Which Scope out of these three?

[MercuryRising]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post and I'm just looking for a bit of advice.

I've been reading the forum for a couple of weeks now and have settled on a Skywatcher Skymax 127 as our (myself and missus') first scope.

But, I can't make the call on which out of the following three are best:

Skywatcher Skymax 127 (EQ3-2)

Skywatcher Skymax 127 SupaTrak

Skywatcher Skymax 127 SynScan AZ GOTO

The other half is a bit concerned that GoTo could make us lazy and remove some of the fun of finding what we're looking for, but perhaps we could become frustrated without it?

I quite like the one with the equatorial mount - are these simple to work? - as it looks a better well-built mount than the other two.

The SupaTrak could be an option since it's clearly the cheapest - is it the best value for money?

Any help much appreciated - really ready to order one of these three and pray for clear skies at the weekend!

One last thing - how much should we be looking to pay - what's a good and bad price for each scope?

Cheers

[nicnac]

all the same telescope, different mounts

i prefer EQ mounts

what are you interested in observing?

[MercuryRising]

Hi Nick,

yes, it's the mount I can't decide on really.

with observing, a bit of everything really, planets, some dsos that can be made out. May want to try some astrophotography later - if it's an option taking into account the scope.

[rowan46]

they all have thier advantages. the super track is the lightest with the eq3 heaviest (inc weights). The eq3 needs no power and the synscan is goto.

[MercuryRising]

The more portable it could be the better as we may want to take it abroad with us. Am I right in thinking the EQ-3 would take a bigger scope in future if we were to get one and this might be a problem with the other two?

Total noob question - how does the eq-3 track with no power?

[CGolder]

I would go or the eq3-2 with this scope, the 127 is a cracker, but really pushes the Alt az mount to its limits, its workable but its on the limits

[rowan46]

yes the eq3 will take a 150mm newtonian. As to tracking you use a an ra knob at the side to turn it by hand. If you want it to track you need to add motors, then it will need power.

visit flo our sponsor that will tell you aprox prices of the scopes. link is in the logo top of the page

[chemtom24]

The more portable it could be the better as we may want to take it abroad with us. Am I right in thinking the EQ-3 would take a bigger scope in future if we were to get one and this might be a problem with the other two?

Total noob question - how does the eq-3 track with no power?

erm, it doesnt unless you buy a motor drive for it, around 20 quid.

i had an eq3-2 mount with a motor drive. i really liked it, was quite stable and portable, and i learnt how to polar align with it.

once you polar align the mount, the motor will drive the RA axis, speed and direction can be adjusted etc. The Dec axis will not need adjusting (if done properly lol!) i found it handy if i was wanting to keep an object in view whilst doing other things and having a quick peek now n then - especialy handy when showing friends/family whats in view, not eveyrone was comfortable about manually adjusting the scope. not that its hard to manully track tho.

EDIT - simple motor drive attaches with 1 screw, and uses AA batteries.

[PeterM]

If the price isn't a problem then the GOTO mount sounds like the a good option. Just because you have it doesn't mean you have to use it all the time and if your partner prefers to find stuff the old fashioned way and you prefer GOTO then that mount is capable of accomodating both of your requirements.

[MercuryRising]

That sounds good, I wasn't sure you could just switch off the GoTo and move the scope around manually. All comes down to which is the best mount then I suppose.

[Orion_the_Hunter]

For a high magnification 'scope like this, you will greatly benefit from tracking imo.

Therefore the Supertrack may be 'the one' because it tracks, it's lightweight, it's cheaper.

Although many people might suggest the EQ mount to aid with learning the sky (I am from the 'non goto' stable), these can be very frustrating for a beginner.

AZ mounts are more intuitive, their movements-up, down, left, right-come naturally to us, whereas an EQ mount moves in 'different ways'.

I hope my slightly rambling post makes sense!

[MercuryRising]

Thanks for the advice Orion_the_Hunter. It did make sense!

Is the scope basically the same on the SupaTrak as the others so, if in future we wanted a different mount, we could just fit it to the new mount easily?

I also heard that you can't move the SupaTrak manually and need to use the control pad but with the other two you can move manually if you want. Is this right?

We'll use Stellarium and the other great apps out there on the iPad so that should be a sort of little GoTo perhaps.

[Rob L]

Thanks for the advice Orion_the_Hunter. It did make sense!

Is the scope basically the same on the SupaTrak as the others so, if in future we wanted a different mount, we could just fit it to the new mount easily?

I started out with the Mak on the SupaTrak mount but recently upgraded the mount to the EQ3-2, mainly for stability but also because I wanted a cheap alternative to the astrotrac that I could mount my dslr on for widefield imaging.

[PeterM]

That sounds good, I wasn't sure you could just switch off the GoTo and move the scope around manually. All comes down to which is the best mount then I suppose.

I don't think I was that clear but to confirm as far as I know you can't move the scope manually without power. So you need the system switched on but use the up, down, left, right controls to point it rather than making it point at a target with GOTO.

[bigal1]

I have got a skymax 127 which was on a supertrack mount but now it sits on an eq mount (cg-4) and with the motors fitted tracks way better than the old supertrack but it is quite a bit heavier .

[spaceboy]

Welcome to SGL Mercury

The Sky-Max 127 is a superb scope it's size. IMHO it excels best at imaging planets (as you will see from examples in the imaging section) but it can be used for visual with some good results. You will be able to see most of the planets with varying degrees of detail and the same again with most of the Messier catalog. The optics of the Maksutov design gives some of the sharpest coma & CA free stars you could ever wish for but the FOV given by the F/11.81 will restrict your magnification when observing some of the larger deep sky objects. As the Mak is considered a slow scope it's not picky about the EP you use and most will perform well saving you a fortune in optical glass. The down side MAK's are also notorious for long cool down times and dewing up so you will need to at some point accessories with either dew shield, dew heater or preferably both and to help reduce cool down keep stored in a cool place. The Mak although holds collimation excellently is not user friendly should you ever need to adjust collimation and will be required to be seen by a specialist. All scopes have there good and bad points but you soon get used to your particular scope. The EQ mount with out doubt is the most stable platform of the three options and will limit the amount of time the image takes to settle during focusing and will also allow for upgrades of larger scope, tracking & goto in the future. Supa-trak mount is a relatively sturdy mount given how light it is and will allow a target to be tracked for up to 15 minutes before slight adjustment to dec is required. The Supa T will not allow for manual adjustment so all time your locating objects your draining the 8 x AA battery pack (supplied) so an alternative power supply may be of benefit. The syn scan GOTO model is basically the same as the Supa-trak but with an object database. Trouble here is you will have to familiarize your self with the alignment procedure every time you set the mount up. The database contains thousands of objects the 5" aperture would be restricted to show. Again the GT mount will track for up to 15 minutes before slight adjustment will be required. Due to there light weight construction both the Supa T & GT mount will allow your image to dance around while you focus on objects so getting an optimal focus on an object could become quite frustrating if seeing conditions are bad anyway.

I hope this may be of some help.

SPACEBOY

[Capricorn]

The EQ3-2 may not require power but you will want a set of motors on it at some time and I guess this could be fairly soon after you get it. They are very useful and if there are 2 of you to use the scope whatever you are looking at will soon disappear out of view. Less then 15 seconds at half decent magnification.

So unless there are motors if you locate something and say "Look at this" by the time you swap over I bet it will be either out of view or almost. Twiddling those manual thingys also impart wobble. If you are having to track manually all the time then the image will wobble all the time.

So I would say all 3 will require power and you will have to budget for dual motors.

Being honest the goto will be the easier. You learn to align it and then go looking. Have a read in here about people unable to locate anything. And before you say it: why does having a goto prevent you learning the sky? They do not perform a lobotomy on you if you buy one.

[swamp thing]

Being honest the goto will be the easier. You learn to align it and then go looking. Have a read in here about people unable to locate anything.

There are just as many people on here posting that they cannot get their Goto to work/find anything.

Its obviously not as simple as the manufactures claim.

Either way it's a leaning process and neither is as simple as falling off a log.

[chemtom24]

wll said swampthing, i was thinking the same, about people saying their go-to's dont find things etc - surely they cant be as 'good' as they are made out? and if you have to line everything up beforehand, then surely its just as easy/simple to use the setting circles to find an object?

[tomw28]

If you go for the EQ3-2 you will need to get a polar scope to go with it. I have that mount and for a couple of weeks I tried using it without a polar scope and it was a complete nightmare. The polar scope makes life much easier and more enjoyable.

[spaceboy]

Twiddling those manual thingys also impart wobble. If you are having to track manually all the time then the image will wobble all the time.

Good point about image wobble when manually tracking but as long as you don't exceed the mounts capability it should be no worse than using a manual dob.

Should you decide on tracking motors you would only need one RA motor on the EQ mount to track and if correctly polar aligned it will track indefinitely. There are duel motors but these are only really useful for longer OTA's when looking through the finder while trying to make adjustments at the mount can become a juggling act. Rough polar alignment is sufficient to allow a target to remain in view for 20+ minutes but for any kind of imaging a polar scope is a must have.

There are just as many people on here posting that they cannot get their Goto to work/find anything.

Its obviously not as simple as the manufactures claim.

Either way it's a leaning process and neither is as simple as falling off a log.

I have a GT mount and I personally love and hate the thing at the same time. When I do finally get to do some observing because most my night has been spent messing getting the mount working accurately there is no better way of touring the sky. I have with manual mounts spent nights trying to find some thing that I eventually find was too dim to see under my light polluted skies. With a GT if it doesn't show up in the EP you know you can move on to the next object with no real time wasted.