Spier24

What are the benefits of having a Schmitt cassegrain over a maksutov cassegrain? I've been trying to find out for a while but I haven't actually come across anything? The only assumption I've come to so far is that Schmitt's tend to have wider apertures which make them slightly better for deep sky objects.

9 hours ago, malc-c said:

Thanks for the additional info.

The pro's and cons for a got system have been debated since they first became readily available for the masses.  Some people like to use them as a teaching guide to help them become familiar with the sky, others it saves time and effort.  The stepper motors also have more precision than the DC ones used in a cheaper dual axis drive, but the dual axis drive could be a compromise, in that once found you can easily let the mount track the object for you.  Goto mount have that added ability to allow PC interfacing should you later want to go down that route.

One of the biggest issues at the moment is availability... Most suppliers are out of stock of nearly all telescopes, and it could be summer time before new stock arrives, which no doubt will go straight out to fulfill backorders.

Back to your original question... for me I would suggest a newtonian scope with as big an aperture as you can afford and store.  You can then invest in a decent 3x barlow lens and get acceptable images of the planets, but used without a barlow, get decent bright images / views of DSO's.  For me I wanted to image DSO's so opted for a 200P, which with a barlow gave me an 8"  scope with a 3000cm focal length.  Using a cheap webcam I got some decent images of Jupiter's belts and the GRS.  But removed the barlow and equally get nice images of galaxies and nebula.

The 150PDS EQ3 pro goto comes in at £620 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-explorer-150pds-eq3-pro-goto-telescope.html  - It's not shown as out or delayed stock so you may be lucky

If you want a goto dob then it seem the 200P flextube is the "smallest" aperture, but is stretching that budget at £778 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-flex-tube-synscan-goto-dobsonian-telescope.html  Naturally if you went old school and did away with the goto, then you could get a lot more scope for your money with the 10" 250Px coming in at around £518 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-skyliner-250px-flex-tube-dobsonian-telescope.html

Another alternative is a refractor - The 120 Evostar /  EQ3  pro goto comes in at £685 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-evostar-120-eq3-pro-goto-telescope.html - a 4.47" (120mm)  f8.3 would on paper at least be a reasonable balance between planetary and DSO.. How well the optics perform I can say as I never used one to compare.  Again, if you did away with the goto, you could go one size larger and get the evostar 150 on an EQ5 for £765 https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-evostar-150-eq5-telescope.html   

Other retailers are available and prices may vary...

Hope that has given you some food for thought

 

You've given me some food for thought there, my plan right now is to go for the celestron 6 inch Schmitt cassegrain on the GoTo mount. 

I do like the look of that flextube one but unfortunately I don't think my budget will stretch that far. Would you mind telling me how that 150 you showed me works? As it seems to be a combination of a normal mount and a go-to mount.

Really appreciate the amount of advice from everyone on here. After some consideration I've decided to go with a celestron nexstar 6 slt. Seems like it'll give me the a decent all round experience whilst also having a GoTo system.

1 hour ago, Waddensky said:

It's not just you, there are many stargazers that use GOTO. It's just that it's relatively expensive, and if your budget is tight I'd rather invest in aperture than other bells and whistles. But again, nothing wrong with a GOTO if you've experienced the advantages and enjoyed them.

I'm with Heather: the hunt is part of the fun for me, as well as sitting outside with only a bunch of mirrors and lenses.

That's definitely something I've noticed, I'm actually surprised in the price difference. The best GoTo scope that's within my budget for me is the that Celestron 6 slt. Don't get me wrong, a 150 Schmitt cassegrain with a decent focal length should get some nice views of various objects. 

But yeh, you definitely see price difference when you can get a 250 Newtonian for over £100 less.

22 minutes ago, Waddensky said:

In general, deep-sky objects benefit from larger aperture and a shorter focal length. The Nexstar has the larger aperture, the focal length of both scopes is the same. I'd say the Nexstar is the better deep-sky telescope.

Why is GOTO so important? I've never used a GOTO or a comparable system. It's not that difficult (and fun!) to find objects manually 🙂.

Yes, from the original 3 that I listed I thought that the nexstar gives you a decent taster of both worlds. The focal length of the Mak with the aperture of the Newton. The reason I'm keen on a GoTo is that I've used telescopes owned by friends and family before.  A 200 manual Newtonian and the 127 mak GoTo. I found the GoTo system to be more enjoyable but that's just me I guess. 

I could get a 250 dobsonian for just over £500. The idea of not going for a GoTo mount is becoming tempting... 

5 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

If only the O.P didn't specifically want a goto , a dob (and a rather bigger one given their budget and lack of worries over physical size of 'scope) would be great . I think go to dobs are out of this price range though, aren't they ?

I've always liked the idea of getting a dobsonian, some super views through the bigger ones. Unfortunately it's the price of their GoTo's that put me off. 

7 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

That's  all useful information which will help you get more properly targeted answers, it would also be helpful to know if your back garden is a truly dark location , or with some streetlights etc, or very light polluted .

The best purchase for you may very well not be a packaged tripod/mount/OTA deal , but carefully chosen tripod/mount and separately chosen OTA.

Heather

I don't live on a busy street. South facing garden with no street lights on either side. However there are some street lights to the south of the garden behind the hedge.

1 hour ago, malc-c said:

Care to share what your budget is?  - It's no good us recommending alternative mounts or set ups if it's way outside your budget.

• Is a goto synscan mount important to you
• Do you intend to try and image through the scope rather than do purely visual observing
• Do you need portability, or will you be observing from your garden or somewhere specific like a balcony 
• Do you have limited storage space - this would rule out suggesting dobsonian scopes and the like

 

My budget is around £680 but prepared to stretch it to just over £700 if anyone knows of something very good available at that price range.

I'm only interested in scopes that have a GoTo mount.

Portability is not an issue for me. I'll be using it in the back garden and don't mind having to travel with a big scope to dark spots.

Imaging is not something I'd be doing to start with but is something that I may pursue later down the line. So it would probably be best if I did get a scope that is capable of that in case I decide to go down that road later.

Really enjoying all the feedback. From what I can tell you're all saying that the nexstar 6 slt Schmidt Cas won't be much better for observing deep space objects than the 127 mak? I want to know what advantages the 6 slt has over the 127

I appreciate all the feedback, the reason I've narrowed it down to 3 totally different types of scopes is because I'm still a bit stuck on weather I want to focus on the planets or deep sky objects. 

That's why I added the nexstar 6 slt into the mix. From what I can tell, it would be better for observing planets than the 150 Newtonian and better for observing deep sky objects than the 127 mak. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that's the right.

Hi all, I've been interested in astronomy for quite a few years and have studied the topic pretty well. However I've never actually gotten round to buying a telescope before, until now. After doing some research I've narrowed my choices down to 3 and would appreciate some feedback on which telescope you think would be best. 

The celestron nexstar 6 slt

Skywatcher skymax 127 

Skywatcher star discovery 150p 

At the moment I'm leaning towards the 6 slt. Mainly because I want something that is equipped to give me good views of the planets whilst also being able to have a nice view of some deep sky objects. I'm happy to stretch my budget for the 6 slt if that's the one that gives the best of both worlds.