Re: Tal 2m or Explorer 150/200?

Chaps (Mike especially),

Many many thanks for the comprehensive reply - it's greatly appreciated when
those with experience stop to help those just starting out. I am pleased to
report that I did buy a scope yesterday but it ended up being one that
wasn't on my shortlist. I went in to Telescope House and they helped me
choose a Bresser Messier N203 8" Newtonian reflector
http://www.telescopehouse.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=100227B23A584F13A8144199EC3120C0&action=lnk
which along with a basic filter pack and the two axis motordrive ended up
coming to £450 with SPA discount. The scope seems to bear some resemblance
to the Meade LXD75 range in terms of both mount and according to Telescope
House the optics too although I believe assembly is of course done in China.
Overall I was extremely impressed with the fit and finish and it certainly
felt like a well engineered product for the price, the tripod for example
not dramatically different from that on the LX90. I spent a very enjoyable
few hours putting the scope together and achieved first light around 7.45pm.
It was such a thrill to see how many stars were visible through the scope in
any patch of sky. I closed in on Mars which by now was starting to approach
my neigbours trees on the South West side of the back garden. I moved
through the eyepieces - 25mm, 15mm, 10mm and then 10mm with 2x Barlow, still
fumbling for the RA and DEC levers in the dark and trying to get used to the
strange motion of my first equatorially mounted experience! One thing I
found very tricky was adjusting the height of the tripod with the scope
attached - I'm presuming this is best accomplished before the scope is
mounted! I ended up either stooped or kneeling most of the time!

Eventually I got Mars nicely centred although did find that at 180x
magnification even adjusting focus caused the planet to move around in the
view. I presume this is normal on a lower end telescope -or should I
tighten the eyepiece screws more? I was rewarded with an obvious orange
sphere only occasionally exhibiting surface patches. I couldn't see any ice
caps or anything but my goodness it was a thrill!! I wouldn't say the image
was tack sharp either, but it's hard to know if that was related to the fact
I haven't collimated the scope yet, the quality of the bundled eyepieces or
just the general seeing conditions on the fringes of the M25.

I was just turning my attention to Orion and the Orion Nebula which was
prominent in the Southern sky last night when the clouds rolled in and I
realiseed that by 21.30 my opportunity for observing was done for the night.
Can't wait for tomorrow now!!

I haven't yet connected the motor drive control, I wanted to get a feel for
the manual handling of the scope. I'm really looking forward to seeing the
moon later in the month along with Saturn and Jupiter. I'm chuffed to bits
after having an interest in the subject for 30 years (I still have my Hamlyn
Book of Astronomy 1975!) that I finally own my first telescope.

One final query - I know that my 90mm focal length isn't ideal for planetary
observing but the chaps at Telescope House stillreckoned it would produce
better results than the 6 inch reflector with 1200mm focal length. It's
tempting to push the magnification beyond the 10mm Plossl and 2x Barlow with
a 5mm Pplossl which would give me around 360x magnification (approaching the
50x per inch theoretical maximum). The chaps in Telescope House did say
that getting clear images above 200x magnification depended greatly on
seeing conditions and was rarely achievable in practice. Would you chaps
agree with this or would a 5mm give me even greater usable magnification?

Either way I'm delighted - many many thanks for all advice and a Happy New
Year once again to all of you.

Jon
"Mike Murphy" <evmurph.zetnet@co@uk> wrote in message
news:ln7dr1tip30m0t2r62g2kleq002pl6v6p7@xxxxxxxxxx
> Hi Jon,
>
> On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 15:30:52 GMT, "Saxon" <speedbird011@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> >I'm interested in buying a first telescope and have a budget of up to
around
> >£400. I am interested in a telescope that will enable me to view planets
> >and deep sky objects in reasonable quality and am quite keen to use the
> >scope for photography via digicam.
>
> To see all the planets, up to Pluto, I recommend an 8 inch 'scope as a
> minimum. To do any web cam imaging of the nearer planets a reasonably
> good steady mount is required, an EQ5 or better.
>
> >I have spent a bit of time considering what to buy. I live on the
outskirts
> >of a Surrey town in a small modern close. Unfortunately I do not have
> >unobstructed views in all directions due a neigbours trees down the side
of
> >my back garden and of course my and others houses. I have a fairly
> >unobstructed sky at the front of my house but am not sure if I will look
a
> >bit daft to the odd passer by (it's a quiet residential cul de sac!)
>
> Which way faces south? That direction is your main planetary observing
> area, from east round to west if possible.
>
> >I'm trying to decide between say a Tal 2m (£400) or the Skywatcher 150
> >(£350) or possibly the Skywatcher 200 newt (£430) and which is around
£535
> >if motorised and I suspect it would need to be for astrophotography.
> >
> >I also like the idea of go-to and connecting my scope to a laptop to
drive
> >it while sitting in the comfort of the lounge viewing things but am
unsure
> >if either of these scopes could ever be adaped to such use and in fact
for
> >that you're into buying a Meade or CRestron SCT and a whole lot more
> >budget!
>
> The Tal can't be motorised on the Dec axis so can't be goto'd.
> Skywatcher mounts can have drives on both axes but computerising them
> is, not impossible but ia a bit of a DIY job and can be problematic.
> The Skywatcher HEQ5 and EQ6 mounts can be goto'd.
>
> The Skywatcher 200 EQ5 or 200 HEQ5 are contenders and the HEQ5 has
> built in drives and is a steadier mount (and can be goto'd). However,
> they are both F5 scopes and for planetary viewing a longer focal
> length is preferable so as to achieve higher magnifications more
> easily. The Tal-2M is better in this respect at F7.3 (but it is much
> smaller in aperture). For deep sky objects the F5 scopes are more
> suitable.
>
> >I'd really welcome views on which if any of the above would seem to be
the
> >best option. How much difference is there on say views of Mars between
the
> >Tal and the 8" Skywatcher?
>
> There would be a significant difference, very noticeable, due to the
> 77% increase in aperture.
>
> >Would you want to drag any of them around from
> >the back garden to the front? Am I better to set one up in my relatively
> >secure back garden and leave it there permanently? - maybe chained up and
> >covered?
>
> All these 'scopes are quite large and require some considerable
> setting up for an evening's observing. I used to have a Tal-2M and
> found it quite awkward to lift and carry, even in its main component
> parts; that's one of the reasons that the more expensive
> schmidt-cassegrain telescopes are popular.
>
> I wouldn't leave a whole telescope permenantly set-up in any gardern
> it's just too much of a theft or vandalism risk. There are also
> condensation problems to deal with. You can instal a permenant pier to
> attach you mount to, once you've decided on the best location and that
> is what many people do.
>
> As for achieving a fully remote set-up, it's much more difficult than
> you might imagine. Plan on being there out under the stars to begin
> with.
>
> >Interested in views from the experts out there. I am keen to buy a scope
> >that I won't grow frustrated with due to poor views and have been
somewhat
> >spoiled by seeing what a Meade LX90 8" can do!
>
> Bigger is always better in telescopes, but, you could always go for
> something slightly smaller and much easier to set-up. The Skywatcher
> maksutovs are good, the 127mm one is a bit on the small side but will
> give you good views of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn. It comes as standard
> on a EQ3-2 mount with no drives for about 400 GBP and you could always
> negotiate a EQ5 mount and a drive or two at the time of purchase (for
> extra dosh of course). This would give you a nice planetary set-up
> that's reasonably easy to carry and gives good views for the money. It
> won't be so good for feint deep sky objects, can't be easily goto'd
> and is more tricky to collimate than a newtonian, but can give very
> good planetary results via a web cam; See Kevin McCarthy's site at:
>
> http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/smallscope/index.htm
>
> If you do get an EQ5 upgrade then it will be quite easy to buy another
> OTA with the sandard EQ5 dovetail to go on it should aperture fever
> strike you later (it usually does!).
>
> If you want to be able to goto your mount later then something on the
> HEQ5 mount is worth considering, although at 439 GBP it's not a
> particularly cheap upgrade, you'd end up spending 1000 GBP and are
> then at the cost of a Meade LXD75 schmidt newtonian.
>
> Cheers
>
> - Mike


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Good starting telescope and book for child
    ... What is the bare minimum quality of telescope I should look at (40x ... The moon came to life. ... Check that the mount is stable (tapping a leg, ... controls/knobs for moving the scope in alt and az. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Tal 2m or Explorer 150/200?
    ... I am interested in a telescope that will enable me to view planets ... >scope for photography via digicam. ... built in drives and is a steadier mount. ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)
  • e2 Telescope Design Quitting Business Sale
    ... After 3 years of building the finest dobsonian mount telescope kits available, Eric and Eric are hanging up the shop aprons and putting away the safety glasses. ... After factoring in the general costs of running a business, we were basically only covering the materials and not making anything for our labor, which is considerable for each scope. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: MEADE ETX-105 vs. LXD-75 SN-6AT, please advise.
    ... > telescope and I would like some advice between the MEADE ETX-105 and ... You say you want to study the Planets ... Now on to the scope purchase. ... The SN6 on the other hand is almost the exact opposite of the ETX. ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
  • Re: Started with a 60mm Refractor?
    ... > There it was, a fine, fine refractor on a silky smooth mount with a ... > Now the mount, it was lacking a piece or two but nothing that could'nt ... > mount but the scope still would not stay still or stay in place... ... that telescope was stolen by some fool from the second ...
    (sci.astro.amateur)
Loading