skywatcher confussion!!

[SpaceMonkey777]

i've decided to take the plunge and buy my 1st telescope, and am unsure which direction to take!

I'm looking at the skywatcher 130p supatrak auto as a starter, but am i correct in thinking that it's a "GoTo" scope that will do the navigating for me??

I'd like to put the effort in though and learn to find my own way around the skies, would i be better off with the standard skywatcher 130p???

a complete newbie looking forward to some feedback!!

[smolloy]

I am also a complete newb, and I don't even own a scope yet (it's in the post), so please listen to the more experienced members of the forum before you listen to me -- but I would advise *against* a GoTo.

The reason I say this is that one of the main joys of this hobby (for me at least) is learning the sky, and recognising the patterns you see. I love just sitting out in my garden, looking up, and hopping my way around the various constellations that I have learnt before using my binoculars to focus in on something interesting.

A GoTo would take a lot of that joy away, and I would feel like I'd lost something. For me, this hobby isn't just about looking at different objects, but more about learning where and what those objects are, and developing the knowledge required to find the difficult stuff without the help of a computer.

From what I read, GoTos can also be pretty time-consuming to set up, and you might find yourself spending your entire observing session fighting with the telescope, rather than actually using it!

As I said, I am very new to this hobby as well, and more experienced people may be along soon to tell me what I got wrong, but I thought I'd share my opinions.

Steve

[Tiddles]

I bought a Celestron 114LCM scope without any research, I had problems with the star pointer and struggled to get it aligned. I found it very awkward to use pressing buttons to move the scope. After very little use a lot of backlash appeared in the altitude drive and I returned it to 365astronomy. Zoltan was most helpful and offered to replace it. I realised that it wasn't the scope for me and took a Skyliner 150P Dobsonian in its place. I cant believe how much more intuitive it is to nudge the scope rather than press a button. The finderscope is also a joy to use after the "star pointer"

[brantuk]

The 130P is a good starter scope which will show you most of the brighter objects. It's just unfortunate it comes with a naff star pointer. A good red dot finder or a decent finder scope would be much better. The 150P has a larger aperture which will show more objects and deeper into space.

The Super Track is an electronic automatically tracking mount, but the Synscan mount is the "goto" model. The Super Track is alt/az but you can upgrade it with the Synscan alt/az goto replacement handset. Don't confuse it with the the Synscan EQ goto mount/handset which is an equatorial mount.

Hope that helps

[Rigel-7]

I have also been looking around for my first scope. For me the factors were affordability, portability, upgradability, versatility and usability. With this list I narrowed it down to:

TAL 100RS on Eq5 (about £430)

SkyWatcher EvoStar 120 (about £400)

SkyWatcher SkyMax 127 on Eq3-2 (about £400 - not as versatile)

SkyWatcher Explorer 150p on Eq3-2 (about £300 - not as portable)

SkyWatcher Explorer 200p on Eq5 (about £400 but not really portable)

SkyWatcher Skyliner 200p (about £300 no good for photography unless on Eq)

I ruled out GOTO scopes as they add cost and they seem to be a faff to set up - Power on, enter time, enter date, enter lat/long, point at vega for star lock - if you just want to look at Jupiter - point at East bright light before teatime.

For photography worth knowing that refractors suffer from ca (halos around bright objects) and reflectors have coma (stretching of bright objects around the edge of the field of view - I think). Both of these can be reduced by filters / eyepieces at a cost apparently.

If portability and cameras were not required I would go for the Skyliner 150p or 200p dobs over the Skywatcher 130p without question ... or possibly the Tal :S

[Nexus 6]

some Go To telescopes do have GPS, so no need to faff around with those, as for the standard set up with out it.. its a matter of seconds really once you get used to the routine.

Usually takes me around 5 minutes with the 925 and its ready to do its stuff.

I do take the time to study the targets for the nights observing which I very much enjoy and spend some time observing them too, as for learning the night sky?

I have learnt so much using both my first telescope Celestron 6se and my cpc 925 so much so I can use the dob to observe with, finding objects is a thrill that way without a doubt so I can see why a lot do wish to take that option when considering what to buy.

For value for money from the views delivered you'll not find too much better than the Skywatcher Skyliner 150P.

Good Luck with your choice whichever you decide on

[RikM]

I much prefer a manual Dob for visual observing. But it is worth remembering that GoTo is just a tool. Even if you have it, you don't have to use it, but there are times when it can be very handy.

[Rigel-7]

some Go To telescopes do have GPS, so no need to faff around with those, as for the standard set up with out it.. its a matter of seconds really once you get used to the routine.

Usually takes me around 5 minutes with the 925 and its ready to do its stuff.

I do take the time to study the targets for the nights observing which I very much enjoy and spend some time observing them too, as for learning the night sky?

I have learnt so much using both my first telescope Celestron 6se and my cpc 925 so much so I can use the dob to observe with, finding objects is a thrill that way without a doubt so I can see why a lot do wish to take that option when considering what to buy.

For value for money from the views delivered you'll not find too much better than the Skywatcher Skyliner 150P.

Good Luck with your choice whichever you decide on

Oops completely forgot the Skywatcher SupaTrak and 130 GOTO have a GPS port which would remove the faff for £100.

[Capricorn]

For photography worth knowing that refractors suffer from ca (halos around bright objects)

When you buy a refractor for astrophotography you buy one that is good enough to not show any CA.

[cthorpey]

I reckon I came at it kinda backwards....

DISCLAIMER:- The following is just my opinion, nothing more than my ramblings

I figured it is cold and it's going to get colder and I want to spend as much time as I can actually observing stuff as opposed to hunting for stuff to then observe. We went for the 130p GOTO and I am so glad we did.

I am a professional geek so the ability to hook it up to stellarium makes it even more fun but I think that eventually we will end up with more than one setup and maybe the second will be a nice big dob for us both to learn the sky and star-hopping.

For us the goto means that we can look at the stuff we want and know that we are in the right place. I am also doing my best to learn the names of some of the alignment stars that I use so my knowledge is slowly but surely going the right way

[LukeSkywatcher]

I've been observing the night skies since i was 7-8 yrs old. I did this initially with 10X50 bins for the guts of 25 yrs. I built up a good understanding of the night sky. Then i bought a 90mm refractor scope on an EQ mount. I used that for a couple of yrs an hated the EQ mount.

I then moved onwards an upwards to a Heritage 130P and love it.

I then bought a 70mm Celestron Travelscope to take on holiday with me and its great.

Just before Christmas i bought a Celestron 8SE (Go-To) because its the largest scope i can use being in a wheelchair.

I have no regrets by going "Go-To".

I've had 30 yrs of manually searching for objects.

I feel for me that its time to take a break and sit back and let the scope do the work for me.

Alignment takes a few mins but not long.

Does "Go-to" take the fun out of the hunt?

Maybe a little but unless you really know what you are doing with a manual scope..................................the thrill is still the same and you will see more in a shorter period of time.