Equipment Recommendations for Beginners.
Equipment Recommendations for Beginners.
Considering my budget and local light pollution conditions, what type of telescope is best suited for a beginner in Singapore looking to primarily view planets and brighter deep-sky objects, based on the discussions in the forum?
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Hardwarezone
- Posts: 404
- Joined: Fri May 17, 2013 2:50 am
- Favourite scope: maksutov
Re: Equipment Recommendations for Beginners.
For Singapore , need to think about dry storage first before the design of the scope , otherwise it will just grow fungus.
Electronic dry cabinet , big plastic tub with silicone seal on the lid perimeter , big vacuum bag for clothing storage , mini dehumidifier (silica gel module with heater inside) , close room window and door to run dehumidifier machine.
Each storage have different cost , size limit , troublesome.
Most of these solutions doesn't fit the public's general concept of a telescope , that long tube thing. Long tubes 80cm+ doesn't fit into the cheaper dry cabinet or plastic tub.
Do not store it inside those black fabric transport bag or cardboard.
Portability of the whole setup that you can carry and stability of the tripod or base are roughly tied in importance , more lightweight tripod&mount are likely to have higher vibration at higher magnification.
Carbon fiber China tripods have come down in price , 40mm diameter cost around SGD $240-300 , I'm guessing it might be possible for such 2.5kg tripod to achieve the same stability as 5.7kg steel tripod 1.75" . Carrying 3kg less is a big deal. Otherwise picking up second-hand 055 Manfrotto tripod at $100 or less is good option too for smaller scope, 30mm aluminum diameter.
The best solution is buy tripod , mount , telescope , accessories all separately and not necessarily same brand.
All in one "no need to think" isn't optimal at the beginner price point , most of those whole package have insufficient tripod stability.
At the very bare minimum budget level , avoid the yoke & rod style mount and EQ mount.
Target something around 4 or 5 inch diameter at the minimum.
Take a look at svbony SV520 at Lazada. It's about $210-220 last week.
Nowhere near perfect. It have color distortion on planet. It's mount is insufficient weak , long tube violate my requirement on dry storage.
Spanish guy reviewed it and found flawed focuser that jiggles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F1xueZYWLk
If you take $200 to $450 to buy a Celestron brand scope , you will encounter almost all these design flaws too.
I recommend you watch the Ed Ting channel on youtube. He shows the product design flaws and describe whether it's a make or break.
Electronic dry cabinet , big plastic tub with silicone seal on the lid perimeter , big vacuum bag for clothing storage , mini dehumidifier (silica gel module with heater inside) , close room window and door to run dehumidifier machine.
Each storage have different cost , size limit , troublesome.
Most of these solutions doesn't fit the public's general concept of a telescope , that long tube thing. Long tubes 80cm+ doesn't fit into the cheaper dry cabinet or plastic tub.
Do not store it inside those black fabric transport bag or cardboard.
Portability of the whole setup that you can carry and stability of the tripod or base are roughly tied in importance , more lightweight tripod&mount are likely to have higher vibration at higher magnification.
Carbon fiber China tripods have come down in price , 40mm diameter cost around SGD $240-300 , I'm guessing it might be possible for such 2.5kg tripod to achieve the same stability as 5.7kg steel tripod 1.75" . Carrying 3kg less is a big deal. Otherwise picking up second-hand 055 Manfrotto tripod at $100 or less is good option too for smaller scope, 30mm aluminum diameter.
The best solution is buy tripod , mount , telescope , accessories all separately and not necessarily same brand.
All in one "no need to think" isn't optimal at the beginner price point , most of those whole package have insufficient tripod stability.
At the very bare minimum budget level , avoid the yoke & rod style mount and EQ mount.
Target something around 4 or 5 inch diameter at the minimum.
Take a look at svbony SV520 at Lazada. It's about $210-220 last week.
Nowhere near perfect. It have color distortion on planet. It's mount is insufficient weak , long tube violate my requirement on dry storage.
Spanish guy reviewed it and found flawed focuser that jiggles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F1xueZYWLk
If you take $200 to $450 to buy a Celestron brand scope , you will encounter almost all these design flaws too.
I recommend you watch the Ed Ting channel on youtube. He shows the product design flaws and describe whether it's a make or break.
-
Hardwarezone
- Posts: 404
- Joined: Fri May 17, 2013 2:50 am
- Favourite scope: maksutov
Re: Equipment Recommendations for Beginners.
Can consider this.
It's slightly cheaper than usual price $400-429 and ready to use without doing all the homework to consider different telescope and budget.
Compact size easier to dry store. Just need to DIY a black cover over the exposed front half hollow area.
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/4631 ... s/page-286
When you don't like it , can fetch around 200 something second-hand.
It's better than equivalent size Celestron 130mm beginner newtonian at $400-550 level because those are paired with terrible yoke mount and EQ mount. 3/4 of the Celestron newtonians at that price range are bird-jones optical design , a landmine in the hobby.
Celestron and Sky-Watcher are from same factory same boss.
It's slightly cheaper than usual price $400-429 and ready to use without doing all the homework to consider different telescope and budget.
Compact size easier to dry store. Just need to DIY a black cover over the exposed front half hollow area.
https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/4631 ... s/page-286
When you don't like it , can fetch around 200 something second-hand.
It's better than equivalent size Celestron 130mm beginner newtonian at $400-550 level because those are paired with terrible yoke mount and EQ mount. 3/4 of the Celestron newtonians at that price range are bird-jones optical design , a landmine in the hobby.
Celestron and Sky-Watcher are from same factory same boss.