Next scope advice please.............

[sticks]

I have a Celestron MAK 127 SLT and have had great fun with it over recent months. It is so handy and easy to use that I will defo be keeping it. But I would like something more beefy now that I have gone through my totally newbie phase. I am sure I won't be going down the astrophotography route - it just isn't me - so what size and model of scope would you recommend as a next step. I am just looking to do more observing but with more detail and a wider FOV. I do like goto and auto tracking. I have considered the Celestron 8SE, SLT etc but some of you will have gone before and will know what gives the best bang for bucks and improvements over the 5" MAK. Thanks.

[Moonshane]

what's your budget? this would have a big effect upon the advice. also, can you move and store a relatively large scope?

if for example you were willing to buy used and willing to wait a little you might get a 10-12" dob for the money you paid for your 127Mak. it would not necessarily have GOTO but this is not a big issue as with the right accessories, you don't need the GOTO.

[Odd Thomas]

Yup. As above it's very budget dependant, but the 8SE is a very popular scope for good reasons.

[sticks]

Budget is no more than £1500. I would definitely want goto and tracking and a degree of portability. I have used a 10" Dob and enjoyed the views but I wouldn't have any way of transporting it. I suppose I want a "bigger" version of the MAK.

[Mikejh]

Looking at other posts I have seen some find the 180 too big preferring the 150 but that would probably not be a worthwhile upgrade. A 200 newt with a good mount?

[Spoon]

what about the Skywatcher 200p dob. it is very cheap for the money. you can get better eyepieces with the leftover money

[Naemeth]

In my personal opinion, tracking is only really useful if you are imaging. Everything else you can find yourself quite easily. In that case, I would recommend a Dobsonian, probably a 200P / 250P, and you can spend the rest on eyepieces.

There is always this, the GOTO version of the Manual 250P. But your money is probably better spent by getting either a bigger aperture or better quality EPs and a Telrad etc.

[swamp thing]

1339753901[/url'>' post='1545136']

Budget is no more than £1500. I would definitely want goto and tracking and a degree of portability. I have used a 10" Dob and enjoyed the views but I wouldn't have any way of transporting it. I suppose I want a "bigger" version of the MAK.

If you ate going to struggle to transport a 10" Dob I cannot think of any other bigger scopes that'll be easier. The 10" SCT aren't exactly "fit in a shoe box" either.

These are ultra portable but not Goto

http://www.sumerianoptics.com/en/

[Saleratus]

My recommendation would be an 8" dob. To me this represents a sweet spot between portability and deep space viewing, and dobs are less prone to dewing and problems with cool down than SCTs. I think ultimately, it's better not to have goto, so finding things becomes a part of the game. I find I can get bored with goto as--let's face it--one faint fuzzy often looks the same as another, so why deny yourself the fun of finding them. An equatorial platform can be useful however, so that once you find an object you can track and really concentrate on it.

You can buy your scope first and get the equatorial platform at a later date.

[FarSide]

I don't agree that tracking isn't useful, particularly when you have a 8/10inch Dob (or bigger). If you don't have a decent mount then you're going to be constantly nudging the dob around in the garden to keep the object in view; that gets tedius after night two. No you'll want a mount that has a tracking motor, and if you want further ease, a GOTO also. Take it from a man that used a Dob for six months and then agonised over the wait for an NEQ6 mount as i relentlessly saved for one. Like Saleratus above, an 8inch Dob coupled with a HEQ5 Pro Synscan mount should sort you out for a long time to come.

[Saleratus]

To clarify, when I talk about an Equatorial Platform in my post about I'm not talking about a traditional German EQ mount but an equatorial base that your scope rests on, like those at equatorialplatforms.com. These are much easier to transport and set up, and they don't get in the way of the free manual enjoyment of your scope. Unless you need a traditional German EQ mount because you want to do astrophotography, I'd advise against it for a dob, as it's a lot of fuss.

[sticks]

So no votes for the 8SE then...! I must admit that an 8" Dob won't be easy to transport but it would be a canny compliment to the MAK. My EPs, Rigel finder and filters could serve both scopes so outlay on extras might be confined to a collimating tool. A cheap option eh. If I left the dob at base and used the MAK for viewing at other sites this might work very well. Thanks - food for thought - I still like the idea of a bigger goto with tracking though.................. I'm spoilt. So the 8" OTA with an HEQ5 pro synscan might do it............. Errr

[FarSide]

Any 8"+ Newtonian will he hard to transport unless you go for the Flextube, but then they are atleast £200 pounds more for the privilidge, and most cons outweigh the pros with Flextubes in my opinion. Setting up a Dob onto of a HEQ5 is easy; you'll have a bit more kit but then you'll have a better viewing eperience also. A couple of rings, and a dovetail bar is all you need and then you're away.

[Dellis]

My vote is to go the Dob route, loads of fun and inch for inch less expensive too. I started with a 5" Newt then moved on to an 8SE and although the optics were excellent the tripod wasn't that substantial so the slightest tap set the scope vibrating. Another thing to consider is that the 8SE, as with all SCT's, doesn't offer the wider field of view that you're looking for. From the 8SE I went to a CPC1100 which would get my vote for the best SCT available for visual only observation due to the excellent optics, 11” light grab, fast setup and excellent tracking however, this still won't give you a wider FOV.

Looking for a widefield solution and to compliment the CPC1100 I bought a 4" refractor with an EQ5 without go-to, I couldn't believe how much more enjoyable and rewarding finding objects for yourself is rather than relying on go-to. I enjoyed the non go-to refractor so much that the CPC1100 wasn't getting used and so I sold it but I was then missing the light grab so bought myself a 12" Lightbridge. The Lightbridge has been the best money I've spent on a scope by far, the views are excellent (clouds permitting) and the hunt is a big part of the enjoyment! In a nutshell I would strongly recommend going the Dob route and if you must have go-to they are available. As you said you could keep the Mak for travelling and use the Dob at home, having said that the Lightbridge is pretty portable once broken down into its component parts. A 12” Lightbridge can be had new for under £900 and a 10” under £600 both excellent value for money and leaving you spare case for a couple of EP’s.

Whatever you go for I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Dave

[Marki]

By way of contrast to the previous posters, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the 8SE, which I think is a great scope.

I think an 8SE will give a noticeable improvement over a 5" mak. The optics on this tube are very good, in my opinion, with excellent coatings. Plus I love the lovely orange colour . The 8SE is easy to assemble single-handed, and easy to carry when broken down into the three bits (tripod, mount and tube). I keep the tube and mount in the boxes they came in, and they don't take up much space. You can buy cases in which you can keep the tube on the mount, but they are quite expensive (£200 - £400). Anyway, it all fits in my little vw polo easy enough.

I also found the tripod a little wobbly (as Dave indicated in his post above), but I understand the anti-vibration pads you can buy do actually work (must think about getting some). I had problems with alignment to begin with, but you'll already be used to the celestron system. It does need time to cool to get the best out of it, but you'll be used to that too from your Mak.

This scope is a good all rounder, and to my mind seems to take high magnificaiton well (conditions permitting). Maybe not as much light grasp as a big dob, and maybe not as contrasty as a good 'frac, and the alt-azi wont do long exposure astro-photography. But its a good balance in portability, size, ease of use and excellent optics. This was the first scope I bought (I still have it) and I'm really fond of it, if only for the stunning view it gave me of my first Saturn this winter . I'd recommend it.

As for go-to, I like the option to track objects more easily, and to find things in my very light polluted sky. But I agree with the previous posters that the hunt is part of the fun - indeed, like Dave again, I bought a 4" 'frac on an eq5 and have had loads of fun with that combo.

Good luck with you choice!

[Andymarrison]

How about a CPC 800? I love mine, and the tripod is solid as a rock as far as I can tell (built to carry up to an 11" SCT OTA). It's got all the tracking and goto stuff, and takes very little time to set up. It's also just about on budget (£1,540 on FLO's website). I've taken mine all over the place - the tube/fork mount can be removed from and attached to the tripod very easily and each of the two parts is easily manageable (and I'm a pretty skinny guy!).

[Dunkster]

Just mixing it up a little... how about a Sky Tee? It's not goto but alt-az. You could stick your 127 on it right away, or a C8 or maybe more ... not sure if a 200p would be too much? Looks like a versatile solution, depending on whether you want goto or not.

[Brian Nordstrom]

If you ate going to struggle to transport a 10" Dob I cannot think of any other bigger scopes that'll be easier. The 10" SCT aren't exactly "fit in a shoe box" either.

These are ultra portable but not Goto

http://www.sumerianoptics.com/en/

Nice ! .

Brian .

[John]

..... I am just looking to do more observing but with more detail and a wider FOV. I do like goto and auto tracking. I have considered the Celestron 8SE, SLT etc but some of you will have gone before and will know what gives the best bang for bucks and improvements over the 5" MAK. Thanks.

An 8" SCT won't give you a wider FoV than your mak but an 8" or 10" newtonian will. The "best bang for bucks" is a dobsonian mounted newtonian. You can get these fitted with tracking and GOTO these days. I'm not knocking the 8" SCT's but just trying to match your criteria.