Jestersix

Looking to get a telescope

Gomer

Gomer

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With the killer clear skies with very low background light where I live, I'm tempted to get a decent telescope. I was playing with some longer exposures on my camera as a sad excuse for a telescope and it's kinda fun :-D

Anyone here familiar with what is available to the hobbyist?
I want:
The ability to mount my camera to it (likely by way of proper adapters)
Computer controlled (seems fairly common now to help locate stuff)
Pretty decent "brightness"
If it can actively track for long exposure photography, even better :-D
$1000 or less including tripod etc to startup. If there is some upgrade path, even better :-D
 
Not sure about prices today because well for obvious reasons I don't look into buying a telescope :D

Things you don't want to skimp on is your base(tripod) though, as that will be the difference between a wobbly camera shot and one rock solid clear one.

Obviously you'll want one with a motor tracking as well.

Unfortunately I'm not sure about hookups to put a camera to it, you'll need to unscrew you lens however (I think :D).

$1000 might be a bit of a low end telescope/system though, and usually upgrades are not really possible.

Neat feature of course is a star-guide attachment, so when you want to take a picture of that Messier object you can't see with your naked eye, you can have it point there. Also a GPS tracker is great too because then it knows where you are and you don't have to do much setup at all, but no way you're getting that on your budget. Eye pieces if you want to look with your eye... yeah it can get pricey in a hurry!

Some to do some googling over however (again I don't know about hooking a camera up, so you'll have to do that research on your own), Celestron NexStar series, Meade has some good ones (too many to list, quite a few are 1000+ though), SkyQuest Dobsonians are usually a lot of telescope for your money (but a different mount). Depending upon what you want to see, might want to aim for 8" size at a minimum though which would really limit you.
 
Just to follow up, because I actually READ your post this time (last time I was in an office hour and was distracted every 2 minutes while typing/reading).

The ability to mount my camera to it (likely by way of proper adapters)
This is probably the only real 'upgrade' you can do, as each camera will probably be specific as far as how to mount to it

Computer controlled (seems fairly common now to help locate stuff)
Already mentioned, the main ones typically have this almost as a standard (at least when you're in the $500+ range)

Pretty decent "brightness"
The wider the telescope the brighter objects will be, also assists with better resolution, however with a camera you can cheat and simply leave a long exposure to get a "brighter" image. Magnification shouldn't be an issue, longer = more magnification, but you can always add better eye pieces if you want that aspect of it.

If it can actively track for long exposure photography, even better
Definitely worth the money for this, with an equatorial mount it's fairly straight forward to manually move it with a single turn of a knob, with an azimuthal mount you have to adjust two directions, and if you view just about anything with any magnification it'll be out of view within 20 seconds easily, which doesn't make for happy relaxing viewing (whether you're taking pictures or just staring at the stars)
 
Don't know much about telescopes other then what my father has. Like Mikes says $1000 will be very low end. My father has an 8in telescope used that he was able to get from a telescope nerd in socal for well over 2k; it does some cool things with tracking and pictures and what not. very worth it if you have the slightest interest IMO.
 
Tony - the best way is to go find the local astronomy club and see if they have any loaner scopes. Go talk to those folks about equipment and they can set you up right.

Some nice decent scopes out there - dobs imo are the biggest bang for your buck (you need to move it around).

The ability to mount my camera to it (likely by way of proper adapters) - yes unfortunately prosumer dlsr still are not in the same caliber as the CCD cameras out there which need to be cooled - more cooling less noise i.e. not grainy
Computer controlled (seems fairly common now to help locate stuff) - GoTo can be great - but can be used a used as a bad crutch usually adds some $$$ to overall price
Pretty decent "brightness" - The bigger the mirror the "brighter" it gets
If it can actively track for long exposure photography, even better - this is where it starts getting mighty expensive (equatorial mounts can be cheap chinese or cnc machined take two years to build - $300 or $8K)
$1000 or less including tripod etc to startup. If there is some upgrade path, even better Astronomy clubs can be great source for info (like this one) whether it's which dark sites to go to, which equipment to buy, etc -> and you might find someone who is willing to sell used equipment too!

Places to stay away from - Astromart, Craigslist (only worth it if someone is willing to go with you who knows what you're looking at, and Ebay.
Good etailers to check out - Orion Telescopes, Oceanside Photo & Telescope, Astronomics, and Adorama
 
I've been "very productive at work" today and ...*cough* only spent 2 minutes reading on telescopes*cough*

I think the best advice I have read which reflects what you said was while reading up on the orion 8 and 10" dobs

Bottom LINE:

A Dob is about the worst choice that I personally can think of if one desires to get into Astro Photography....a few short exposure afocal "shots" of bright objects Moon and Jupiter) is just about the limit

A Dob for visual use on the other hand is almost impossible to beat especially for the money...

Asrtro Photgraphy is a COMPLETELY different and more challenging and expensive hobby then Visual astronomy ...so much so that the actual telescope used is much much less important then the mount on which you mount the telescope...

My suggestion: FORGET AP for NOW....
Go out and buy the Dob...and enjoy the sights plus why not take a few afocal shots of the moon and enjoy yourself... Your investment will be minimal so the education you receive will be cheap, and the views will be awesome ....then over the next year or so start thinking about what you need to do AP...

Bob G.
Click to expand...

Right now, I am debating between an 8" with motorized "go to" pointing
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=newfall2009/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08948
and a 10" that is computer assisted but manually aligned.
http://www.telescope.com/control/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/orion-skyquest-xt10i-computerized-intelliscope-dobsonian-telescope
It's a beast, but I'm tempted to go with the 10". My wife might have a hard time with it being she is only 5'2" :p
 
Gomer said:
I've been "very productive at work" today and ...*cough* only spent 2 minutes reading on telescopes*cough*

I think the best advice I have read which reflects what you said was while reading up on the orion 8 and 10" dobs


Right now, I am debating between an 8" with motorized "go to" pointing
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=newfall2009/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=08948
and a 10" that is computer assisted but manually aligned.
http://www.telescope.com/control/telescopes/dobsonian-telescopes/orion-skyquest-xt10i-computerized-intelliscope-dobsonian-telescope
It's a beast, but I'm tempted to go with the 10". My wife might have a hard time with it being she is only 5'2" :p
Click to expand...

Gomer said:
I've been sleeping like shit for a while, constantly waking up between 1-3am and then again around 5-6 (where I give up and get up).
Click to expand...

A match made in heaven. :bigsmile:
(excuse the pun)
 
Size does matter in this case. The extra money can be spent on an eyepiece.

I have a 12.5" dob and I can pretty good through it (I'm 5' 3") - Truth is no one looks at anything directly at zenith (12:00 position)
 
So what you are saying is that I need this and a handtruck to move it in and out of the garage :p
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=trusstubedobs/~pcategory=dobsonians/~product_id=24757
 
umm...I just realized something important. The dobs (most?) have MDF bases. I can see that getting me in trouble with the snow, especially with the low floor clearance.
 
I'm personally not a big fan of dobs, not so much for the zenith viewing, but the low sky viewing as well, I hate having to crouch down to see stuff, but you can grab one of those "short" baseball/lawn chairs and probably be fine. As to the MDF aspect, you can always make a secondary base for snow, you just have to make sure when you attach it you can adjust the height (especially if you make a larger base. You definitely will want a circular bubble level too, wouldn't be surprised if that's an accessory they give you if you go to a reputable store.

As to using a hand truck... I would suggest expanding your search to find a near by telescope store (even if you have to drive 2 hours) simply to let you get a hands on feel for what you're getting into, as mentioned dobs are the best bang for the buck... however being able to pull a Schmidt-Cassegrain out of a case and set it up will make your back send you flowers on your birthday.
 
There is apparently a defunct local club (email of the coordinator bounced and no website). The next city over (about 70 miles) with a club (Albuquerque) does have a reasonable club, and some loaners for club members. I think I might just have to get together with them at some point.
 
Ouch on the miles, but might save you some time & money down the road (doesn't this sound familiar :) )

Schmidt Cass's are nice scopes, but a pain in the ass to mount. 10" dob is a hassle in loading and unloading from a car. If you are observing from the house then a cheap hand-truck from Harbor Freight or your local Handy Depot would work too for a dob.

Tony what part of NM are you in? I can see if there are any folks out your way that has scopes or can at least show you the ropes without driving out 70 miles.
 
Thanks Eileen. I'm in Santa Fe.

One question on Dobs. I can see the value of at least a passive computer to help learn where everything is.
How nice is it to have actual auto tracking? For a given dobs, there are the three options (at least with Orion)

for the 8" dobs
Classic (no electronics): $330
Intelliscope (passive electronics): $530
GoTo (active motors): $849
 
auto tracking is a must IMO for photography.

Even with casual viewing its so much nicer to not have to readjust the telescope every 20-30 seconds because what you're looking at just left the field of view. As I said an equatorial mount can get you a nice easy transition by simply turning a knob, but the first point still holds true, you want longer than instant exposures? get tracking, or you'll only photograph streaks and blurs.
 
I'm not initially worry about photography. Not really an option as I can tell with a dobs. I'm just going to enjoy the experience and get to know the sky a bit more first. I think I have just convinced my self that I'll eventually get a second scope if the hobby sticks, and the second one can be the nice photography one :-D
 
Well if you're just getting to know the skies you won't need too much, hell I would even suggest against a star finder option (save some serious bucks!) bring a laptop with a planetarium software (many are free) and you can figure out what direction to point to see all the cool shit :D
 
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