New Telescope advise please?

[AstroTiger]

Hi all

I have decided it is time to get a new telescope. The requirements are portabiliy, no fuss. so a heavy equatorial is out of the question.

I would like to gaze the deep sky objects, but seeing the planets would also be nice.

Now i am aware of the fact that refractors are better for planetary work, and even though LP dictates with i would prefer a catadioptic or something for deep sky.

I have been looking at the EXT meades.

Yes i would like to get a meade. But then i have in mind more for a second hand scope.

Can anyone advise? Budget, £500

Cheers Al

[blinky]

For DSO and portability it has got to be a Dobsonian, these can be had within your budget. The only problem being they are completly useless for astro photography.

[Andrew*]

I don't think portability and astrophotography can fit together very easily anyway! I agree with blinky. A dob would give you a lot of DSO in an easy-to-shift package, for minimal cash. You can fit in a 10" Meade Lightbridge truss dob (I believe trusses occupy next to no space once dissassembled) or even a 12" Skyliner into your budget.

If by portability you mean there's a size limit (e.g. a small car), these might be a bit on the big side.

I hear they're dead easy and speedy to set up though.

Andrew

[FLO]

I also favour the Dobsonian.

I can't think of a more fuss-free design or of anything better suited (for the price) to deep-sky observing.

Your budget covers both the Skyliner 250PX and Skliner 300P. The 10" 250PX is more manageable and more likely to fit across the back-seat of a car; you would also have money left over for a red-dot finder and some eyepieces.

Hope that helps.

[Chubster]

Or how about a nice portable grab and go Newt

http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=12141.0

[russ]

How about the Meade LX50 8" on UK Astro Buy'n'sell. It's fork mounted, so dead easy to setup, compact and very easy to use. Also comes on a wedge for tracking and dual drives. Plenty of aperture, can do planets or deepsky. Can be focal reduced to f3.3 for astro imaging. And fits exactly into your budget, the guy wants £500! Ticks all the boxes and the 8" SCT OTA could be adapted for an EQ mount later.

Russ

[MartinB]

Or this one - http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=10949.msg115244#msg115244

[Helen]

Yes, my Meade LX10 8" SCT with dual drives is still for sale, and happy to match the Astrobuysell scope price of £500, but including a couple of eyepieces too.

Helen

[Whippy]

I would recommend the Dob too, but then I would because I've got one! (I've got the Skyliner 250px and it's t'riffic!) It's great if you just want a quick 30 mins/hour long look around as you get the base out and plonk the OTA on top and off you go. Then if you want to track an object for while for say astrophotography purposes, you can get an equatorial mount for it and you've got the best of both worlds then.

[MartinB]

The Lx10 fits the bill perfectly and at a very fair price.

[AstroTiger]

hi all

thank you all very much, i have pm'd re the LX, she sounds like a beauty, and just the badi am looking for

Al