First scope, nearly there but...?

[keithlandberger]

I was going to (and still might) buy the Dobsonian Heritage 130p 5.1", link below:

Sky Watcher Heritage 130P FlexTube™ 130mm (5.1") f/650 Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope

But on reading The Sky At Night I found out about this. What's better?

Sky Watcher Skymax 90 (EQ1) 90mm (3.5") Maksutov-Cassegrain

[kenmyers]

The heritage is the better of the two.

The skymax is 3.5" and the Heritage is 5".

You get a hell of a lot more light gathering with that extra 1.5" aperture.

The skymax comes with an eq1 mount which is a basic eq mount. The heritage comes with a dobsonian mount.

If you desperately want to track the stars with manual slomo controls then get a newtonian scope and an eq mount.

If you want you can get the heritage dobsonian, learn the sky well with this system and you can get a good expensive EQ mount in the future and your heritage will work on it.

[Parus major]

I'd also advise against ordering from that company, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Heritage 130p Flextube

[kenmyers]

I agree, FLO or Rother Valley Optics are great suppliers.