First scope ?

[Duncan]

Hi to everyone,
I'm thinking of buying a 12"Meade lightbridge. I want to do visual work and later get into DSO photography.Of coarse i'll photo the planets and moon as well but those DSO's look so good.Any comments and or feedback would be appreciated.:hmm:

[Radar]

Hi Duncan,

Welcome to the site mate.

I don't think a Meade Lightbridge would be suitable for Astrophotography because of the kind of Alt/Az mount it uses. To do long exposure astrophotography you will need a mount that can track equatorially. For visual work this would be a great scope but I'm not sure if it would be suitable for DSO's because of the mounting.

There are others here that may be able to shed more light on this subject for you than I can.

All the best mate.

Ray :thumbsupmate:

[Duncan]

Hi Radar,
Thanks for the comment. I'm led to believe that Argo Navis system overcomes this problem.Cost about $1130.00 so all in all still working out cheap considering the apeture gain. However am open to all comments and thoughts.
Regards,
Duncan

[AstroTasmania]

Hi Duncan,

Welcome aboard. Being an Alt/Az non equatorially mounted and non driven mount, would make it unsuitable for deep sky long exposure photography. There would also be field rotation with exposures over s short period.

Perfect as a visual scope, you can even add an Argo Navis digital setting circle system which will help you find thousands of objects, but of course it will not make it a GoTo scope but a ''Push To". I believe some very experienced users do use Dobs for planetary work with their video camera /USB camera systems.

If photography is not your primary objective, go with the big Dobsonian mounted Newtonian telescope until you gain a lot more experience and feel for what is involved. Tracking platforms are available which will allow you to track the scope for limited periods.

Decide what your primary objective is, there is no single "Universal" scope - unfortunately, IMHO.

Clear skies...

[chris]

Hi Duncan,
Welcome to the forum.

I agree with AstroTasmania an Argo Navis Unit attached to your Dob is great for finding objects, however the Dob will still be a Push To scope and not a GoTo scope.

Cheers
Chris

[Duncan]

Thanks Chris,
Well noted will probably go a straight 12" Dob and then later convert to an EQ mount. At least i will have something great to use visually until this time. It will take 9mths of saving so still have plenty of time to look and decide but i want the aperture to.lol.
Cheers,
Duncan:eartoear:

[AstroTasmania]

Hi Duncan,

I know how keen you can be when you have set your mind on buying a scope - and obviously you want the best for your dollars.

Here is another thought for photography without breaking the bank, a small aperture 80 - 90mm refractor on a smaller GEM, or if you go with a bigger GEM, piggy back. Some fantastic images are done with a DSLR and an 80mm scope, as an example. A SCT is perhaps not the ideal choice because it is slow at f/10 and most people who have one use a focal reducer to get a faster f/ratio and wider field. The SCT mount has to be pretty good to track at those long focal ratios. There is a very steep learning curve using a SCT for photography.

Keep asking the questions and doing the research and this will give you a much better idea of what you need to buy. Think also of all the extras needed!

Clear skies...

[Mick]

Hi Duncan. I agree with the above posts, I have a 300mm Dob and the visual views are amazing but photography with it is limited. I have used it for photography of the Moon and brighter planets only, quick shutter speeds make that relatively easy. The following photo is one that I snapped at the last Jupiter Moon occultation using my Dob to give you an example.

[Radar]

Nice shot that Mick.

[CanisMajorTom]

How does the argo navis unit know where the scope is pointing all the time? I imagine encoders right? But you would need so many different types of encoders to fit all the different scopes out there, I'm thinking that there must be some other way for them to do it.

[AstroTasmania]

The shaft encoders are basically all the same, physically anyway, so the only changes are the external brackets needed to fit the encoder to each axis, RA & Dec. Argo Navis supplies a wide range of kits to suit lots of scopes. Many handy telescope owners can even fit their own.

Once the two encoders are fitted and the Argo Navis is one star aligned, you are in business. I use an Argo Navis on my 12" homebuilt fork mounted Newtonian for a push to system when I want to sky hop or drive it with the motors. I can use the Argo Navis as a stand alone unit or connect it to my PC and use Star Atlas PRO, which is fantastic.

Clear skies...

[Radar]

Many handy telescope owners can even fit their own.


I am thinking about making my LX50 push to. Is this a pretty straight forward process or would it require someone with knowledge of attaching encoders to do it?

Cheers Shev.