First Scope Questions

[Dillbalach]

Hi all,

This is my first post. I've been lurking for a while now and I am about to buy my first ever scope. I am a complete novice and I am trying to locate a close by group or club, which I can approach with my questions, and maybe even try various scopes but I have a question that has been bugging me. I know that most of you say a reflector gives more bang for your buck but you also say that inch for inch refractors have better clarity and definition, so for round about the same money is a 8" reflector generally thought to be better than a 5" refractor?????

As I said I am a total beginner and I am a bit worried about maintenance and I believe the refractor would be better, I also have issues with lack of storage space and portability and set up of a big scope.

I have been looking at a couple listed below. I have seen plenty of good reports about the Orion but I cannot find any reports on the Bresser Messier, which I believe is a Meade. Any thoughts.

http://www.skyviewoptics.co.uk/results.asp?pg=241&subpg=415&tl=

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/it040015.htm

[Bokmakierie]

I would most definitely NOT go for a 5" refractor. They are heavy and a good one is very expensive. The optics must also be perfect.
I have three scopes. a 2" refractor with poor performance, a Japanese 5"reflector with reasonable optics and a pleasure to handle. But it has limitations because of its relative small aperture as far as reflectors go. I recently bought a home made 9" Dobsonian without a motor drive and without any sensors for positioning. But it is my pride and joy!
Years ago I built a 6"reflector which gave me much joy.
If I had to start all over again I would go for a Dobsonian. They are really good value for money, lovely to handle and the Orion ones come with sensors so that you can point to wherever you wish once you have it setup. They are also easy to take apart and take wherever you want to find a dark sky.
Bottom line: A 8" or 9" Dobsonian reflector is relatively inexpensive and will give you hours of joy.
Look at what I have achieved so far with mine
http://home.telkomsa.net/mybirding/Afocal.htm

Phil

[ozark1]

A first telescope for a novice - it depends.

1. Can you find the Pleiades or the Beehive? M31? M42? If no, you certainly shouldn't get a telescope at all. Learn the sky with the naked eye.

2. Can you find M37, M38, M39 (Auriga)? Double Cluster? Hyades? Do you want to see clusters of stars? The best bet is a pair of 10 x 50 binoculars.

3. Only when you can find the stars above, do you consider a telescope. Aperture is king for most things - so an 8" reflector is a better deep sky bet than a 4" refractor. However there are exceptions - notably the planets. Portability is limited except with the very smallest scopes. The usual advice is that an 8" or 10" Dobsonian is the best and lowest cost choice for an entry level scope - Orion make some good ones.

[Dave Mitsky]

Hi all,

This is my first post. I've been lurking for a while now and I am about to buy my first ever scope. I am a complete novice and I am trying to locate a close by group or club, which I can approach with my questions, and maybe even try various scopes but I have a question that has been bugging me. I know that most of you say a reflector gives more bang for your buck but you also say that inch for inch refractors have better clarity and definition, so for round about the same money is a 8" reflector generally thought to be better than a 5" refractor?????

As I said I am a total beginner and I am a bit worried about maintenance and I believe the refractor would be better, I also have issues with lack of storage space and portability and set up of a big scope.

I have been looking at a couple listed below. I have seen plenty of good reports about the Orion but I cannot find any reports on the Bresser Messier, which I believe is a Meade. Any thoughts.

http://www.skyviewoptics.co.uk/results.asp?pg=241&subpg=415&tl=

http://www.scsastro.co.uk/it040015.htm

The Bresser refractor is a fast (f/5) achromat and will exhibit noticeable chromatic aberration, also known as false color or color fringing, when bright stars, the primary planets, and the Moon are observed. A "purple haze" will surround these objects. Deep-sky objects and faint stars won't be affected all that much. Minus violet filters can reduce chromatic aberration but the color balance is then shifted to the yellow. Chromacors can remove most of it but they are costly and can be complicated to install. Apochromatic refractors using fluorite lens elements, triplet lenses, or Petzval designs have essentially no noticeable false color but they are extremely expensive.

The refractor will gather only 39% as much light as the Orion Dob and will also have less resolution, theoretically 0.91 versus 0.57 arc seconds (smaller is better) as measured by Dawes Limit. It will also be far more of a hassle to set up than the Dob.

There are pros and cons to every telescope design but given the choice between these two telescopes the Newtonian would be my choice.

Dave Mitsky, an owner of a number of refractors and Newtonians

[redshifter]

I'd go with the 8" dob hands down between that and a 5" refractor. As others have said, the 5" refractor will be bulkier than the dob as well as chromatic abberations at the price point of the 8" dob. A really good 5" refractor will cost many times the price of a good 8" dob. If portability is a top priority for you, you might consider starting out with binoculars and learn the sky, or you might consider a small Mak, i.e. the Meade ETX scopes, those are pretty portable. If you can manage it at all, I'd suggest either a 6 or 8 inch dob. IMO just about the best starter scopes out there are the 6-8 inch dobs.

[glasspusher]

The 8" dob from Orion is a good scope. I own one myself. It dosn't take up much room. Mine is an older one and came with a 1.25" focuser. The current 8" comes with a 2" focuser. Its a really good buy for the money. One thing I would suggest if you buy this scope is to also buy Orion's 6x30 or 9x50 right angle finder scope. The straight finder that comes with the scope is a pain in the neck to use.

[Kaptain K]

If portability is the top priority, I would go with a 4"-6" Mak or Schmidt-Cass.