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Astronomy, either visual or astrophotography, requires a certain amount of equipment. In theory you could start this hobby with a $20 discount store special but I would not count on an enjoyable experience. Those scopes will frustrate you with blurry images of even the moon. Unfortunately there is no "right" telescope for everyone, and no "best" scope to start with. It all depends on what you want to do with the scope, what you can carry around, and how much you can invest in the hobby.
I have seen people grinning from ear to ear playing with a six inch, beat up, borrowed dobsonian that barely is holding together, I have seen people frustrated with $8,000 refractors, and everything in between. The trick is finding the one that is right for you. That may include things like what the scope looks like, the color of paint on it, etc. I know that sounds insane but if you do not like your scope, you won't use it, then what good is it really?
What follows is my equipment, not a sales pitch for what you should buy. This is the equipment I use, I like, and I bought. Just because I enjoy it and get reasonable images out of it does not mean it will work worth a flip for you.
Primary Telescope
My primary telescope is the one that took most of the images you see. It is an Orion 110mm f7 Premium ED APO refractor with a 770mm focal length. It sits on top of an Orion Sirius computerized EQ mount. Tracking is provided by an Orion Starshoot Auto Guider mounted in an Orion ShortTube 80mm refractor which is mounted on top of the 110mm refractor. I have two finders, an actual green laser from Celestron and an Orion EZ Finder Deluxe. I have a dovetail plate that attaches to the secondary dovetail on top at a right angle to support a camera for tracked widefield shots which can be taken at the same time the scope is imaging.
Most people will tell you if you want to buy a scope and start in the hobby that you should buy something like a Dobsonian telescope and do visual astronomy for a year or so before jumping into astrophotography and spending a ton of cash, that is exactly what I did not do :-)
Secondary Telescope
Sometimes when I am imaging I need something else to do and that is when this one comes out to play. This is an Orion 90mm F11 SkyView refractor on a Orion SkyView Deluxe EQ mount that I have restored from the graveyard. It is completely factory except for the mounting plate which I had custom made by a local machine shop since the old one arrived to me in four pieces.
First Telescope
My first ever telescope was purchased back around the mid 1990s and is a Celestron 114mm f9 Newtonian First Scope with a focal length of 1000mm on a very cheap EQ mount. I really hated this scope. This was back before the internet was the wealth of information it is today and learning how to use a scope on an EQ mount that wobbled all over the place was nothing short of exasperating. I may have drug this scope out a grand total of three times before it became a living room decoration.
Cameras
When you start in astrophotography you will undoubtedly be told that you should get either a dedicated AP CCD camera, or use a Canon DSLR. Me being me, whipped out my Nikon and told all the "must use Canon" fanboys to keep their silly notions. For some reason they seem to be the last people to understand that it is the photographer, not the camera, that really matters. You will hear lots of horror stories about Nikon cameras and AP, and probably some about Sony, Pentax, Minolta, etc etc. If you already have a DSLR you can use it, without modifying it, just fine. If you are staring from nothing, you certainly can choose Canon, or you can do what I did and use a Nikon D7000 which is an excellent camera for AP. And no, it does not "eat" stars :-)
In addition to the D7000 I primarily use, you may also see some images from my D90 which also works well but of course not quite as well as the D7000.
Eyepieces
Since my primary focus is in astrophotography I do not use eyepieces as much as some. I do however like reasonable quality in my eyepieces so the ones I mainly use for visual are Orion Stratus 2" models which include a built in 1.25" adapter so they can be used either way. I use these same eyepieces in both my refractors. They are not as nice as some of the $400+ each Tele-vue eyepieces, but they are far and away better than the standard plossls that come with many scopes and eyepiece kits.
Accessories
There are a ton of accessories that come into play, but I will cover the ones I use the most. I currently use two filters, the Baader 2" Moon & Skyglow "light pollution filter" that is on virtually ever time I take a shot. The only time this filter is not used is when I am shooting with narrowband filters (yes, with a unmodded Nikon!) including my Baader 2" 32nm Ha filter. These filters screw into the nose of my HoTech SCA 2" Field Flattener which is used to try to make the stars round all the way from the center of the image to the far corners. You may notice that older images have more problems with the stars on the edge than newer images as I get this little gem dialed in.
To focus my scope I use a Bahitnov mask. Images taken before I started using this mask have mostly been removed from the site and replaced with ones that are actually in focus :-) If you are into AP you absolutely, positively, without question, no excuses, need this little device, and they are cheap cheap cheap. Get on, no I mean it, right now, quit reading dummy and order one or make one right this second. Personally I bought one because it was cheap, and made out of a nice hard plastic which will not suffer from dew problems.
Speaking of dew, down here in Texas dew is a real problem. When I say that, I mean I need windshield wipers for my laptops out in the field, no really, I do! I use the Dew-Not system with a two channel, four port controller with heater strips on both ends of my main scope, the optics end of my guide scope, and around my Orion EZ Finder Deluxe.
Being in Texas this one will really floor you, but from November through February you need cold weather gear. Those of you up north will undoubtedly laugh when I talk about how cold it gets outside at night, and I don't blame you, I was laughing hysterically when I went to Washington DC and they were opening cooling centers because it was over 90 degrees while we were just fine at 110 degrees in Texas, so I get it. But anyway, when the temp drops below 50 degrees you will be amazed (or horrified) at how cold you get sitting in a chair watching your computer screen for 8+ hours without moving. That lack of activity and lack of any heat source for that long will absolutely freeze you to the core.
What do I wear when it gets cold? Starting from the bottom, from outside to in, insulated boots, wool socks, liner socks, up to dual-layer insulated fleece lined ski pants, sweat pants, two layers of thermal underwear, regular underwear, then up to heavy outer fleece lined jacket, fleece jacket, sweatshirt, t-shirt, thermal underwear shirt. Then don't forget the fleece gloves, baklava and contrary to what you might think, those northerners do not wear scarves for looks, get one then remember to go completely around your neck and tuck it in completely (scarves people wear that are not tucked into jackets are just a fashion statement and pretty worthless). Then I take my fold up chair and put a heating pad in the bottom (amazing how a warm rear end helps!), then place a military surplus wool blanket over the chair to form a nice little envelope for me to sit in. Lastly, I take a second wool blanket and put it over my legs. Using wool is important because of all the dew. This setup is good to at least 30F for up to 12 hours (never gone longer).
Now don't just put all this on right as you start, you will cook. Put on a few layers and as it gets colder add more layers. Once you start to move around packing up your gear you will start to overheat so start stripping off layers (start with the outside jacket, then the scarf, you will freak out when you realize what the scarf has been doing all this time, heh).
Brands
You may notice the vast majority of my equipment is made by Orion, and that may lead you to believe I am an Orion fanboy. This is not exactly the case. I will admit I very much enjoy using their equipment and I have been very happy with both their presales and post sales support. I buy their equipment because I trust them to tell me what works with what, and how well it will work. Moreover I know what level of quality to expect for my money. I have also seen some very nice equipment from Celestron, Meade, and Takahashi to name a few. Personally I feel that it is more important than brand to make sure you are not buying the cheapest model. Any midlevel model or better from any manufacturer should provide you with an excellent experience.
Now I should probably clarify the term midlevel model. When I say that, I am taking a particular type of scope, for this example I will use refractors. Orion sells a cheap $80 60mm with a mount. They also sell a $2,000 102mm Triplet optical tube with no mount. Take that price range and divide it roughly into three sections, for example, $0-$699, $700-$1299 and $1300-$2000. Anything in the $700-$1299 area for the optical tube alone would make an excellent scope to last you many many years. This is a rough approximation so $600 would probably be close enough. My main scope was dead in the center. (prices taken from the Orion catalog November 2011)
Now there are some things I do not use Orion for, again, because it is the best tool for the job. These include using Baader filters because the Orion ones have non-standard threads that do not even fit their own products, go figure. Also my HoTech field flattener because Orion does not make a field flattener that takes 2" filters which I find amusing since they sell 2" astrophotography filters including light pollution and narrowband.
Copyright 2012 Allan Hall, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED