Rob Atkins

Hi - I'd welcome some advice about a replacement telescope. Until recently, I had a Celestron SkyProdigy 130, which was a doddle to use and great fun until the drive failed. Despite lots of effort, it proved terminal, so I'm looking for a replacement. My key requirements are (i) Goto functionality (ii) mainly visual, but I do try my hand at some unsophisticated DSLR astrophotography (iii) manageable for me to store indoors but take outside for each session (so easy set up desirable) (iv) better imaging than the 130 SkyProdigy - since I'm replacing it, getter better optics seems a good idea; I was thinking an 8 inch reflector might be a good step up (v) good focussing (my Celestron was very poor) (vi) budget of about £1000 At the moment, I'm leaning towards an EQ mount, so either a combined purchase of mount and telescope : say Bresser Messier NT-203 EXOS-2 GOTO Newtonian on GOTO mount (Harrison Telescopes, £981.00) or Sky-Watcher Explorer-200PDS on HEQ5 PRO (Tring, £1059) Or separate purchases of mount (EQ5 PRO GOTO : FLO £569, or HEQ5 Pro GOTO : Rother Valley £789) and OTA (either Skywatcher 200 PDS : Amazon £369, or Orion 8297 8" f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph : Amazon £483) I’m sure there are others I’m not aware of Note : the sources/prices are indicative - I found them browsing online. Any advice would be extremely welcome, before I make a decision that I might regret. Thanks in advance.

Hi - I'd welcome some advice about a replacement telescope. Until recently, I had a Celestron SkyProdigy 130, which was a doddle to use and great fun until the drive failed. Despite lots of effort, it proved terminal, so I'm looking for a replacement. My key requirements are (i) Goto functionality (ii) mainly visual, but I do try my hand at some unsophisticated DSLR astrophotography (iii) manageable for me to store indoors but take outside for each session (so easy set up desirable) (iv) better imaging than the 130 SkyProdigy - since I'm replacing it, getter better optics seems a good idea; I was thinking an 8 inch reflector might be a good step up (v) good focussing (my Celestron was very poor) (vi) budget of about £1000 At the moment, I'm leaning towards an EQ mount, so either a combined purchase of mount and telescope : say Bresser Messier NT-203 EXOS-2 GOTO Newtonian on GOTO mount (Harrison Telescopes, £981.00) or Sky-Watcher Explorer-200PDS on HEQ5 PRO (Tring, £1059) Or separate purchases of mount (EQ5 PRO GOTO : FLO £569, or HEQ5 Pro GOTO : Rother Valley £789) and OTA (either Skywatcher 200 PDS : Amazon £369, or Orion 8297 8" f/3.9 Newtonian Astrograph : Amazon £483) Note : the sources/prices are indicative - I found them in my browsing online. Any advice would be extremely welcome, before I make a decision that I might regret. Thanks in advance.

Thanks jefrs - that's great advice. I'm going to try and find the right adaptor and give it a try. I like the value of the EPL5 right now so will probably buy that one.

Hi all - I'd welcome some advice. I'm about to buy a camera for general use, and am looking at the Olympus EPL5. This is a compact system camera, not a DSLR. Will I be able to use it for imaging with my Celestron SkyProdigy 130 ? Not a deal breaker because I have access to a Canon DSLR, but it would be convenient if I can. Many thanks