Newbie

[ironman]

Hi,
Really new into this and I'm reading and also looking into buying a new beginner scope.

Has any "Sifu" here used this before?

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=09964

or

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=09851

Any chance that I can observe others' equipment on a viewing night?

I remember reading a SMS will be send out, if there is a last minute viewing somewhere in Dempsey rd. But I cant find that page. :-(

Are there any other recommendations?

TIA! :-)

[weixing]

Hi,

Hi,
Really new into this and I'm reading and also looking into buying a new beginner scope.

Has any "Sifu" here used this before?

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=09964

or

http://www.telescope.com/control/produc ... t_id=09851

IMHO, the Orion 6" F5 Newtonian is a better choice and should have better optics than the SpaceProbe 130.

Any chance that I can observe others' equipment on a viewing night?

There will be an Earth Hour observation session in East Coast Park this coming Saturday night. Do check it out: http://www.singastro.org/viewtopic.php?p=53184#53184

Are there any other recommendations?

Another good choice is the popular Sky-Watcher 5" Mak.
The advantage of the 5" Mak over the 6" Newtonian are:
1) Small size and light... Very portable.
2) Basically maintenance free.
3) No coma.
4) Most eyepiece will work well on it... even those low cost eyepiece

The disadvantage of the 5" Mak over the 6" Newtonian are:
1) Smaller aperture... 1" different does make a difference. I know it as I come from 5" Mak to 6" Newtonian.
2) Smaller maximum field of view... usually not a big problem.
3) Long cooling time... the 5" Mak need to "cool down" longer than the 6" Newtonian for the optics to perform at it's best.
4) Dew problem... dew will form quite easily on the corrector plate.

By the way, welcome to SingAstro and happy shopping.

Have a nice day.

[Airconvent]

weixing has said it all...
Welcome to Singastro!

[superiorstream]

Hi,ironman
There is a 6-ins very portable telescope for grab in the buy and sell column today.Though priced at around $1000 maybe you can contact him to see if he is willing to let go at a lower price,but I think you will love the scope for its portability; and at 6ins,your most probable upgrade will be a 8ins,or a 11ins-perhaps years later.,when you contract aperture fever.However you will need more fund for the mount and the eyepieces,and perhaps years later a good camera if you go into astrophotography with our Sifu.Thanks.

[yybmage]

Really, try look through others' scopes at the eath hour star party. I maybe going as well, with my Nexstar 4se, or maybe the LX 200.

[ironman]

Hi,
Thank you all for the input.
Just curious, if the Orion 6 has a latitude range of 9-72, can it be use in Singapore? (1 18' N)

[weixing]

Hi,
I think the Orion 6 EQ that you are looking have a north peg on top a tripod leg, that's why it's can't reach 0 degree latitude. You need a half-pier to solved the problem or relocated the north peg to between the tripod legs provided the counter-weight they give is the smaller diameter type.

Anyway, did you check out astro scientific centre at omni theatre?? The last time I went there, there is a celestron version of the Orion 6 EQ, but with a half-pier. The price was quite reasonable... unless they change the price again.

Have a nice day.