Sorry, another "which scope" question...

[BruceUK]

So I'm looking for my first scope and I've narrowed it down to either a 150 or 200mm Skywatcher reflector, kind of...

At least to start with it will get mostly backyard use with moderate light pollution, but I will definitely want to take it out to darker sites before too long, so it needs to be relatively portable. I will at some point want to try my hand at DSO and planetary astrophotography, but certainly not straight away.

So as I see it right now I'm looking at one of:

200P Skyliner Dob: £285

150P Explorer on EQ3-2: £285

150PDS Explorer on EQ3-2: £400

200P Explorer on EQ5: £420

200PDS Explorer on EQ5: £550

So, questions. Why, when the tube only price difference for P vs PDS is only £50, is the mounted price difference £115-£130? Is it a worthwhile upgrade at either price for what I'm doing?

Given the mostly backyard use is the extra aperture more important than having funds for better eyepieces/filters? If I take the 200PDS option that'll be all she wrote for a while, but with the 150P/PDS I'll have some budget spare.

Or, should I forget the photography altogether for the moment and get the dob, or something else I haven't considered?

[Stephen]

My advice would be to get the biggest Dobsonian you can afford and make sure this is what you want to do

If you don't want to take an interim step as above, you really need a HEQ5 mount minimum. Yes others can make things work on EQ5 mounts, but it's far from the ideal set up for photography with a big tube as above.

Then there's the cost of all the additional photography stuff you will end up wanting

[damnut]

Hi BruceUK,

Echo kh3ldar's comments above, but please before you buy go and have a play with one of those bad boys either at an astro shop or at local astro group. It will give you some idea of the size of the tube you have to balance!.

Remember to allow some budget for acouple of decent eps :-) !..

Cheers

[DOBBY]

As above... HEQ5 Pro will be needed for astrophotography...as a minimum. you must have a sturdy mount.

A 200 Dob can be mounted on this at a later date if req'd...A 250 Dob will need EQ6 or similar

[BruceUK]

Thanks for the advice. Handily I'm moving to about 20 minutes drive from the Sherwoods shop in Warks, so I plan to go and get hands on with things before buying.

My budget would cover a Skyliner-250PX and accessories, but I'm not sure my crappy Renault Clio will cope with transporting it anywhere!

[BruceUK]

As above... HEQ5 Pro will be needed for astrophotography...as a minimum. you must have a sturdy mount.

A 200 Dob can be mounted on this at a later date if req'd...A 250 Dob will need EQ6 or similar

Where's a facepalm smiley when you need one? You know I'd never even considered that you could take the tube off a dob and put it on an EQ.

[Stephen]

Thanks for the advice. Handily I'm moving to about 20 minutes drive from the Sherwoods shop in Warks, so I plan to go and get hands on with things before buying.

My budget would cover a Skyliner-250PX and accessories, but I'm not sure my crappy Renault Clio will cope with transporting it anywhere!

A 200P will fit across the back seats of a Peugeot 306 - I suspect the 250 would not :S

[Carbon Brush]

Differing comments, but that is not to say earlier, or later, advice is wrong. Before shelling out loads of £££ on scope kit, you are right to get differing opinions, and if possible look through or handle a scope or two.

If you have moderate light pollution at home, then the light gather of 200 vs 150 may not be worthwhile. A 150 is also a lot easier to carry about and set up.

The EQ5 mount is fine for the 200 scope visually. If you have RA drive, you will get away with photography, but in a limited way. For planetary photos it will be OK. For DSO, you will be limited to a few, or maybe tens of seconds exposurre. Only then if you have the kit very well set up. As KH3ldar said, the HEQ5 is minimum for photography.

My advice would be to get a set of visual kit for now. Enjoy using it and then think about which way you want to go. But before deciding which visual kit, have a look through some scopes and have a go at setting up if possible.

My first 'proper' scope was a 200mm reflector on an EQ5. I bought a T adapter with it to fit a camera and didn't use it for a couple of years.

Hope something in here helps.