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planetary scope


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So with getting back into the hobby, it's like starting again really. I already have a skywatcher 130pm newt but I have been thinking on and off about what I want from the hobby, the answer seems to be high power planetary and lunar stuff with some doubles chucked in for good measure.

Been looking at high power eyepiece for my current scope or a refractor or a 200 dob but then I saw the skywatcher 127 mak. Would this be a good planetary scope? It looks the best of both worlds, high power yet small and manageable, think my mount is an eq2 but not sure, would this take the weight of the 127?

Any advice is recommended as I feel quite confused at min lol, doesn't take much

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They do, but with a f/6 telescope you can use affordable wide angle eyepieces. As dobsonians are stable and typically move smoothly, manual alt-az tracking works well even at 200-300x once you get ed to it. If all fails, there are eq platforms you can build or buy.

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Right so it's looking like the dob then :) I'll be asking all family and loved ones for a bit of money at Christmas, this coupled with saving a bit here and there should be able to afford something sweet

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Had a play with the 150 dob at a local camera shop today looked nice felt easy to use.

Seen one for 150 on astro buy and sell. Looks in good nick tempted to make the plunge now

The 150 mm f8 dob would make a nice planetary scope.  :smiley: Good optics, small secondary and would cope with 200 x mag.

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Only issue i have with a dob is fence clearance. In my back yard where i observe i have a five foot fence to my east two houses mine include to the south and another fence to west and a confer hedge to the north.

With my current set up the scope is quite high off the ground on its tripod and able to peek over some of these objects whereas the dob looks to be much closer to the ground and so i don't know whether I'll be making my effective viewing window smaller

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Not sure if it would help you but I decide on what I will look at before setting up and site scope for best view, The scope would be portable enough to move around if needed during an observing session.  You could also try standing it on a low platform ? 

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Not making this easy lol. From my front garden I have street lights but a better ish view about, saturn is fully visible for around an hour at minute, I seem to remember thus getting better come winter.

Are the dobs easy to transport in the car? Do they break down easily as I have found a dark ish site nearby with good south views

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I have a range of scopes and to me more aperture is generally best but for your stated targets and situation a 150mm f8 might be a good option but I think in all truth a 200mm f6 would be far better. A 127 mak may be better on double stars but less good on other targets. The issue with this scope is a need for an additional mount, not so with the dob

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Full tube dobsonians can easily be transported in the car, rockerbox in the trunk, telescope on the back seat. YMMV.

Flextubes and Truss dobsonians take up less space. The cheaper variants Flextube, Litebridge and the new ES are not that light though.

A full 8" Dob rockerbox and OTA weigh around 9-10kg each. That can be carried well.

As for Saturn visibility, https://www.calsky.com/cs.cgi/Planets/7/8?obs=79735012755645

A 8" will beat a 5" mak easily in any discipline, but the Mak's form factor can be a plus (balcony).

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