Just thought I'd do a little update on our progress with the telescope. I must admit I don't think I went into this with my eyes fully open.
I thought we had researched and researched until we might explode. We'd read a lot and did find a good telescope, but I'm not entirely convinced it was the telescope for us.
We had been looking into the Skywatcher Explorer 130, which is said to be a very good beginner telescope. As they are £150 new, I was looking for a second hand one on eBay.
Unfortunately I think there was our problem. Although eBay is good if you can get exactly what you want, if you can't you, seem to go looking around for the next best option. Which isn't really ever the same.
This is the problem we had. There was no Skywatcher Explorer 130s in our area. But there was however a Skywatcher Explorer 150.
We'd considered it all week. Thinking it would be a good buy if we could get it cheap enough. We would have got the 130 for Christmas, so why would we not want the next model up for about the same price we were thinking of paying for a new one?
The problem is I couldn't find any answers to this question, so had to risk bidding on the telescope in the hope our limited research was enough. However now with hindsight, I know the answers. The most important one being size.
I simply had not realised how big this telescope actually was. I know there doesn't sound a lot between the 130 and 150, but I'm pretty sure there is a lot! When I first saw it, other than the fact it was beautiful, I thought where the hell are we going to put it!
I was also not prepared for the weight of it, well more the weight of the mount. I had been so used to just picking up the spotting scope and taking it outside without even thinking.
This telescope however needs more arranging and setting up, than simply just grabbing it and pointing it skywards.
I know if I want to use it, I have to get my boyfriend to move it into position for me first. The mount is just too heavy for somebody with a useless back (2 prolapsed discs and nerve root impingement is not fun, so don't get me started!) So I have to rely on others if I want to use this telescope.
After those initial drawbacks, my next disappointment was the view. I must admit I was expecting for something a little bit....er.....bigger! I thought I was being realistic. I wasn't expecting amazing views like you see in books or on tv, but did think I'd see more than what I did.
Jupiter for instance wasn't that much bigger than we saw with the spotting scope. Yes I could see the bands, but only just, I had expected to see it bigger, about x3 the size. Through the scope it was about 4mm in diameter, I expected it to be about 15mm, and I couldn't even see the big red spot.
I think my disappointment was caused by me being ill prepared on what to expect. If I had known all this and what little image you get compared to the size of the scope, I would have waited and tried to get the original design of the 130. After all it is the one recommended for beginners.
I thought we were being clever though, and instead of getting one that we would get rid of once we'd out grown it. We thought going the next step would mean we'd get one we'd keep.
Which is probably true, but I feel I now definitely need a decent pair of binoculars that I can pick up instantly, if I want to just take to the skies.
I was also upset that I can't connect my camera, partly because I need an adapter, partly because I need a new camera!
I only have a bridge, not an slr, so it won't attached to the rings. I also wasn't aware you needed 2 pieces of adapters. One for the camera, one for the scope. That has disappointed me greatly, but again if I had done my research first I would have known this. There are probably ways round it, but that will consume time and money. So something to look into for the future.
I don't regret getting the scope, it is an impressive piece of machinery, I just think I should have looked around more to be sure of what I was getting.
It was quite difficult getting to grips with moving it too, but thats also to do with the fact I couldn't be bothered with watching the dvd manual!
Finding what we wanted proved very difficult, but on our third session last night we were able to see things we wanted like the bright stars Altair and Vega. Albireo, the double star, with it's different coloured and sized stars, could be seen clearly. And most impressive was the Owl cluster in Cassiopeia, which we hadn't been able to see before.
It's not an instant pick up, in more ways than one, but we are definitely on a steep learning curve and progressing all the time.
Looking forward to clear skies again tonight.
