which scope

[Vince1963]

Skywatcher Evostar 120 on eq5 or

Celestron Omni XLT 120 on cg-4 or

Skywatcher Startravel 120 on eq3.... which is best? I'm looking for agood all round scope. thanks guys...

[John]

Assuming you are dead set on a refractor, either the Evostar or the Omni 120's would be good. They are pretty much the same scope. The EQ5 mount would be preferable over the CG4 I think - 120mm F/8.3 refractors are large, long tubes and need a sturdy mount.

The Startravel 120 develops a bit too much false colour to be a useful planetary or lunar scope, in my opinion.

[Russe]

Depends on AP or observing only.

You should maybe ask first - which mount do I want - and then, how much money do I have left for a scope.

Personally, for observing and webcam AP of planets, I have gone for a 5" mak.

[Vince1963]

Thanks russe for your response, I don't know if that's helped me at all, I just want a good all round easy set up (no collimation or cool down). Just point and shoot as it where, but also be able to see plenty of planets ie saturn and rings and maybe nebula's and galaxies. Am i expecting too much?. Thanks

[Vince1963]

Hi John, Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post, I may decided to go with a refractor because it seems to be the most hassle free and more portable than Newtonian scopes no collimation or cool down time, (unless i'm mistaken ) . I think from what you've said i'd go for the evostar on the eq5 maybe the way to go eh. But is it a good all rounder?, I am hoping to see plenty with this scope, planets and nebula's and galaxies, will i be expecting too much? thanks

[Catweazel]

Hi Vince,

I have an Evostar 120 on EQ5, and can recommend it. It is a point and shoot scope, and requires little maintenance, cooling, has no diffraction spikes, and is particualrly nice for lunar and planetary views. It also gives good views of DSO's, but you are not going to get the DSO views that you would get from an 8" Newt, for example. Sadly, there is always some compromise required, as the ultimate all round scope is a bit like the Holy Grail

[Vince1963]

Hi Catweazel, thanks for your comment it is very much appreciated.if i got a 8" newt would i see much detail in dso's?. it seems a trade off, i don't want the grief of cool down and collimation and lugging a huge tube around but i want to see stuff as good as i can possibly get, after all £400 a fair amount of money to get something and to be disappointed with it. I am leaning towards the evostar though. many thanks.

[Russe]

With a 5" mak you see barely any nebulas. But it's great for planets and bright DSO's. It's very easy to set up and light, therefore easy to carry around.

[Vince1963]

I had looked at a skymax 127 mak, but because of the cool down time (told about an hour) and because of the narrow field of view (F11.8) i thought i may not see galaxies when the mag is right up, Maybe i got it wrong though as my understanding of magnification and focal length is pretty limited. thanks russe

[Russe]

To see galaxies and faint DSO's u should think about a skywatcher 200p. Problem there of course is the scope's size.

Otherwise, I'm currently saving up for an ED80, which doesn't magnify as much as my mak, but gives lovely large FOV's for DSO's.

[Russe]

The only way to see high mag objects is large aperture...

That comes only in chunky sizes...

Should u want to photograph high mag objects - you could go for smaller aperture and then longer exposure times...

[Russe]

Cool down time depends on where your scope is stored.

You can already observe bright objects straight away without worrying about cool down. Different issue for AP again. But then you need to carry and setup all that computer stuff, which takes time anyway. 1 hr is a bit much - I would say 30-40 min makes a definite difference while taking pics.

[Vince1963]

Again russe, thanks for your comments i will find very helpful in making my final choice. again..the skywatch 200p was also considered but its not very portable and would still need collimating (don't know how often though) nice big ap though lots of light and good camera attachment for astrophoto i would think. Russe... what do you know about evostar 120 refractor on eq5?....

[Russe]

Sorry, can't help with that

[Vince1963]

how long you had your 5" mak Russe? and does it need maintenance? Also cant you use them for terrestrial use?, Don't they go down to 8 meters?

[John]

I have 102mm and 120mm refractors plus a 250mm newtonian. I use the 102mm as a portable and wide field scope, the 120mm mostly for lunar / planetary and binary stars and the 250mm for deep sky objects. For good views of galaxies, nebulae and clusters there is no substitute for aperture although dark skies help a lot as well !.

If I had to go to a single scope that would give decent views of a wide variety of objects I think it would be a 200mm F/6 newtonian on a dobsonian mount. Yes, they need collimating but it's quite straightforward really and an F/6 newtonian is a little more forgiving in this department than faster ones (ie: F/5, F/4.7 etc).

My recommendations are for visual observing only - a dobsonian is not really suitable for imaging.

[Vince1963]

Hi John thanks again, so what do you think of the celestron omni xlt 150 on a cg-4? would this be a better compromise to all the scopes i'm looking at?

[Cjg]

Hi Vince,

Before you decide, may I suggest that you visit your local Astro Society?

North Lincs Astro - Home

You may get the chance to see one of your possibles in action, see the mount and hear from owners?

Having a look though / at various scopes could help with the decision making.

Good luck,

Chris

[Vince1963]

Hi Chris, that would be the way to go...I have been meaning to go but not got chance yet, due to work commitments, I seem to want a lot for my money, but i'm going to have to make a compromise here and there, I must admit i do like the evostar 120 on eq5 and maybe 127 mak sounds good but limited field of view. I know in my heart that the 200p dobs are going to give the best views, but i keep coming back to the same thing... there BIG and not that portable. Ideally i'd like maybe three scopes for different reasons but cant afford it.

[Cjg]

Hi Vince,

Am with you on that - I have an Orion 10" Intelliscope bought second hand off the bay - the views are superb, but it takes up so much space in my little car, that my most used scope is a refractor on an alt az GoTo mount. The views do not compare, but think that some evenings I would not make the journey with the skies as 50-50 as they have been. The Intelliscope has the box that guides you where to point to, but runs off a little calculator battery, so little extra power /weight issues. But, the prospect after a long week of lugging it out to the car.....

Take your time to choose, look through as many as you can before pulling the trigger.

Chris

[Vince1963]

Yeah thanks for that Chris, will keep studying and keep looking for now and try and get to north linc's astro. thanks again. Vince

[Russe]

No collimating needed for the mak.

Not useable for terrestrial use.

2 years.