Am I being to cautious?

[ponte carlo blue]

Hi

I have moved backwards and forwards with what the next move should be.

We are currently using a 114 newt, and have had top fun with it. We want to move along now.

We would like - whisper it -goto functionality.

And preferably something not the size of the Hubble telescope.

I have had a look at the Nextar 6 & 8 SE's and they looked ideal...

But I am worried about the "upgradabilty" of this. As I cant buy another scope I would have to buy a new mount first.

or is the scope itself good enough that actually the mount upgrade would be enough?

Therefore from a "future proof" perspective would I be better off going for something like the HEQ5 mount with another OTA or in a package.

Can you tell I have gone forwards and backwards quite a bit on this one. Looked at dobs, the explorer 200, thought about the evostar 120, the Tal 100 as those that use it rave about it and the SE's.

Room is a bit of an issue - i.e. the Mrs doesn't want something taking up acres of room plus I would like it so that as well as exploring the sky together if my 9 year old wanted to use the telescope it could be done with minimal help - hence the SE option.

But we want the scope to have room to grow with us in our hobby.

We like planets, we will want to do some DSO's but more than happy to work our way through the Messiers.

I think we may want to do some imaging - not lots maybe just some webcam and may be dslr work later.

I know you can't get a do it all scope, I am looking for something that can do most things well and that if we want to upgrade we can.

I am now banging my head against a brick wall,

Am I worrying about the mount to much?

Any help please!!!

Sorry about the questions I started writing about one thing and seem to have gone on about some others.

Thanks

Rich

[neilmack]

If you're satisfied with your newtonian, why not go for a bigger newtonian?. An 8" would represent a real step forward, and a goto system would be a whole lot of fun. And of course, a 10" would be a terrific step forward.

Whatever you have needs a stable and reliable mount, but it isn't clear that this has to be a big EQ mount : if you don't intend to do long exposure photography, then a driven (auto) dobsonian, or even a full goto dobsonian are options. Don't buy an EQ mount just because you might like to try long exposure photography sometime : lots of people seem to saddle themselves with cumbersome and complex EQ mounts they don't need.

Unless you absolutely have to have the compactness, SCTs don't offer anything that a similar aperture newtonian can't do better.

good luck

Neil

[Ad Astra]

Hi Rich,

One of the unexpected bonuses of the NexStar series is that they are 'dovetail mounted' - that is, they can easily be transferred to an Equitorial mount later on. The optics are exceptional, and these scopes are the classic in terms of compact, large aperture, easy to transport and upgrade. Lots of options too, since the user base is so large.

A good choice that meets all your requirements. I think you'll be thrilled with the 8-inch!

Dan

[Sarah]

We have a 6" SCT and it is a lovely scope. I probably prefer it to the 8" Newtonian we had. That may be partly down to the compactness of the SCT, although the planetary and lunar views are great too! An 8" would obviously give you extra aperture. You will need a dew shield, as a minimum, with an SCT, and preferably a dew heater too. An AZ mounted SCT would be fine for lunar and planetary webcam imaging. As Dan says, you could mount it on a suitable EQ mount at a later date if you wanted to try some DSO imaging. Whilst it may not be the most suitable scope for DSO imaging at f/10, you could add a focal reducer. I have recently seen some great DSO images on here that were taken with a 6" SCT (with the f6.3 focal reducer).

[ollypenrice]

An 8 inch SCT is good at many things. Compact, decent light grasp, pretty good optics. Excellent for webcamming the solar system.

The fork or single arm mounts are great for visual and OK for webcamming. For deep sky you would need a wedge and personally I hate them. In any event, a decent 8 inch Newt would be far better for DS imaging. Faster and with shorter FL, but the NEQ6 would be a safer bet than the 5.

Olly

[Slangers]

I have the Nexstar 8SE and love it to bits. Can't fault it for my purposes (which don't include imaging).

[Mr Spock]

Something like a Celestron 8" XLT on a HEQ5 would be compact, light and portable. It would give years of satisfaction and be upgradable. Especially if you went for the SynTrek version of the mount - upgradable to GOTO if you wanted to. Being an owner of a C9.25 XLT, I know that would fit nicely on a HEQ5 too.

Plenty of upgrade options there.

[ponte carlo blue]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Looks like we're gpoing for an SE and then upgrade the mount in the future if we need to.

Champion

until I read something and change my mind again....

Thanks

Rich

[ronin]

We would like - whisper it -goto functionality

It's your money, your time, you will be the one looking through it and using it.

Get what you want!

Forget everyone else.

By the way lots and lots and lots and lots of people have goto's. You may actually be in the minority by not having one. Read the signatures and read the threads.

[Gina]

I've just about decided on the SynTrek mount version with added computerised GOTO later - of the NEQ6 mount. I want a really good solid mount for astro-imageing/photography.