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Looking for a first time scope?

raisindanish

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raisindanish

raisindanish

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Hello there!

So im fairly new to stargazing however after casual observing from an old 76mm scope i had just to study constellations and locations of certain things ive been researching heavily into getting a decent telescope.

Im looking for something along the price of £300, im not too fussed on any motors or go to systems, just an EQ mount, parabolic mirror and something that is relatively portable.. something i can carry a few 100 metres away or so.

Ive had my one on a skywatcher explorer 150p for sometime,

however a little advice from user experience on this and other scopes similar would help be a lot.

one thing with this scope ive seen it mentions 'Tube assembly available separately' does this mean i have to purchase some sort of mount seperately?

many thanks,

Raisin

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Carbon Brush

Carbon Brush

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Hi Raisin. Welcome to SGL.

The explorer 150P is a good choice. I have the 200P on EQ5 in my toybox and it gets a lot of use.

If you are going to carry far, then the 150 wins over the 200, but a visit to a local club might get you a hold of a scope to assess carrying.

When buying new, the scope and mount are usually package priced for less than the separate items. Hence the statement about OTA available separately.

You will find lots of threads on here about peoples experiences and choices of SW150/200 scopes. That should help.

Take a look at First Light Optics offerings on Skywatcher. They have a good choice and as a retailer are highly recommended.

Keep asking, everyone here is happy to help.

David.

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raisindanish

raisindanish

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Hi Raisin. Welcome to SGL.

The explorer 150P is a good choice. I have the 200P on EQ5 in my toybox and it gets a lot of use.

If you are going to carry far, then the 150 wins over the 200, but a visit to a local club might get you a hold of a scope to assess carrying.

When buying new, the scope and mount are usually package priced for less than the separate items. Hence the statement about OTA available separately.

You will find lots of threads on here about peoples experiences and choices of SW150/200 scopes. That should help.

Take a look at First Light Optics offerings on Skywatcher. They have a good choice and as a retailer are highly recommended.

Keep asking, everyone here is happy to help.

David.

Thanks for the advice, and it was first light optics i saw the 150p for £285 i think it was, but was a bit confused with the tube assembly available seperately, yet they also have the optical tube only.. so either way im gonna have to buy a mount or something right?

Many thanks

Raisin

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raisindanish

raisindanish

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no you wont need to buy a mount for a dobsonian telescope thats why most people get them more appature for you money . if you buy the tube assembly you will want to buy a EQ mount

Im more keen on getting an EQ mount then a DOB.. thats what confuses me the scope im looking at says it comes with a mount but no tube assembly?

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John

John

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£285 gets you the whole Explorer 150PL package, that is a 150mm F/8 optical tube assembly mounted on an EQ3-2 mount. In my opinion, that 150mm F/8 tube assembly is slightly undermounted on the EQ3-2 mount so either the same scope on the more stable EQ5 mount or the shorter tubed Explorer 150P on the EQ3-2 mount which would be less prone to vibrations, might be better options. The tube length, as well as it's weight, are significant factors in determining the mounting requirements.

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raisindanish

raisindanish

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£285 gets you the whole Explorer 150PL package, that is a 150mm F/8 optical tube assembly mounted on an EQ3-2 mount. In my opinion, that 150mm F/8 tube assembly is slightly undermounted on the EQ3-2 mount so either the same scope on the more stable EQ5 mount or the shorter tubed Explorer 150P on the EQ3-2 mount which would be less prone to vibrations, might be better options. The tube length, as well as it's weight, are significant factors in determining the mounting requirements.

hmmm i see, thanks for pointing that out because im trying to choose between those two and a few others, and was opting for the 150p over the 150 pl purely for more portability

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John

John

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hmmm i see, thanks for pointing that out because im trying to choose between those two and a few others, and was opting for the 150p over the 150 pl purely for more portability

The 150P is a much more portable option, in my view. I was using one on and off at last years SGL star party and saw lots of interesting objects under the dark skies there ;)

It's fine on the EQ3-2 mount. We actually had the one I mention above on a simple alt-azimuth mount which made for a really portable setup (no counterweights) but the EQ3-2 is not too heavy either.

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raisindanish

raisindanish

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The 150P is a much more portable option, in my view. I was using one on and off at last years SGL star party and saw lots of interesting objects under the dark skies there ;)

It's fine on the EQ3-2 mount. We actually had the one I mention above on a simple alt-azimuth mount which made for a really portable setup (no counterweights) but the EQ3-2 is not too heavy either.

well cheers john thanks for the advice, hopefully il be purchasing one soon!

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Parus major

Parus major

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£285 gets you the whole Explorer 150PL package, that is a 150mm F/8 optical tube assembly mounted on an EQ3-2 mount. In my opinion, that 150mm F/8 tube assembly is slightly undermounted on the EQ3-2 mount so either the same scope on the more stable EQ5 mount or the shorter tubed Explorer 150P on the EQ3-2 mount which would be less prone to vibrations, might be better options. The tube length, as well as it's weight, are significant factors in determining the mounting requirements.

This is exactly what I though of. What I'd suggest is buying a 150PL OTA and going for a second hand EQ5. That'll spend your budget and leave you room for further upgrades

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