help needed please on a 1st scope (again!!) does size really matter :s

[Pigz]

ok well i had a skywatcher explorer 130 (not parabloic and not moter version) and to be very honest with you i did love that scope it was a great scope but i went through a mid life crisis (at 25 and ive already had 3!!! lol) and sold it now really wish i hadnt of corse!! now anyway!!!

right so ive now decided that i would like a decent scope again as my sons now turning 5 and is also getting into it. i have about £250 MAX to spend, now i have decided on a goto scope because with my old scope i got sooo annoyed trying to actually find something i couldnt even find andromida (with a perfect dark sky) so hopefully this will keep my interest in it and also with my 5 year old as he gets bored after 10 seconds!!!

now ive decided on a couple but would like the second opion from members who have used these scopes or equlaviant either on goto or EQ etc.

number 1 (if i can wait long enough to save up!!) is the Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO

number 2 is the Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145P SynScan AZ GOTO

and the 3rd is the:

Celestron Nexstar 102 GT (refracter)

now i kinda know what to expect from the 130 from looking at jupiter and saturn but is there actually much differance between the 114 and 130 is it that noticable?

and as for the 102 again whats the actually veiwing differance between the 102 and the 130?

sorry for the long posts but at least you know everything now!!!! like i said i was happy with the 130 (altho like most men i would like it bigger ) and i could get a 200p dob for about the same price but i know i would just get annoyed with not finding anything which is why i need your trusted veiws in the age old question of does size really matter!!! thanks

[Bizibilder]

I would go for the 130P - simply for the slightly greater aparture.

[Catweazel]

Out of those 3 I would also say the 130P purely for the extra aperture.

[Mr Spock]

The 130 is a much better scope and the one to go for.

[Pigz]

thanks for your comments i didnt know if the extra £50 would of made a differance but i suppose it does make all the differance!!!! think i will spend the extra then many thanks all

[sunshine185]

One thing to consider, there is the possibility that you could enter the coordinates of an object, the scope will slew to it but you cannot see anything. Some things need plenty of appeture to be able to be viewed. the manuals say there its thousands of objects in the database but how many of those would be visible is anyones guess

[Pigz]

true but i would only really use it for the well known planets and glaxies and some M numbers etc because i would mainly be using it with my son anyway so getting thousands of things wouldnt bother me anyway and getting somthing he can see is more important

[roymattblack]

I have the Skywatcher 130 goto and it's a breeze to set up even for a nitwit like me (newbie)

The built-in deep space tour is mind boggling! you won't regret it.

Everything I asked it to show me tonight was there in moments, almost always dead centre. True, some DSO's are quite faint and smudgy, but at least you can see them. I even found the crab nebula. Without the goto, I'd never find half of them at all!

Remember, it automatically tracks the object too, so no more 'wandering out of view'.

Best was Orion nebula tonight with a 10mm and 2x Barlow.

Absolutely amazing. It looked just like the pics in the books, with just less 'colour'.

Get the 130..... You won't regret it.

Roy.

[Tinker1947]

Size really matters....

[lfc t]

Wow, a quick search of the forum and i find the exact question i was gonna ask lol. It's a choice of a 114 now or waiting a few month for the 130 to be in stock. Sounds like the best choice is to wait for the 130. Right, now you clever people have already answer that one i'm off to find out the difference between the two sizes of eyepieces, other than size

[Aenima]

YAY 130p! Definitely that one. With the aperture being a huge incentive. Either way, its the better value, goto is not perfect but worth it to learn the sky faster. I have used it for a year nearly and would not downgrade to either of your other choice-of-scopes (no offence.) Plus i believe they have slightly improved the optics since the older blue 130's were built (i think its the parabolic, which is better) .

In my humble view, go with the one you knew and liked. The new Explorer 130p.

Jay

[Tribal-Wolf]

I had a 1145P goto and it wasn't a bad scope for the moon and planets but it was not good on anything dim because of the small aperture. I actually only bought it to steal the goto handset for my autotrak dob and sold it on. The goto worked but the mount was shaky, slightest bit of wind and it shook like a kitten in a room full of dogs.

[TonySpektr]

Light gathering "power" is determined by area ... so ... If you want to compare light grasp (as a quick rule of thumb) simply square the diameter.

130^2 = 16900

114^2 = 12996

100^2 = 10000

so the 130 is 70% bigger than the 100.