IzzyStardust

Thanks for the reply, I'll certainly give it a big consideration when weighing up my options later.

I could check the astro buy/ sell site, true, but whenever I look at it the site just seems a bit dodgy to me (not a knock at all on the people who own the site, or the people who've used it before, just how it looks to me) so I would rather use somewhere like FirstLightOptics or a similar place that I have used before and know will give me the goods. I don't know if you've read the whole thread or not so I don't know if you have an idea of my viewing conditions but I have had yet another thought pop into my head: what if I were to get say this telescope, and simply rotate the OTA so that the eyepiece is in a more comfortable viewing position for my situation. Yes, I would have to learn how to use an equatorial mount, but it might be worth it in the long run if it'll give me a shot at comfortably using a reflector.

@M40 I've been using astronomy tools to check the different views between telescopes and eyepieces for a while now since I decided I wanted to upgrade from my ST80. From a brief check last night between the 102 and 127 mak, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of difference, other than say Jupiter (my main target of interest in the night sky) appearing to be slightly larger with the 127 when simulated with my 20mm eyepiece and 2x barlow so realistically, the 127 would be the thing to go for cos it would offer me the "better" view. I will admit that my addendum last night was maybe more out of panic I guess rather than anything else, I'm just trying to keep my options a bit more open potentially. I suppose, realistically, its all going to come down to how much I'm willing to spend - as all things do in the end.

I'd like to add in an edit here for the sake of everyone who has replied so far: the issue with my viewing space isn't so much the length of telescope tubes (say for a dob vs my st80) its more due to where the eyepiece is positioned on a dob, and where that would put me in terms of my balcony if I chose to get one, I would basically be right up against, or have to hang over the railing in order to get to the eyepiece. This is why I was considering getting a mak, and am now second-guessing myself and also considering a longer tubed refractor like thew Sky-Watcher Evostar 102. Once again, I would like to thank everybody who has replied so far and I do apologise for my indecisiveness, I really do appreciated everybody's inputs. Hi @Louis D thanks for the comment. I usually leave my telescopes out to acclimate regardless because I had heard it was best practice, so rest assured that I would have left it out for the required amount of time before hand. I am now kind of having doubts about getting a mak and maybe thinking about getting a refractor like my ST80 but with a slightly longer tube (I know this goes against what I originally posted and the "having no space" thing) but I'm thinking about maybe getting a 102mm refractor like the Sky-Watcher Evostar instead. Do you happen to have any input as to what that would be like vs a 127mm mak? My main issue is that at the moment I only have a 2x barlow, a 20mm plossl and a 5mm BST Starguider eyepiece to use, and from my limited testing using the astronomy.tools site, the 5mm will basically be useless in the maks due to how their magnification works. As I've said to everyone else who's given me a reply, thank you very much for your insight and clear skies.

@happy-kat I'll be honest, before I made this post I had been basically sold on getting the 102 mak (the AZ pronto version from sky-watcher) but your comment on a previous reply about it not being much better than my current 80mm + barlow made me reconsider. I think the 127 mak (with out without goto, I'll have to decide) is what I'm going to go for, given that a dob just wouldn't be practical with my limited viewing space. Thanks again for all the replies you've given to me, I really appreciate it.

Thanks! I think I know what this evening's viewing will be lol

Hi @Geoff Lister will the az gti mount perform the tracking for me or would I need something more substantial for that? Thanks for the response, I think the overwhelming notion is that I should go for a 127mm mak I will be saving to get it as soon as I can!

@happy-kat I had seen that AZ5 version before also, I guess I'll need to decide if I really want the goto functionality or want to stick with full manual controls. Once again, thank you for all your replies and insight. Clear skies.

Hi @Neil H funny you mention that! I actually found a video about it the other day and it does seem to be quite an interesting piece of software. I think all things considered and all the advice I've been given, I'm going to go for the 127 AZ GTi. Once again, thanks to everyone who's replied and given me advice it is very much all appreciated.

@M40 thanks again for the reply, I'm assuming the az gti you're referring to is this one ? If so, its probably the one I'll go for.

@happy-kat gotcha, I'll save towards the 127 in that case, then. Worth noting that I am aware of what "alt-az" and "equatorial" mounts do and how they move. I've just heard in some places that EQ mounts are not the best for beginners because they can be kind of confusing to use - I'm not against learning to set them up and use them, but if I can get away with using an alt-az mount then I would prefer to do so. Sorry if my reply caused any confusion.

So it is only able to be used in equatorial mode? Apologies if I'm being a bit slow in understanding all of this, its still a bit confusing to me 😅 Also, if I cannot find a version with an alt-az mount, would this be a suitable alternative to it?

@happy-kat Do you happen to know if this version has the 'freedom find' function or not?

@M40 Yeah, I have been looking at that, it seems to be the one of the only models of the skymax127 that isn't on an equatorial mount which I have heard is not a good choice for beginners. The goto functionality is tempting, I'll admit, but I kind of want to be able to find stuff manually (at least eventually) before I start relying on a goto to do things for me. Thanks again for the replies, I appreciate it.

Hi everyone, First of all thank you very much for all of your replies, they are all greatly appreciated. @happy-kat I do already use Stellarium to assist me with my viewing, its how I was able to identify where Saturn was and attempt to view it. @Tiny Clanger I was actually thinking of the classic dobsonian as opposed to the heritage ones as I didn't want to have to create my own light shroud for it. @M40 Thanks for the response, I will admit that I was starting to lean that way anyway as the need to collimate mirrors on the reflector style telescopes was starting to scare me a little bit 😅 lol Anyway, thanks again all for the responses and taking the time out to help a confused novice, I really appreciate it. Thread can be locked/ closed now if needed.