Posts Made By: chris price

I'll keep it short and sweet

Im new but extremely passionate and intuitive about astronomy and physics, this is more than a hobby.

I have around $1000 for my very first real scope.

Im going to be doing some astrophotography planetary and dso's using more than likely a dsII pro

so far i like these...

meade lxd sn 8"

meade lx90 gps

meade lx200

I need help in determining which would be the best for a begginer, i need the goto option, and i suppose it needs a gem for the imaging side. what do youguys suggest, and are ther any other options or brand models i should explore? please do help i feel as if this will get lost in the 10's of thousands of threads here. thanks very much.

I was wondering what would make for a good finder scope to ride piggyback on a LXD75 for the best planetary views.

A Meade ETX series

A Celestron 80 ED

any Maksutov-Cassagrain

Or any other possibilties?

what do you guys think, like i said i want to get one to play around with for around $300-$400 AND later use on top of my big scope when i get it (probebly a Meade LXD75 SN). And since its going to be with a larger arpeture scope i want the best one for planetary viewing. And Im going to but used here so if theres somthing better for the money i should look into please let me know.

Thanks

Is there enough difference in the two as far as planetary, DSO, and imaging capabilities to merit the price difference.

Ive decided that one of these best fits my needs for a new scope but i just cant decide between them.

I can get the Orion 100ed on there SVP mount for the same price as the celestron 80ed with goto. I intend to have goto at least down the line for astrophoto tracking and quick spots with the kids.

so what is the popular opinion, do i get the celestron on a CG5 goto mount and upgrade the scope later, or do i go for the scope and try to upgrade to a goto later...or do i find some used deal with a good goto eq mount and buy the 80 mm to throw on top of the mix? thoughts opinions, am i retarded or would this work?

thanks

Alright, I'm gearing up finally...i picked my weapon and now its time to chose the bullets. I just ordered my C8 ASGT and I cant find a list of essential EPs for a person with none. Personally my budget is limited at the moment due to the scope purchase, but i do want to get as many quality EPs so as to be able to use my scope to its fullest. Here are the guidelines...

- Lets say top 10 EPs (incl. focal reducers, barlows, ect.)

- Number 1. should be the most useful, all around EP that everyone should have regardless of color or creed. After that the orders up to you.

- Try to keep the costs reasonable, even if that means used thats cool

- Maybe even state the ideal use for EP and what scope it'd be best for.

- Multiple top 10's are acceptable as there are multiple scope choices.

- You must include at least one SPECIFIC DSO, one Planetary, and one gen. purp. EP

- Seeing as there are so many choices try to think of unique, good all around, and best in class EPs, but do remember budget (some of us are in college)

- And lastly, if a brand name is important use it, if everyone makes a decent version because it is such a standard you don't have to specify, it only serves to divide us more anyway.

My objective is to get a good range of options for folks like me (newbs) instead of the prepackaged meade and celestron kits that don't seem to get that great a response from the "professional" amateurs. And if by starting this ultimate thread i gain a bit of knowledge and understanding about which EPs I will soon buy for my new C8 than I suppose i can make the sacrifice.

However, this is not a debate, please do not bicker about others top 10 picks. You may second there choices, perhaps even give them kudos, but don't demean there opinion...plus it could get this way off track..

So be creative, use those over sized brains that steered you towards astronomy in the first place, be frugal, unlike me be concise, and enjoy, know that your helping establish a status quo and that every newbie out there is thanking you.

So without further adieu gentlemen, and such lovely ladies

Let the Ultimate EP Checklist Top 10 Extravaganza BEGIN!!!!! 8O

Alright, the rig is complete and im damn near broke...but i got a problem. I have only one eyepiece, and brace yourself, its the stock celestron 25mm thats included with my ED.

Heres the question. being that the apertures are so different between my new C8 and piggyback 80 ED, are there any good EPs that would be of good use for both scopes. taht is to say that now that im broke i need 2 maybe three relatively inexpensive yet quality EPs that might work for both scopes (maybe $200-$300 left in me MAX!!). Is this a tough one? Nothing too fancy, i mean i dont want to lower the quality of the scopes or anything, but i want a good one for planets, and one for DSOs (80ed?), and possibly another all around good EP.

If you can help please do, im on the verge of buying one of those damned meade, celestron, zhumell kits...that just package them so freakin well for us newbs, but im fightin it people but im gonna need your help.

so my 80ED came in today, C8 is gonna take a while, but i was super lucky to get out and have great conditions, though time was limited. My very first observations were Andromeda, Orion's nebula, and the pleades, and they were great. So much so that I have officially got the fever, and the only prescription is more detail!!! All i could afford for the time being was a 32mm Plossl, the 20mm that cam with but its kind of crappy, and a 2x ED barlow. Im wanting more detail and closer views without having to spend as much as i paid for the scope just for one, any suggestions on types, sizes, or brands. Appreciated! Im going to go catch saturn.

my much anticipated 80ed and ASGT CG-5 came in a few days ago and i was fortunate enough to have had clear skies ever since. But, no matter what Ive tried, gone over, double checked, triple checked, and re-evaluated, I simply cannot get the GOTO alignment to work. These are things that I have made sure to do and any possible variables i can think of...

Ive tried two separate cities

both single and double star alignment

made sure that the time and date were dead on

double checked lat and long of preset cities

polar aligned, though not with a scope

set scope to north each night

leveled tripod

and adjusted the lat alt on my mount to match my 32 degree local in macon.

Never the less every night I go out and do all of these things, and as soon as it starts slewing to say rigel or capella it moves in complete opposite direction, sometimes even upside down it seems. In fact tonight i was slewing to betelguese which was to the south est and the damn thing almost snapped it self apart by wedging the scope against the tripod.

I cant figure it out, does anyone else have such problems? Ive been able to view some things without the technology i spent so much money on to do for me. So far ive been out three times and been able to track down Saturn, M31, M81/82, M42, the Pleaides, and the moon. But without the goto working i cant track them, and honestly, i paid the money and i want it to work when i show it off to my friends and family over the holidays.

Any ideas on what could possibly be wrong? i know its got to be me , but i just cant see it. its like when you were a kid playing with legos, youd always need this one inparticular piece that you just couldnt find, and then your brother walks in and sees it right in front of you on the top of the pile. i guess i just need some fresh eyes on this ones to point out the obvious. any help, or even just a "yeah that happened to me, goto's suck" would be much appreciated.


Thanks

Finally after some crap weather i was able to get out and see the moon and saturn for the first time since i got my new scope. goto is still a bit shakey, i actually just ran outside when they both aligned with my due east, pinetree-lined street, spotted them, slewed by hand, and peeked at them for about 20 minutes or so (its damn cold tonight). Some good stuff if i do say so myself. I have a 32mm plossl, 2x barlow, 20mm plossl, and a newly arrived televue 9mm thanks to astromart to rock on my ASGT Celestron 80ed. everything worked great, of course the 9mm barlowed looked the best for saturn, a faint cassini division but it was still relatively small. Moon was great too, the mrs.'s was impressed. I couldnt find the good camera so this is a trash pic from a 2 mpxl camera through the barlowed 20mm, but i thought it came out ok for my very first attempt and first moon sighting. Im posting just out of sheer excitment alone, enjoy the freshness of it all with me.

So i just picked up what i think as a steel on the bay. Its an ETX 125 but thats as far as I want to go with descriptions.

It seems as though the ETX 125 is a highly subjective scope stirring many opposing opinions. At least for me, i had previously looked at these and ruled them out due to other, better? scopes in the same $1000 price range. My question is this, at what price does the ETX 125 setup become a must have for us amateurs, $200, $500, $700, where its at now, never...you decide. Lets say for our purposes this is for the same set up as the $1000 coated goto kit.





Secondly, i wound up recently selling a Celestron 80ed ASGT, and though i could never actually align it, ive regretted it everyday since. Im really interested in a scope with superior planetary views, average to above average DSO views, all in a more compact, portable setup than the ASGT 80ed...goto is not a big deal to me but tracking 'dbe nice. A very limited budget so were talkin used here, $600 and under for a usable set up, any other suggestions i might have missed?

Anyone got any info on these? How do they stack up? Look really nice, and the prices are fantastic, good eq starter scopes or not worth the money? Im especially interested in the 127 SC and the 150 newt. What are comprable scopes to these?