomy.org/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1787


[edit] btw Redshift - your .sig image is broken

Kersh

How much have you got to spend? That will be a big factor. For the money you spend on a 4-6" goto scope, you could get a Revelation 10 or 12" dobsonian (£300-500 gbp). In the end of the day, the bigger the aperture, the more you will see. I have a 4.5" goto Celestron, which is making way for a 10" reflector on an accurate guided mount. Cos I want to photograph things. Goto is great for learning and seeing quickly, but soon you will want to upgrade.

Orion

Kersh wrote:

Goto is great for learning and seeing quickly, but soon you will want to upgrade.

I only half agree with you. Goto is great for seeing things quickly alright but I don't think it's great for learning. I deliberately chose a manual mount instead of a goto for two reasons:

1: The €200 you'd pay for a goto mount went on getting a larger aperture. It was the difference between and 6" and and 8" on EQ5.
2. I want to learn the sky and there's no substitute for star-hopping to do this. Goto is just too easy and you don't need to learn where many things are this way.

That said it's all down to preference. If you don't mind spending an hour or two searching for an object (took me nearly 2hrs to find M57 - my first Messier ) and learning your way around the sky then get the larger aperture. If you just want to press a button and go for it - get the goto.

Kersh

Aperture, aperture, aperture.
I suppose it all depends on whether you want to learn the night sky. I have been looking at it since I was 12, and I well know my way around. I got the goto to save some time. I never use the goto now, I just use the handcontroller to slew around looking for things. Go for aperture.
hey macros - what scopesetup do you have. Im getting me a Skywatcher Explorer 250px on an Eq6, and Meades dsi.

Orion

I've a Skywatcher 200 F5 on EQ5. I considered the 10" dob but it was a fair bit more expensive. Very happy with it. It came with a dual axis motor which I haven't put on yet. Still coming to grips with the equatorial

Recently got a Skylux 70mm refractor (f/10) on EQ2 as well. Handy to throw in the car.

Kersh

Sorry for the brief hijack (well its all info isnt it ), but is the ota quality on the Skywatcher any good Macros. Who did you buy it off, and was shipping dear?

Orion

I'm a bit of a noob myself - what's OTA? The quality of the optics is good and arrived collimated perfectly. It's got a good 9*50 finder as well.

Got it from Andy McCrea. Shipping was £35.

Kersh

OTA - optical tube assembly = the scope itself inc mirrors, etc.
Im going to give him a ring, see what he has.

Orion

Let me know what the latest price is. He quoted me £539 for the 10" Skywatcher in March.

Kersh

£539 - for the 10".. no way, did that include the Eq6 motorised mount. At that price ill take 2.

Orion

I hope you haven't confused £ with €

£539 + £35 shipping = €850 approx. And I just checked the mail - that's for the Dobson mounted 10".

Kersh

Ah. im looking for the eq6 mounted 10", www.acecameras.co.uk have it for £850 + £100 shipping. And they will take my vat number, so its Eu1190 which is pretty good for a motorised eq mounted 10".
If Andy can get anywhere near that, Ill buy it off him instead.

Orion

not a bad price alright. Give Andy a ring and compare prices. The shipping was only 35 for the 250 dob - it might work out cheaper getting it from him.

Kersh

Got a good price alright off Andy, 869gbp +35 delivery. Unfortunately he wont take an Irish vat number, so it looks like its the UK. I have it over there for 850 +100 delivery less the vat = 786gbp, which is a bit of a saving.