Orion ?

[sirmetin]

Opinions please a friend pointed me towards these scopes and I was wondering if the VX8 f4.5 Newtonian on a HEQ5 synscan with the upgraded mirror 1/10PV and step down focus could be a solution that would give my wife great viewing and me some good photos (in the longer term)! As opposed to the 6SE or Skymax 150 pro?

[JohnnyD333]

Hey Sirmetin,

These scopes are very different from each other. First, if you can, try to get to a shop or local astonomy club and use a reflector and a Mak-Cass. There are big differences between the 2. The VX8 is very fast, on a good mount, and will deliver good photos (although you will need an autoguider and camera). However, the VX8 and HEQ5 is quite large in size, requires collimation, and has a shorter focal length (I think 900mm) so planets will not be as detailed.

The 6se and 150 pro are much smaller and portable. They have a longer focal length and will give great images of the planets and moon. However, the focal ratio is slow at 12 or 13, which means deep space photos will be very difficult. Also, the mount for these scopes is Alt/Alz which is inadequate for images other than planets.

It really comes down to what your plans are. I always try to give advice to "future proof" others so you dont waste your money. If your going strictly for viewing, the 6se is a nice scope and it is easy to move around. If you really want to get into photos, you need a good mount and fast scope (being the VX8 and HEQ5). You can always get an autoguider and camera later on, the VX8 is still a good scope without them. I would do some research and really think about what your intentions will be. Invest your money wisely and good luck:)

[Moonshane]

I love OOUK scopes and have two and recently sold a 12" dobsonian to buy a 16" OOUK mirror. the mirror quality in my experience is superb.

ignoring the mount, there's no doubt that you'll buy a better quality mirror than if you bought say a Chinese mirror like a skywatcher. BUT and this is a big but, the cost of the OTA from OOUK with all the trimmings is £765. This is a lot for an 8" tube, even an excellent one, and hence I always buy my gear used. you could buy a 12" with a dob base for less than the 8" you mention.

collimation is not an issue as you will have to learn this if you buy a newt, full stop. but with a fast mirror like f4.5, whilst good for imaging mid-small sized DSOs etc (although I am not certain it will give good images of planets or the larger DSOs - I'm not an imager) it will need very good quality eyepieces to make the most of the good optics.

as always, the stick in the mud here is imaging.

if you were just looking at visual then an 8" Skywatcher dobsonian at about 1/3rd the price would be very good too and you could buy a 12" for about the same money as the 8" OOUK tube. you would then not need a mount and could spend some cash on eyepieces.

with your apparent budget, you could buy the mount you mention and also an 8" Skywatcher tube for visual and a small ED (perhaps 80mm) refractor for imaging. you could also use the small refractor for wide field observing too - this is my wife's favourite method of observing - zooming about until she finds something which catches her eye.

hope this helps a smidge but it's a complicated decison for many reasons.

[sirmetin]

hehe it never gets easier - I did think about the VX8L but this may be too bulky for my wife. my intial budget is around £1000 - £1400 and I would not look to another substantial investment probably for a year or so. I did look at the 80mm ED but with a small aperture my friend suggested I would find it difficult to use in the garden with a nebula filter as it would lose more light

[foundaplanet]

I was in a similar situation as yourself. I was looking for a scope that would do both visual and imaging.

Initially I was going to buy the OO 8 and would have been very happy with that I am sure until it all went a little wrong when I went to astrofest earlier this year. I ended up with a 10" but hey that's life.

The optics are outstanding as far as I'm concerned, but yes you do pay a lot more for them. Worth it if you have the money to do it..? Definitely.

[cs1cjc]

I can recommend OO UK newtonians. Little need to go to 1/10 wave, I think. Both mine are 1/8 and very good.

If space is an issue the dob mount is compact, but not good for photography of anything but planets without a platform.

[Moonshane]

hehe it never gets easier - I did think about the VX8L but this may be too bulky for my wife. my intial budget is around £1000 - £1400 and I would not look to another substantial investment probably for a year or so. I did look at the 80mm ED but with a small aperture my friend suggested I would find it difficult to use in the garden with a nebula filter as it would lose more light

the problem is you need aperture for visual observing and wide field/a solid accurate tracking equatorial mount for imaging - aperture is largely irrelevant for imaging. they really are worlds apart. that said, as I mentioned I am no imager.

from a dark site even an 80mm scope would provide nice views of many objects. the 8" would wipe the floor with the 80mm though on fainter objects, especially if you have any light pollution e.g. at home (I'd wager the 8" would also be better on planets etc too).

My personal view (and that of many others) is that even for visual observing you need at least two scopes.

I have a 6" f11 dob which excels at planets and double stars/moon and a 16" f4 which excels at fainter galaxies, open and globular clusters and nebulae etc. where my scopes fail a little is with the very wide objects (I can squeeze in about 1.3 degrees of field into my eyepieces) and hence I have a 72mm APO refractor on my wants list in the future.

[Moonshane]

ps as the difference between 1/8PV and 1/10PV is £13 plus VAT I think it's safe to say you should probably get the better optics if you bought a new one.

[sirmetin]

I have just bought the 20x80 Celestron binos I am sure they will give me a good start on wide field objects - waiting on my book night sky with binoculars and planishere. Same friend mentioned some new visionary 20x80 triplet Binos around £300

[Moonshane]

still worth it though even then as far as I am concerned.

BUT I stand by my earlier statement. buy new and you get exactly what you require but used you get a bargain compared to the new price and in that case the optical quality is expensive to change. e.g. my 6" is 1/6pv and my 16" 1/8PV but that's what they were when they left the factory and I'll not be paying for a refigure/new coatings.

it all depends what you want to do and perhaps getting together with someone locally is an option - there's a star party in Buxton (Peak Star Party) in October if you can wait that long and would be a great opportunity to meet people and see lots of different scopes.

[superjody]

give my wife great viewing

in greater manchester????

Not much chance of that with those lovely orange skies

where abouts are you??

Im in Radcliffe

[sirmetin]

About 2 miles from you in Pendlebury

[sirmetin]

Well moonshane took your advice and we will be at the peak star party - then discovered tent we had needed replacing (over 20 years since we used it and the same for sleeping bags - well I don't fit in mine any more I did buy it when I was 19 and that's a few years back!!

[Moonshane]

cool I am there too so you can see my scope (16") then. be warned though, it may incite aperture fever. there is no cure.

[superjody]

Well moonshane took your advice and we will be at the peak star party - then discovered tent we had needed replacing (over 20 years since we used it and the same for sleeping bags - well I don't fit in mine any more I did buy it when I was 19 and that's a few years back!!

Have you tried the astronomy centre in todmorden??

That could give you an idea of scopes

The Astronomy Centre