Skyliner Dobsonian 8 or 10 inch

[paulhutch]

Hi All,

After a month of fussing and faffing trying to decide what scope to go for, and asking for advice in this forum I have decided to opt for a Skyliner Dobsonian. Now another question has come up. What would be the difference in the Skywatcher sky-liner 8 inch at £285 and the 10 inch at £459 (apart from the obvious 2 inches in size and extra £174(That will buy a nice second hand DSLR)). Will their be a marked improvement between the 2 and is it worth spending the extra cash? I am interested in mostly planets with the view to using the scope for some astro imagery in the future.

Thanks Paul:icon_scratch:

[paulhutch]

Sorry both are f/1200 Parabolic Dobsonians

[gouroun]

The difference between the 8 and the 10 is that the 10 will gather even more light(its aperture is 250mm).This means that youll be able to see fainter Deep sky objects brighter.If you have the money and you want to spend them go for the 10".I am also new to astronomy and to this forum and im considering on buying the skywatcher 8" dobsonian cause i cant afford the 10"..

Now astrophotography is a difficult thing to do with dobsonian mounts and its not recommended.If you want to do serious AP youll need an equatorial mount with motors to autotrack the planets and mostly DSO's while the earth is spinning.this means that youll need at least a HEQ-5 or even better a CG-5 mount with Goto control.Its sad but AP is a very expensive hobby cause of the expensive equipment and maybe we'll have to stick with observation at first..

Kiriakos

[brantuk]

For imaging planets a webcam is the appropriate tool. An alt/az mount will be accurate enough for this (eg a dob or fork mounted Mak/Sct) but a dob will need to be a "tracking" dob.

To image dso's you'd need an accurately polar aligned equatorial mount and either a dslr or a ccd camera (and most likely guiding). This will extend your budget to at least £1000 if done cheaply with second hand gear.

An 8" tracking dob and a £30 webcam might fulfill your aspirations - you can get all the required software "free to download" from the web

[George!]

Bran, if I get the 200/250p auto, will this work as a Goto upgrade or go the same route you did? First Light Optics - Skywatcher SynScan V3 handset

[Neil1194]

Ive just ordered a Skywatcher 10" Dob - will post pics and report when it arrives - cant wait!...Neil

[brantuk]

Hi George - first thing is be careful with the handsets - that one in your link is the "EQ" model - for the auto dobs you need the "AZ Goto" handset - totally different.

That said - any of the "Auto" dobs will work with the AZ Goto handset including the 200P/250P auto's. You just plug it in and you're set to go.

You could get an auto dob and Morgans SPC880 webcam (flashed up to SPC900) and start imaging planets right away. Then upgrade to goto later when funds allow

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Congrats on the buy, hopefully i'l be going for the same in a couple of months

[paulhutch]

Ive just ordered a Skywatcher 10" Dob - will post pics and report when it arrives - cant wait!...Neil

Thank you for the replies as usual your all stars (Get it?)

Neil can you please reply to this once you have it up and running and let me know what you think, I'll wait for your reply before I order mine. I'll go for the same if it's brilliant like I think it will be. As for astro photography I'll keep the big Dob for observing and gradually (Wife if your reading this, I said GRADUALLY) build up photo/web cam kit bit by bit as money allows.

Thanks Paul

[George!]

Hi George - first thing is be careful with the handsets - that one in your link is the "EQ" model - for the auto dobs you need the "AZ Goto" handset - totally different.

That said - any of the "Auto" dobs will work with the AZ Goto handset including the 200P/250P auto's. You just plug it in and you're set to go.

You could get an auto dob and Morgans SPC880 webcam (flashed up to SPC900) and start imaging planets right away. Then upgrade to goto later when funds allow

Thanks goood advice there, by the way which tracking tripod mount did you buy again and take the remote from it + did you sell the auto and the remaing mount? Or would you keep the auto controller?

[brantuk]

I sold the remaining mount and auto handset to defray the cost. This is the one I purchased brand new:

SkyWatcher SynScan Goto AZ Mount & Tripod

They've gone up a little - it was £189 a year ago when I bought mine - or you can try for a second hand one

[George!]

I noticed that he auto and the Goto have different bases. Does this affect anything? Is the only real difference the handset?

[brantuk]

The bases change depending on what size you have - up to ten inches they're all the same - 12" has extra side struts for the heavier weight - over 12" they are made to flat pack in the boot then assemble quickly in the field using bolts with hand knobs on. The more recent goto models I understand have upgraded encoders and motors.

Other than that I don't think there's any other big differences