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Post by fatrick on Jan 13, 2014 17:38:40 GMT
Good evening all, I decided to try my hand at a bit of stargazing. Ive always had an interest in the sky and beyond, but watching Dara and Brian the other week, I've decided that it should become more than just a passing interest It also has the advantage of being something that I can enjoy with the wife (currently my interest in farming and tractors doesn't much do it for her ). So we've been looking at a few telescopes to get started and its quite a minefield. Currently our favorite is the Sky Watcher Evostar 90. It seems to tick the boxes we want. I think our main interest will be the moon and solar system planets so thats why were looking at refractors over a reflector. Also, we have to travel a bit to get to a dark spot and it seems the refractor is less susceptible to misalignment during travel, and even if it does become misaligned it seems easier to correct out on a dark cold night At the moment we dont have much interest in astro photography so auto tracking is not needed, at least not yet, you never know where this hobby will lead to! Also, it seems the EQ tripod is our best bet, but what exactly is the difference between EQ1, EQ2 and EQ3 tripods? Are they just evolutions of design or totally different? Just wondering what the people that actually use scopes think, as lets face it, salesmen in an optics shop want a sale and will tell you all sorts Hopefully me and the wife will get down to Delamont at the end of the month to see you guys and maybe get a sneaky peek down a scope to see what really will suit us best Dont worry, we can bring tea and she bakes a mean cookie Any advice would be greatly appreciated and hopefully we'll see you soon! Mark
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Post by brianb on Jan 14, 2014 8:04:36 GMT
Welcome!
I think your choice of the Evostar 90 is a very good one for a beginner. Consider if you can afford the Skymax 127 which is a compact 5" aperture Maksutov design which will have a better performance in resolving detail & like a refractor will not require collimation ... the downside is that it has a rather long focal length, which makes it less good for those objects which need a low magnification rather than a high one (nebulae etc.)
As for the "tripod", actually this is two bits which are usually sold as a package - legs and head. There's nothing complicated about legs but they do need to be rigid. The EQ1, 2 & 3 heads are increasing in size (and weight) but also in their capability to hold a scope pointed in the right direction, without quivering like a jelly with every breath of wind or whenever you touch the focusing wheel. Even if you only intend to do visual you really do need as good a mount as you can reasonably afford, and can cope with moving (though all of these shouldn't represent an issue, some of the larger ones can be an issue to move even for a strong, fit adult).
The Evostar 90 tube deserves the EQ3 head. The EQ2 would sort of do but I don't think it would be as satisfactory, especially since we live in a part of the world where it is not unknown to be breezy. The EQ3 can be bought with box section aluminium legs or (as EQ3-2) stainless steel tube legs; the stainless steel tube legs are a little heavier but much more stable. You can add tracking motors to the EQ3 head, this will be useful if you want to try imaging at a later date. You can even get a full computerised version of the EQ3 but this adds a lot to the price & I do not think this is necessary for a beginner wanting to view moon & planets.
However equatorial mounts can be a little finnicky, you do get used to them but for a beginner I'd reccomend you look at the AZ4-2 alt-azimuth mount which has about the same load capability as the EQ3-2, costs about the same, weighs a little less (no counterweight!) and will be easier and quicker to set up. Don't be tempted to save a few pounds by ordering the version with alu box legs, the tubular steel legs really are a lot better.
Looking at scopes "in the field" is a Good Idea & I'd reccomend you do that before parting with money. When the time comes, I'm sure Andy McCrea (North Down Telescopes) will be able to quote you a good price for whatever scope/mount package you choose.
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Post by fatrick on Jan 14, 2014 18:14:28 GMT
Thanks for the reply. The Skymax is a little out of the budget Im afraid. Trying to buy a house and getting married in May has kind of limited the budget somewhat as you can imagine! I'll have a better look at the mountings, as you say a decent mount is worth having. Ill give Andy a shout and see what prices he comes up with. If its saving me money then the trip to Co. Down may be worthwhile. I live up north near Ballymena and was going to use Black and Lizars in Belfast. They get their stock from Optical Vision who look fairly respectable. I notice that from time to time you seem to come up this direction to the Collin Road for some observing. How often would you come up here as it would definitely be a lot handier to us than Delamont. Mark
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Post by fatrick on Jan 17, 2014 4:52:39 GMT
Well, ordered up the Evostar 90 with EQ3-2 mount from North Down Telescopes. All being well will get down next weekend to pick it up and let Andy give me a wee tour of it.
In the meantime I've been out with a set of free National Trust binoculars having a wee hunt round the Sky and relearning my bearings. Took an interest in the sky when out living in Saskatchewan, Canada as they have massive zero light pollution. I was told that I was very very unlucky not to see the Aurora out there during my time, but such is life.
Mark
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Post by bigeye155 on Jan 17, 2014 22:23:09 GMT
Hi Mark, Welcome to the IAA forum! You will get plenty of good advice on practical astronomy from our members, Brian has already sent you in the right direction I would also suggest looking through as many scopes as you can before shelling out the the wad, but since you already have done, I'm sure it'll give fine views of the winter clusters and nebulae. As coordinator of the IAA observing sessions, I can highly recommend coming down to our next observing sessions with your new scope, you'll get plenty of help with setup and use. We have already fulfilled our observing for Jan' with the Stargazing Live events so our next planned observing sessions will be Feb' 7th-8th, which will have a first quarter moon. See you there? David.
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Post by fatrick on Jan 21, 2014 20:55:14 GMT
As long as I'm not working that Friday on evening shift myself and the wife plan to come and see you guys.
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Post by bigeye155 on Jan 23, 2014 21:50:02 GMT
Great, looking forwrd to meeting you.
Clear skies
David.
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Post by fatrick on Feb 2, 2014 13:58:41 GMT
Well, after what has seemed to be the longest week ever after getting my first scope last Sunday, the clouds finally decided to split up for more than 5 minutes. Just before it got dark at about 5pm the sky was cloud free and none could be seen in the immediate distance, so I decided to go for it and get set up. By the time I got the EQ3-2 set up, leveled and pointing north and the Evostar 90 perched on top of it and nicely balanced it was just turning dark. Not many stars could be seen but Jupiter was up there shining away. I couldn't wait any longer! Lined up the shining dot in the finder scope and when I put my eye to the 25mm EP I seen it! WOW!! Clear as day, there she was. A nice small crisp dot with 2 bands of red going diagonally across it and 4 moons in a line either side of it! I had to see more! Threw the 10mm in and refocused. A slightly bigger dot with slightly bigger red bands going across it with the moons, all nicely in the FOV and moving slowly left to right. Tracked it across the sky for 10 mins in awe. Thought Id try out the Barlow attached to the 10mm to see if any more could be seen, but it didn't seem much different from the 10mm on its own. Seems some new EPs will need to be acquired in the near future. After this I swung round to the Pleides. Found it nicely in the finder scope and went to the 25mm EP. It was just a bit too close to get the full effect. Got the 7 Sisters in the FOV .... just .... but would be more spectactular I feel if more could be seen. Perhaps a 32mm EP needed for this one! Once I was done gazing at the Pleides I tried to track down Andromeda. Got the Star Map up on the phone and tried to spot it. Found Pegasus no problem and followed the stars up to Mirach and looked Northwards. Was able to find it with the naked eye and bins, but could I get it in the finder scope? NO! Tried it again with no joy, and again and again. Bit more practice required I guess By this time the cloulds were rolling in, so I swung back to Jupiter for a final 15mins before the clouds completely blocked up the sky Not a bad first night, but another 5 hours of clear sky would have been nice Was good just to get out and get playing with the mount and scope. This was all done from my tiny back yard on the edge of town. Skied are pretty dark surprisingly, but the limiting factor is the high trees at the rear of the yard, so not too much sky to view I'm afraid Next time it clear and looks as if its for staying that way Ill head up to the hills outside town where the skies are pitch black and 360 degrees of view. Can't wait! Hopefully catch you at Delamont this weekend!
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