To Upgrade or Not Upgrade

[albatross]

Hi,

I have an Evostar 120 on an EQ5 and whereas I`m very pleased with the quality of the images I`m seeing, I can`t help but want more aperture to see .... well.....more? Would it be worth trading in my Evo 120 ota for an Evo 150 ota whilst keeping the EQ5 - am I really going to feel that the circa £200 to change the telescope ota will be worth it?

Albatross

[GazOC]

There is a difference in views for DSOs going from 120mm to 150mm but for planetary detail you may find the extra aperture of the 6" is offset by the increased false colour.....also the EQ5 is going to be REALLY (too?) pushed with a 6" f8 refractor, they are large, long, heavy beasts!!

[albatross]

Thanks for the comments, I shall continue to mull this one over.

[John]

I've briefly owned both the 120mm and 150mm versions and the 150mm is much, much bigger and unwieldy. I had it on an EQ5 but it was not really satisfactory wheras the 120mm was fine. If you really want to move to a 150mm I think you should budget to upgrade the mount as well.

In terms of what you can see, as Gaz says the 150mm will do better on deep sky objects but on planetary the difference is not that huge I found - I was pretty impressed with the views I had of Jupiter earlier this year through the 120mm F8.3. I think the greater false colour shown by the 150mm reduces the contrast on planets a bit.

John

[jimlennie]

Hi,

I have an Evostar 120 on an EQ5 and whereas I`m very pleased with the quality of the images I`m seeing, I can`t help but want more aperture to see .... well.....more? Would it be worth trading in my Evo 120 ota for an Evo 150 ota whilst keeping the EQ5 - am I really going to feel that the circa £200 to change the telescope ota will be worth it?

Albatross

I have just upgraded from a Skywatcher 120/F8.3 Evostar to a Evostar 150/F8 refractor and planetary views have improved immensely.The amount of ca is slightly more than was visible on my old 120 refractor but does not detract from the overall image which with the 150mm shows much brighter and sharper than the 120mm did. On the moon there is no contest either, the same for dso's. The EQ5 may have problems handling this ota but I can't say really as I have never used a EQ5, I have my Evostar on a HEQ-5 and have no problems with that.

If you decide to get one and you are not happy with the ca then return it, most likely you'll get a much better corrected one as the quality does vary quite a lot with these Chinese scopes. My first ED80 was terrible, the replacement has been almost perfect.

Good luck with your decision !

Jim

[geppetto]

I would be inclined to keep the scope and get one of

these to compliment it

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=sw200ota

[mikkey99]

I`m with Phil

keep the refractor and get a Newt as well

mike

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

I'm another fan of the SW200mm Newt. and I'm trying to get Rog. to see the cheap side too.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[albatross]

Thank you very much for all the advice. Maybe the newt is a better option and I will keep the 120 to compliment it.

Albatross