Best lightweight scope

[skywatcher250]

hi guys - hope everyone is well. I sold my skywatcher 200p as i had to move house etc... so now i am ready to start over...

My aim is not only to see our planets again (only saw saturn and i think venus last time- i want to see jupiter now amongst others) but i want to start hunting down the messier objects and galaxies etc... however i ideally would like something easier to carry and smaller - is there such a thing or will i lose most of the power if i lose the weight + size?

thanks

[garethmob]

what about somthing like one of the TAL scopes usally packs nicely into its either cardboard or wooden boxs but they can be very heavy as their made of all metal but second hand fairly cheap

otherwise theres the scopes like 102st or WO megrez or even one of the larger (somthing like the 80Ed) i know the scopes i mentioned are AP sort of scopes but they would be perfect on a AZ type mount obviously you will lost a massive difference as compared to a 200p a 72mm or 80mm has a massive loss compared to a 200mm but portabiltiy

theres always the 150p on a eq 3-2 mount and can be upgraded with motors to help tracking when viewing and it isnt that much smaller than a 200p

[swamp thing]

Hi

The loss of aperture will mean a loss of resolution and light gathering ability to hunt down DSO,s. however this is soon offset if the scope is too big and heavy to use.

You will see more through a scope you use.

Better to see limited detail through a small scope than nothing because you cannot lift the large one.

Regards Steve

[skywatcher250]

ill check those out thanks gareth, also steve - very true indeed !

so the question remains - what would you buy for a good DSO scope that can clearly resolve galaxies... im guessing i wont be satisfied with a 150 or below steve !

[swamp thing]

Aha! But if we can afford it we can have a large well made scope that is easily manageable by anyone.

Alkaid - Sumerian Optics

These may be worth saving for. They will give you very satisfying views indeed.

Regards Steve

[E621Keith]

A Celestron c6 or c8 will be a good option. They are small and light, yet still have large aperture for the faint fuzzies.

[garethmob]

one scope if your DIY minded is the portabowl it seems very easy to make im gonna give it ago when i get my finances sorted out

Telescope Reviews: The PortaBowl

Aha! But if we can afford it we can have a large well made scope that is easily manageable by anyone.

Alkaid - Sumerian Optics

These may be worth saving for. They will give you very satisfying views indeed.

Regards Steve

i remember seeing somthing a few months back of a guy testing it on some really high up mountains would it be one of these, they do look really really nice i bet a large number of hours in the making

[cotterless45]

If you want portability and aperture, then somethings going to have to give. I'd go for the 150 on the eq3-2.

If you want deep sky grab and go, we mounted a Heritage 130P on a eq3 tripod , nice.

[E621Keith]

A Celestron c6 or c8 will be a good option. They are small and light, yet still have large aperture for the faint fuzzies.

I was referring to the SCT btw, not the Newtonians

[skywatcher250]

hey guys - well after much research i think i may consider the Celestron C8 SCT as mentioned - i really like it - and i hear SCT's are very good.... i have never owned one though. Hopefully nobody has any bad reasons for me not to buy a c8 do they ??

Also, which mount is the best - id like something with a good GOTO function (flexible with the best make etc).. would like it to take me to some DSO's etc... - thanks again for all help so far !

si

[skywatcher250]

wow - i just saw this

First Light Optics - Celestron C11-S GT XLT GOTO

is this a very good scope in peoples opinion - not cheap though is it...

[E621Keith]

The CG5 mount will have a hard time with a C11. From what I gathered, a C8 is the biggest SCT a CG5 will happily handle.

The biggest disadvantage of SCT is narrower FOV, but it works really well for planets and smaller DSO.

[swamp thing]

wow - i just saw this

First Light Optics - Celestron C11-S GT XLT GOTO

is this a very good scope in peoples opinion - not cheap though is it...

Not exactly small and easy to carry either.

Huge heavy lump. Very nice views but I would hardly call it portable. There is more heavy lifting with this than a large Dob.

[skywatcher250]

i was just thinking that actually

would i likely see many DSO with the c6 or is it just not power ful enough - io orion nebula, clusters, messier objects etc

[garethmob]

what about a flextube goto dob?

you can upgrade a manual dob with a wixy digital inclamonitor and a gemred circular rotorary motion device. you can get the co-ords of alt and az off a starmap / phone with astro software and position it really really accuratly. also a telrad spotter will help too for star hopping.

[rowan46]

If it's just for visual the nexstar 6se or 8se. as to dso's I can see plenty through my c5 at a dark site the c6 and c8 will be much better

First Light Optics - Celestron NexStar 6SE

[skywatcher250]

wow !

im def not at that stage yet haha - i'm afraid my last experience with the skywatcher 200p was just point and find planets & the moon, i literally didn't get 1/2 of the comments you just made... haha i have total sympathy with myself too - i work in IT and specifically with motherboards etc and when i talk to some people they look at me and scratch their head bewildered.

i think i need tutoring haha ! Im thinking about the c6 mainly as its light (i think)

what about a flextube goto dob?

you can upgrade a manual dob with a wixy digital inclamonitor and a gemred circular rotorary motion device. you can get the co-ords of alt and az off a starmap / phone with astro software and position it really really accuratly. also a telrad spotter will help too for star hopping.

[E621Keith]

A 200p will be better than a C6 for DSO given the larger aperture. However, I've gone through half of the Messier catalogue in a single night with my C6 at a dark site, so it's not bad at all.

[E621Keith]

btw, did I mention the C6SE's shipping box will fit into a blue IKEA bag. It make carrying the scope much more convenient.

[garethmob]

wow !

im def not at that stage yet haha - i'm afraid my last experience with the skywatcher 200p was just point and find planets & the moon, i literally didn't get 1/2 of the comments you just made... haha i have total sympathy with myself too - i work in IT and specifically with motherboards etc and when i talk to some people they look at me and scratch their head bewildered.

i think i need tutoring haha ! Im thinking about the c6 mainly as its light (i think)

lol dont worry, im a little dyslexic as well so sometimes when i talk in my head it made sence (but i know what you mean about computers and everything i say in work going "woosh" over their heads:P)

you can upgrade a manual dob with a wixy digital inclamonitor and a gemred circular rotorary motion device. you can get the co-ords of alt and az off a starmap / phone with astro software and position it really really accuratly. also a telrad spotter will help too for star hopping.

with the 200p you can get somthing called a wixey Wixey.com - Digital Angle Gauges (the one with out level)

it gives the altitude (or inclimator reading to 0.01 of a mm so its very accurate

a gemred circular version (sadly this might need drilling of a bolt for it to work but not hard to do)Buy GemRed Rotary Angle Encoder with Remote Sensor from Axminster, fast delivery for the UK will give the az(cant spell it sorry ) or the rotation axis of the dobsonian mount

so using a simple app like star safari or even stellerarium planetarium software you can get a object fairly accurately in a eyepeice, its effectivly called a push to (you dont have to use a gemred though alot of users put a strip around the outside of the rotating base (360degrees) and it will do the same thing)

a telrad is a type of reflex 0X spotting scope, it has rings which when used with a starmap and telrad sheet can be used to star hop to an object. its very very good

let me know if you dont understand any other parts im not always very good at explaining outside my head lol

[skywatcher250]

nope i think you covered that very well thankyou !

i think - for both simplicity sake as im a noob pretty much and also for portability ill go for the C6 or C8 - i notice they have the same mount therefore i assume the C8 will not be much heavier... so for the extra money i should get that...

i dont need to carry it from site to site - just want it to be reasonably light to carry into my garden.

First Light Optics - Celestron C8-SGT XLT GOTO

the final question is - storing it... whilst its in my house can the mount fold up easily enough and the tube be taken off or does it need to stand open all the time ? thanks again !

[rowan46]

yes it all comes apart you can detach the tube from the mount and the mount from the tripod

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would say that the C8 hits a sweet spot when it comes to weight, portability and aperture. I have taken it to France to see the eclipse in 1999. I have an older version, with the Great Polaris mount. It is a really great scope, and if you fit it with a 2" visual back, my 40mm Paragon (or 40mm Aero if you want the Skywatcher clone) gives 1.34 deg true FOV: big enough for the double cluster. It is my favourite galaxy hunting tool (213 to date) and just bagged me my first quasar (3C 273). It is also very good on planets. Visually, this is a very compact, all-round performer. Photographically, it is very good on planets and the moon. I have had it for over 15 years and am very pleased with it. If (when) I buy a bigger scope, the C8 is not going anywhere!

[skywatcher250]

hi michael - well i think you helped me make the final choice thankyou - could you explain to me what you mean here... im sorry im a noob still !!!! thankyou so much

"and if you fit it with a 2" visual back, my 40mm Paragon (or 40mm Aero if you want the Skywatcher clone) gives 1.34 deg true FOV: big enough for the double cluster"

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

hi michael - well i think you helped me make the final choice thankyou - could you explain to me what you mean here... im sorry im a noob still !!!! thankyou so much

"and if you fit it with a 2" visual back, my 40mm Paragon (or 40mm Aero if you want the Skywatcher clone) gives 1.34 deg true FOV: big enough for the double cluster"

My C8 came with a standard 1.25" visual back, i.e. the component you put the star diagonal or eyepiece in. The diameter of the eyepieces limits the part of the image plane you can see. The visual back can be unscrewed to insert e.g. a focal reducer to move from F/10 to F/6.3. This also gives you a larger field of view, by reducing the focal length and therefore the image scale at the image plane. The same EP now shows more, at a lower magnification.

Alternatively, you can replace the standard visual back by a 2" (mine came from Baader), which is just a 2" wide tube (inner dia) with the same screw thread as the standard back. This is quite cheap (few tenners) and means 2" EPs will fit. These show a larger section of the image plane of the scope, without the need to insert more lenses (as in a focal reducer). My 2" 40mm EP has a field stop of nearly 46mm (this is the diameter of the circle of the image plane it allows me to see), which is about as big as you can get out of a 2" EP. This allows me to get 1.34 deg at 50.8x magnification.

OK, so the Andromeda galaxy won't fit, NGC 7000, and the Rosette won't either, but almost everything else fits handsomely. Anyway, I have an 80mm F/6 scope which gives me 5.75 deg true FOV max , for those really big objects.