Jump to content

SkySurveyBanner.jpg.21855908fce40597655603b6c9af720d.jpg

Skia Optima

New Members
  • Posts

    5
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Reputation

1 Neutral

Profile Information

  • Location
    Market Harborough

Recent Profile Visitors

The recent visitors block is disabled and is not being shown to other users.

  1. Could do. I was already wondering about getting the AZ5 version, upgrading to the SS tripod and then donating the orignal tripod to my daughter to use with the travelscope. To be honest, I do like the idea of GOTO, but it isn't a deal breaker and I'm reluctant to start throwing serious money around. I have an app i paid for called Star Walk 2 and that has been really helpful so far. You can point it at the sky and it very accurately superimposes the various celestial objects onto the screen. Bortle rating where I live is 5, but there is plenty of open countryside surrounding me where it is 4. Dave
  2. I think I might go and take a look at some. All those suggested seem very good, just don't want to end up with a massive lump living in the corner of the bedroom because it won't fit anywhere else! Dave
  3. Thanks, glad to be here. I'd looked a bit at Dobsonians and was a little confused at how you use them. Do they just go on the ground? They do seem to offer a lot for the money compared to Newtonian or refractor scopes. I think the main thing that would put me off is that they seem quite chunky. I don't have a shed or garage for storage so I'm not sure I'd even have room for the 150mm version. We are planning to move within the next 2 years after my youngest starts school, so hopefully then I will have room for something with at least 200mm. Dave
  4. Thanks for the suggestions John. I hadn't looked at the wifi version actually. It does look better than the Synscan and fairly keenly priced relative to that. I can feel my wallet starting to creak! Dave
  5. Hello All. First time poster. Have just signed up after spending many hours browsing and finding this place a very helpful resource. I stumbled into astronomy recently, having bought my soon to be 5 year old daughter a telescope. She has very keen interest in space and the planets, which she inherited from me. Although despite that interest I've never really looked at astronomy. Now I've spent more time with it than she has! It is a Celestron Travelscope 70 DX and came with a handy backpack and everything else to get started. It presumably is quite a poor telescope, but it was £25 brand new in a clearance sale so seemed worth a punt. Size-wise it works quite well for her too. Now that i've had a taste I would like to get something a bit more useable for myself. I'd planned to spend around £200-250 and after a bit of research, the SkyWatcher Explorer 130 seems a good place to start, but I'm torn between 2 different versions - the 130PS with AZ5 mount and tripod or the 130P Synscan AZ GOTO. I've seen a few comparisons of both but only in relation to other scopes, not each other. Haven't seen anything that explains what the 'S' stands for in the first version. I'm leaning to the AZ5 version as it is £80 cheaper, available now and would seem a better choice if I wanted to pop out for an hour with my daughter. Even if travelling solo I don't think I'd be planning whole evenings around stargazing (yet) so it's more about portability and being able to easily get setup. The GOTO system does look intriguing but is it worth the extra money (I assume I'd also need to invest in something like a powertank which is more cost)? I do like the idea of just tapping a button and being able to see different objects, but is it hard to locate objects with a 'manual' scope such as the AZ5? One thing I've noticed with the small scope we already have is that once I've acquired something in my eyepiece, if I dare to tighten up the tripod adjustment arm it moves enough to lose it! I would hope the AZ5 has a more refined method of moving and honing in on objects. I've linked to the 2 scopes below; https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html https://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html Appreciate any feedback or suggestions.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.