I've got a couple of books on the way (Nightwatch and Turn Left at Orion - if anybody can think of any better ones, please chip in!) so now I'm looking for a telescope.
I'm working with a budget of around £200. It doesn't need to be ridiculously easy to use, I'm quite good at picking things up as I go along.
Is there anything else I need (other than a truck load of patience)?
If anyone can help me out then I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks!
I'm working with a budget of around £200. It doesn't need to be ridiculously easy to use, I'm quite good at picking things up as I go along.
Is there anything else I need (other than a truck load of patience)?
If anyone can help me out then I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks!
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Sounds like you've already made a better start than even 90% of the regulars to this forum. (More than one of us struggled through a lousy department store scope with a few helpful hints from a club or such...)
At this point, you can go 2 directions, given your budget and experience level. You can find a Equatorial mounted (or GEM mounted) refractor - probably around 70mm to 90mm aperture. This would expose you to the challenge of setting up and learning to use an equatorial mount. Unfortunately, it might be a disappointing telescope for actual viewing and observing, because the aperture size will be somewhat small.
Your other major choice (one I would recommend, but its your call), would be to look toward getting as much aperture as you can. This would come from a reflector telescope, and probably a dobsonian mounted scope at that. The dob-mount is inexpensive - so more of your money is going into the scope (OTA) itself - so you maximize the aperture. A dob mount may be simpler than you are looking for - but they are very easily disassembled for transport to... some other viewing site.
And a secondary benefit - dob-mounts are simple to ''teach'' to others - so you can do some outreach (bringing astronomy to others) in what is usually called 'sidewalk astronomy' - and you will find, as many teachers and instructors find, that you learn even more about the subject by teaching others about it (because they will ask questions that will make you pull up that 'dead-old' knowledge.
At this point, you can go 2 directions, given your budget and experience level. You can find a Equatorial mounted (or GEM mounted) refractor - probably around 70mm to 90mm aperture. This would expose you to the challenge of setting up and learning to use an equatorial mount. Unfortunately, it might be a disappointing telescope for actual viewing and observing, because the aperture size will be somewhat small.
Your other major choice (one I would recommend, but its your call), would be to look toward getting as much aperture as you can. This would come from a reflector telescope, and probably a dobsonian mounted scope at that. The dob-mount is inexpensive - so more of your money is going into the scope (OTA) itself - so you maximize the aperture. A dob mount may be simpler than you are looking for - but they are very easily disassembled for transport to... some other viewing site.
And a secondary benefit - dob-mounts are simple to ''teach'' to others - so you can do some outreach (bringing astronomy to others) in what is usually called 'sidewalk astronomy' - and you will find, as many teachers and instructors find, that you learn even more about the subject by teaching others about it (because they will ask questions that will make you pull up that 'dead-old' knowledge.