scope choice??

[vinny]

I have a skywatcher startravel 102 scope at the moment on an eq1 mount and i am looking to upgrade in the next month or two but cant seem to decide what scope i need.

i will be mainly looking at planets and the odd DSO and most will be visual although a little photograpy would be a nice choice.

The scopes i am looking at are:

1. Celestron omni XLT120 on a CG4 mount with dual axis motors
   
2. Skyliner 200p flextube auto
   

I Know that the skyliner has a larger app but would the 120 be better fot the little bit of photography i would use it for?

also would the cg4 be stable enough taking photos?

[great_bear]

You don't say what kind of photography; the 200 Auto will be fine for webcam stack phots of planets etc.

Planets don't really show much of interest with apertures under 8"

With 8" and over you can see more obvious planetary changes over time.

[vinny]

sorry stacked avi from a spc900

[great_bear]

The dob will be fine then.

[SimonfromSussex]

I have a 300p dob, it is very easy to use and good for planet work but i've tried (and failed) to do long exposure. Tracking just isn't good enough. For observing the bigger the better so in my opinion the dob would be better.

[vinny]

I have a 300p dob, it is very easy to use and good for planet work but i've tried (and failed) to do long exposure. Tracking just isn't good enough. .

are you saying the auto track is no good or tracking by hand?

[ollypenrice]

You can't do long exposures with any alt-az mount however well it tracks because the field rotates.

Olly

[vinny]

I am not realy worried at this time about photography its just an idea for a later date

thinking about it tho i think i may be better off with a Skywatcher Explorer-200 on an EQ5 mount with dual axis motors as this seems to be closest to the dob but with dual axis and about the same in price.

Any thoughts?

[SimonfromSussex]

The auto tracking on my dob is great for visual and keeps most things in the eye piece for a good 20mins. Howvever as Olly says it is no where near good enough to do deep sky photos. My friend has a 200 on an eq5 and it is a great telescope, for a 200 tube the eq mount is prob the best because it doesn't restrict you.