#Changing telescopes. I’m a beginner lol

53 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

worldly cairn
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So basically right now i own a Seestar S50. And at first i really loved but now i have really gotten bored. i hate just leaving it outside and not having to do anything. I wanna actually go outside and have to move it and actually do stuff with it. I would still like to have a GoTo mount and stuff but that’s optional. I was thinking of buying a Sky Watcher Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTI 150P. Would you recommend anything else? or what should i buy or get. Thank you. My budget would probably be about 700-800. i would buy used to

astral island
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are you still wanting to do astrophotography with it?

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you would be better off getting an EQ mount and separate scope if so, but you would be hard pressed to get a decent setup with goto for that price.

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and that's not even counting buying a camera if you don't have one now

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if you're not worried about doing astrophotography with it and just want to do visual, a dob would be a great choice and would be much cheaper than an astrophotography setup. imo visual is more fun without goto, as finding the object is part of the fun and helps you learn the night sky.

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basically, if you just want to be outside doing stuff with the scope and want to do visual, absolutely go with a dob. you can even set up and observe while letting the seestar shoot.

if you're wanting to get a new rig to improve your image quality and develop you astrophotography skills, you probably need a bigger budget.

worldly cairn
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if i were to get a new rig

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@astral island

astral island
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uhhh

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depends on how big you want to go

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A mount alone can cost like 600-800 minimum tbh, even without goto. then a few hundred more for a scope, few hundred for a camera.. it adds up fast

worldly cairn
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So I would be around 2k?

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or like 1,500?

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for like a decent?

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rig

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also what do you think would be the best dob for under 1k?

astral island
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I imagine you can probably do 1,500 if you buy used, but I've never looked at used prices a whole lot

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I don't have a dob myself so I don't really have recommendations unfortunately

my next scope might be one though bc it seems to be the only way to get a bigger scope without having to buy a super expensive mount for it..

worldly cairn
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okay thank you so much. i’m gonna look into the used market

astral island
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yeah definitely check out used. I bought a used scope and it's been great for me. I'm sure you can get a complete setup used for a reasonable price

worldly cairn
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okay i’ll check it out! thank you so much for the recommendation

astral island
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I think my first setup was about 2,000 when everything was said and done, including accessories and eyepieces and stuff. and that was all new. 6in newtonian, eq5 mount, camera... without eyepieces and stuff you could probably get a similar setup for not too much over 1,500? so hopefully the the used market has something closer to your posted budget.

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it's easier to upgrade/get more scopes once you already have a mount and camera, because those make up a big chunk of the initial cost

hot prairie
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I have a Seestar S50 for deepsky astrophotography and a Celestron NexStar 127SLT for planetary astrophotography and visual, and they complement eachother greatly

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It is very easy to handle and transport and has go-to

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A big dob would win though, but it is much bigger

shadow stag
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The AZ GTI kits come up used very often so you can get a really good deal and if you wanna use it in EQ mode you can get a polar wedge and a counterweight for it separately

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If you get it with the 127 Maksutov then you also have a fairly light setup

worldly cairn
worldly cairn
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@shadow stag

shadow stag
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I am not particularly knowledgeable about that but I know you can get some very cheap planetary cameras which would be perfect for a long focal length telescope like a Maksutov

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I just know that the AZ GTi kits are often a really good deal

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Specifically used since a lot of beginners buy these kits and then never really use them since they're in over their heads, if you're lucky you might be able to found someone who brought it for astrophotography and is also selling a camera.

worldly cairn
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Okay Thank you so much. I have been looking and have found some good deals.

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for that mount and telescope

shadow stag
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You can find videos about using the AZ GTI mount for astrophotography so I'd recommend watching some of those to get an idea of what you can do

worldly cairn
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Okay thank you so much for the help. Ill look into it

hot prairie
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I have a ZWO ASI662MC, it was very cheap and works great for planetary with my 127 Mak

worldly cairn
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okay thank you so much. that was the one that i was looking into.

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do you have any pics you taken with it?

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also do i need to buy smth that makes the camera connect?

astral island
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the camera should come with a USB cable

worldly cairn
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okay perfect. And do i need like smth so it can fit in the telescope

astral island
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no it will come with both a 2" and a 1.25" piece so it can fit in either size focuser on the scope. you might need extension tubes to be able to get the correct back focus depending on the scope

signal wharf
hot prairie
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I didn't need extension tubes, and without the Barlow works fine too

worldly cairn
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Okay thank you

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I have found a couple

gloomy aspen