Scope question - which SW Explorer?

[AuntyCis]

Starting to think seriously about buying a telescope - been using a set of Helios 10 x50 binoculars for a while and ready to step it up a bit. So we have ben doing a lot of reading (library books, internet, magazines} and research to se what we might want. Ultimately I think I would like an enormous dobsonian light-bucket and he would like to do astro imaging but that may be a little way down the road yet so what we want now is something fairly cheap and portable as a first scope, while we work out exactly what we want to see/do.

The research has led me to consider a Skywatcher 130 - it seems to be a good scope for a small-ish outlay - but there are many different models and I am wondering which would suit best?

For instance - Heritage flex tube dob, or solid tube on an EQ mount? We want something fairly portable as a city centre back garden does not make for good seeing! Then I have seen at least 2 different tube lengths, 650 mm with paraboloidal mirror or 900m with 'ordinary' mirror - what are the relative merits of these? Not interested in Goto at the moment, but how useful is a RA motor drive?

Going to go look at a few models before deciding but any advice would be very welcome.

Cheers,

Cis

[Tribal-Wolf]

Regarding the difference in mirrors this might clear it up a bit for you.

[richbyers]

the heritage will be much easier to set up and get going and is great for dsos due to the smaller focal length

however you have to kneel down or set up some DIY job on it which wont be as steady as the 130 mounted,

you also dont have any real options of upgrading the mount of the heritage or fitting a motorised tracking system

it will take up alot more room and you will need to learn to set it up

theyre both great scopes- i prefer the easy grab and go way of the dob so i have that

[russbio]

Hi Cis,

I have a Skywatcher 130 and have been using it for a year now. I find it very good and it has given me a great deal of pleasure. Weight wises it's not too bad and can fit in a small car with the tube removed from the mount.

Have a look at this article for more info.

Russell

[Capricorn]

The solid tube on the EQ mount would get you familiar with the set up and operation of an EQ mount. May drive you insane initially but eventually you will learn.:D

Will say that unless it is an EQ3-2 then I would be hesitant in suggesting one.

The 130P has as you say a parabolice mirror, so the image formed should be better.

The 130P is f/5 and these need to be kept in collimation. So budget for a collimator and learning how to collimate a scope.

A simple collimation cap is probably not adaquate for an f/5 scope.

An f/5 scope is often said to need better eyepieces, to put this in perspective I would say that eyepieces like the BST Explorers £47 are OK in one but plossls £30 (at the shorter focal lengths) may not be as good. Not a case of a £30 or a £130.

The spherical mirror is longer, the image formed is not as good, being longer it will not need collimating as often but it will still need collimating at times.

I think the heritage flextube, well sorry it looks a bit too much of a toy to me. Also f/5 so needs collimation and being what looks like collapsable I would gues it needs collimating very often.

Motors: Useful if you are looking then intend to swap for someone else to have a look (family). Also useful if you simply want to look. as once found the object should remain in view without you doing anything much. Very convenient. Means realistically an EQ mount.

If astrophotography will eventually come into it then I suggest an EQ3-2 mount to get the idea of one, motors being a nice additional extra, and if it to be a 130 then the 130P.

[Beardy30]

if your going for a 130don't bother Will the extra spend on the 130p the 130m is good value.

[AuntyCis]

Thanks everyone for the advice so far - and the links are really useful.

Cheers!

Cis

[Starlight 1]

Aunty Cis ,You like to kill me for puting this one in,But looking at your post the only way to go is the SW200P DS with HEQ5.and its hold its money well over time.

[Scott]

Aunty Cis ,You like to kill me for puting this one in,But looking at your post the only way to go is the SW200P DS with HEQ5.and its hold its money well over time.

Cheap and portable????

A.P. further down the road

Just Quoting o.p.

[AuntyCis]

Update - after a bit of thinking and discussion and a couple of trips to Rother Valley Optics, we have gone for the 130P on the EQ2 mount. Its a nice starter set up for us to use while we work out what our 'ultimate' set up would be.

I was very taken with the Heritage dob - it was so straightforward and seemed well built, but I have really dodgy knees, so would have to put it on a table or something, which rather reduces the convenience factor. The EQ mount makes this much less of a problem and means we can get used to using one - good practice! I have a feeling that further down the road my partner will want a bigger better EQ & motor drive for Astro-imaging purposes and I will want a nice big Dob :-)

So theres either some arguments coming up or we are going to need to save up a lot and make plenty of room!

Anyways, this probably means its going to rain for the forseeable future ( sigh) !

[JamesM]

Not wanting to spend your money:D but I would ask you to consider the 'M' version, the one with the motor. The reason is that most mounts at this price are made to a price and are a little 'twitchy'. By that I mean every time you touch the scope it starts to bob about a bit and will take a little while to settle down. Trying to manually track an object, especially when using large magnifications, (objects will move very fast across the field of view) whist attempting to get that extra bit of focus on say a planet, can in my experience prove quite frustrating. The motor, which will enable you to track objects as they move across the sky will keep this object in the middle of your view leaving you to take your time tweaking the focuser to gain that extra bit of detail. Using a motor to track your objects will also facilitate, sky map reading and handing over the scope to someone else to have a look without the fear that they will lose the object that took you half an hour to find during the transaction.

I'm not saying it is vital to have a motor, but it will certainly help you to relax and to get the most out of your observing sessions.

James

[AuntyCis]

A motor drive is pretty much top of our list of 'extras' to get...

Had a bit of a play with the set up last night (indoors due to weather, sadly), once properly balanced it seemed pretty solid. I am now starting to get my head around how celestial co-ordinates work, along with latitude settings etc. I just needed to see it, couldnt build a mental picture.