Stardaze

I did say last question, but... have you just stick the Rigel finder mounted to a plate?

I'll get in touch tomorrow thanks. Just looking at the explore scientific EP's. The 24 is 870g and the 30 is a whopping 1410g! Wow! Look quality though..

I think you’re right. I’m happy that it’s quite a lot of scope for the money so I’ll get on order tomorrow. They seem out of stock atm so 7-10 days direct. I can live with that.

Maybe I’ll see what the bundled eyepiece is like to begin with as I’ll need to buy the other bits with the scope for now. Was looking at the Baader Hyperion 24 as they’re around £99 as a wider option. Ive had a cheap Celestron Barlow on order for over a week because I need it for the M42 thread to provide the extra distance needed to focus with my 130 and camera. Only a cheap option at £22 and intended just to see whether that works. I won’t rush into the Barlow. I’ll order the scope, use it, and decide what I need from there. I’ll have enough new things to keep me occupied for a while.

One last question John, what Barlow lens do you marry up your EPs with? Can’t see that there’s a nirvana version? Does it matter much mixing and matching brands in your experience there? My two turned up this morning so I could go with the BST version. But, I will need something wider too. How is the bundled 25 that Bresser supply with the dob?

Probably a good job everything is closed right now, huh. All makes sense though so thanks. Looks like you've drilled the hole on yours for the SW version?

This bracket John? https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-finderscope-mounting-base.html What dual speed unit for the focuser would you recommend?

Ah, replied without refreshing 👍

Nice. I’m still waiting on the two BST’s I ordered 10 days ago, was hoping they’d be here today. I’m going to need a good standard EP, in the 25 area and good Barlow too. How’s the finder scope the Bresser is bundled with? Guess I’ll need a dew shield too but that should be about it to get going.

I think that looks just the job John and will give me plenty of ‘scope’ for along time to find my way around. What EP’s have you coupled the with?

Just looking at the 250 weights: SW: OTA 19kg, Box 25kg = 44kg Bresser: OTA 11.5kg, Box 16.4kg = 27.9kg The SW is 63% heavier = Wow! Quite a difference. What I potentially could gain in slightly reduced storage room, I'll lose out to with a slipped disc. I'll look at that storage! There's a tenner difference between them and the best focuser and bearings means a big thing. One review of the 250 SW flex tube suggested the alt bearings weren't great.

Ah yes, I had seen this one being very well regarded in a review. Just been looking at the SW flex tube and they do collapse quite nicely for storage. Understand some of the pitfalls with them, but they too have an upgraded focusing unit which seems to be the weakness of the original versions.

Thank you fellas, some very good advice there. I won't discount the dob, it clearly is the best for a low budget. I'd go the the 250 for the sake of the extra £100 fro the extra real estate that would give. I can see many of the advantages if I can get around the use. A bit like Rob though, I actually quite like the EQ system for whatever reason, not that that's the most important aspect. Question around the SW Dobs, can you add a tracking Synscan system at a later date if I felt the need? I see that you can buy them integrated, but not separate? Not cost-effective to retro-fit maybe? Would the flex tube version offer much in the way of better storage, do the collapse better in a box?

Ah, my apologies, I see. My concern with a dob is the moving of it and uneven ground. Both the spots at home I favour aren't very level. Maybe I'll look into a diy fix as these do offer the best bang for money there is.

Thanks for stopping by to comment. Definitely only visual at this time. But you’ve found the problem right there. 200 seems to be the sweet spot but the weight is right on the limit of the EQ5. If I went HEQ5 with syncscan and SW 200PDS, that combo works out the same as a NexStar 6SE...

Hey folks, I've been one of those lurkers for a while and finally made the plunge as I really would like to hear your advice please. So my main passion to date is photography and so there's a little over-lap in places, but I'm well aware of Gear Acquisition Syndrome and can vouch for £000's of kit for that passion. Please bare with me here, as I'm a little more methodical, I'd like to think these days, and so I'd like some specific advice to some of my thoughts below. I've fancied a telescope for some time and so the wife bought me a starter SW 130 around 4 years ago. I had a play but didn't do much else with it, until recently. I had studied the sky a little and this forms much of my thoughts as to the appropriate upgrades as I'd like to tackle it as very much part of the learning process. I have changed the finder scope and have both an 8mm and 18mm BST eyepiece hopefully arriving today (gutted I didn't have them last night!) The big bug-bare at the moment is the poor EQ2 mount, especially the Dec lock, it's pretty dire. So I've been contemplating the upgrade path, as you do. Initially, I thought I'd do this in incremental steps - EQ5, then bolt on a Synscan, then an SW 130/150PDS tube. The real issue is, do I really just pay the extra for an HEQ5, as the EQ5 will be on it's limit for what I was thinking (150 or ideally, 200PDS). I have been a little 'inspired' by the 130PDS thread too of late. The feeling has been that, in time, I could have a half decent mount to support a reflector, and something like a SW skybox pro 150 giving me sone flexibility. Let's gets back to basics.. I want to learn the basics of the night sky. I don't have any absolute specifics that I wish to delve further into at the moment. I do seem to sway towards planets, but equally like the idea of DSO. So, with this in mind, and a key question, would a scanning system so early on actually benefit me? Doing things 'manually' from apps/maps might be slow, but will it help me better in the medium term? Or should I just grab a syncscan type system from the get-go? The HEQ5 doesn't seem to be available without Synscan, and so a big investment early on. I would like a relatively portable system, one that I can store in the garage and move around the garden. Most of the time I will be observing from the garden but may make some trips somewhere local to open up the southern sky a little more. Appreciate that large dobs offer a lot for their money, but the lack of tracking (at a sensible price) and sheer size, doesn't appeal. The other avenue is to make use of what I have, but upgrade to the midrange EQ5 mount. Then maybe make the substantial jump to a Nexstar 6 or 8SE in 12-18 months time. And this is where gear mentality comes in. Part of me wants to either earn the right to such capable kit; work out whether I'm serious about this properly for the long term; or do you just jump straight to this first, knowing that incremental steps along the way will cost you in selling on kit etc? Or, most importantly, will that actually help me in the learning process? Just to end with one other key question. I currently really only wish to view, rather than any astrophotography. Sure I have capable cameras around, but I don't have too much desire to picture anything so much, just yet. Anyway, thanks to anyone who stops by to read this and hopefully offer some sage old advice. I've seen plenty of these type of first posts on photo forums , but equally, I know some of the pitfalls early on and a gentle prod in the right direction can be extremely useful. Thanks in advance.