if u were me . what to do

[m1ck]

hi everyone been a member for quite sometime but never post much love to look at wots goin on and reading up on various things , well here goes just to pick your brains and your superior knowledge.... been saving for ages and i,ve saved enough for a 300 dob [first scope but want something to last a lifetime...... about 20/30 years LOL.] YES the over 50 brigade. should i go with the 300 or maybe choose a 250 dob and tweak it with a few extras. The flexy type is what I've looking at because of storage , but as far as usage its straight from garage to viewing when the weather permits , cheers for yor input [hopefully].

[pallas15]

im pretty much a noob but realised that i had to drop my scope budget to allow for extras...if money wasnt an issue id have gone bigger....

[Bart]

m1ck

go for the 300mm. If I have learned anything in the last 20 months, its that you should try to slowly buy good eyepieces, or quickly if you can afford it. Your scope will be fast, so you will need good eyepieces. You should also get a telrad, a good chair, a star atlas (Sky and Telescope mini one is good) a red torch, warm clothes for when the real good observing starts.

Prepare to spend some dosh. You don;t HAVE to, you just will.......

Good luck and welcome.

Barry

[Tinker1947]

If you can move the scope about, then the bigger the better....

[John]

If you can handle the size / weight then you might as well go for a 12". You will need extras in due course for that too of course but you won't have to spend time thinking "what if ......"

If you to move the scope around a lot then a 10" may well make more sense (I found it did for me) as they can be lifted in one piece (by a reasonably fit person) whereas a 12" is a "move in 2 sections" job, for me at least.

Try and have a look at these things "in the flesh" if you can.

[dtr42]

theres a 300 skyliner for sale in the classifieds on here. You need to have 50 posts to see the classifieds.

PS the dob mounts can get castor wheels fitted to base so it allows you to wheel it in/out of your garage .

[JamesF]

Good point about the weight. Skywatcher claim the OTA and base are about 20kg each for the 12".

James

[crashtestdummy]

i started with a 200p and have just upgraded to a 300p and certain parts of the sky are confusing with the 300p as you see way more stars so i would suggest start with something like a 200p,learn the sky and then upgrade.actually thasts wrong,i started with some 15x70 skymaster binoculars which tbh give as exciting a view(if not more so) than any scope and really allow you to get a good grasp of what is up there before you spend money on a scope

[crashtestdummy]

my 300p flex auto is quoted as 48kg so i would say 40kg sounds about right for a 300p flexi and for me its the limit for portability for someone of my size

[Rapallokid]

Go for the 300, I have one and the views are exceptional. you wont regret it.

[swamp thing]

I will give my usual advice here:

If this is to be your 'big' scope and you cannot ever see yourself going bigger: Get the 12", a 12" scope is a scope that can keep you busy for life, it's an extremely powerful deep sky and planetary scope. You can always compliment it with a smaller second scope for grab n go occasions.

Or

If you see yourself going bigger in a few years then: Get the 10". A 10" is still a very powerful deep sky and planetary scope . It also makes a great second scope for those times when hauling the big un out just isnt worth it.

[Capricorn]

If you think that in 10-15-20 years you can pick up and move the bits that make up a 300P around then get one, but be realistic.

A 300P is not on the small size, the extra aperture is useful, the extra weight is not.

If it is too heavy that you don't use it then it is religated to being close to junk, at best a half interesting talking point.

To the question of extras, in reality allow around £200 for what you will need and want.

Base this on a decent collimator, say £30 and ultimately 4 eyepieces, which taking the BST/Starguiders as an example are £47 each so that is £188. 3 eyepieces and a barlow will be much the same. There may be cheaper but not sure how well these would work in the 300P as it is f/5. Plossls may not be appropriate as you don't say if you wear glasses and at the shorter focal lengths they lack eye-relief, hence the BST/Starguiders as examples.

[umadog]

I don't think you can wrong with a good 12", particularly if you have a garage to wheel it out of. In the future you will likely want a smaller scope to along with it. You can acquire accessories over time so don't buy a smaller scope to save money.

[Pete Presland]

another vote for the 300mm, aperture rules!!!!!!!!!!

[Scott]

i've got an 200mm and i'd definately go for the 300mm. you've got 20/30 yrs to work out how to get it in and out of the garage. budgeting for extras is difficult 'cause you'll always want that something extra. i'd say the only real "must have" is a collimating tool and a really useful "nice to have" would be a telrad/rdf. Star charts etc are really useful but they're relatively cheap.E.P.'s you're always gunna want bigger and better but as you say, you've go 20/30 yrs to get them. longer hopefully

Scott

[paul schofield]

Hi I am on the fence with this one. Obviously aperture is the name of the game. If you feel happy you can move the 300 around without a crane, ha then that is what I would go for. You will need to buy various bits n pieces as time goes by whether you go for the 250 or the 300. I suppose if I wanted say a better eyepiece straight away, then I would go for the 250, obviously depending on your budget. But then you don't want to end up with a case of the "what ifs" Either scope I'm sure will be a worthwhile and great investment. Not very helpful I know. Go for the 300, Go for the 300 and just to finish why don't you go for the 300.

[Zul]

Agree with all. If you can handle that big light "bucket" then go for 300.

[Ganymede12]

Aperture is key.

Astronomers live by this rule

[glowjet]

If it is straight from garage to viewing position, then go for the 300mm, skies are confusing to anyone starting out, good star maps, a pair of bins and a willingness to stick at it and you will get there in the end and your 300mm will not disappoint you. If you go for the 250mm, when you reach this stage, you just you might be saying to yourself, why did I not go for the 300 in the first place. As they say the choice is yours

John.

[Mike73]

Whats your back garden like for light pollution m1ck? If you only plan on observing from home and your light pollution isnt too bad then you can just put a set of castors on the 12" and roll it out no problem.

BUT dark skies are more important than aperture and the 12" is a big lump to lug around at a dark site even if you have to carry it on a short walk from the car, worth keeping that in mind and like others have said try and see one in the flesh before you splash the cash.

[bullettooth]

this wont be helpful to your question but i agree on your location description

i would say go to a public observing event at wynyard woodland park to see other peoples scopes and so you can ask them questions. www.wynyard-planetarium.net/ the season starts in september tho so if you wanted to buy one sooner then this advice is useless lol.

i would agree about the weight thing tho. if you were going to use it only in your back garden then go for the 300.

good luck with whatever you decide and let us know how you get on.

[cyborg421]

If you haven't seen one in the flesh as it were, I would highly recommend doing so before you buy anything. I was convinced about buying a cpc800 but when I saw it in real life I realised it wasn't for me. I was tempted by the 12" Dob but am very pleased with my 10". It is smaller and more portable than the 12". I have put wheels on it to move it around easily even so. I keep it in a garden shed and can easily wheel it out but as I live in a city it is also portable enough and small enough to take to a dark site.

If you live in a dark sky area and can manage the size of the 12" go for it otherwise I would think carefully and if you can try (or see) before you buy.

Simon

[skywatcher250]

i have a 250px flextube and its blumming heavy (im 30) i cant move it whilst on the base mainly due to awkward shape - i certainly dont thnk i could do the 300 haha - im sure the aperture helps but if you arent going to use it as much cos its to heavy then worth considering....

[Damo636]

Another vote for the 12". In saying that though, if this is to be your first scope, the views through a 10" will still knock your socks off :-)

[m1ck]

cheers for all your helpfull replies everyone. i thought the dob would be heavy 40kg , better start having 2 weetabix for me brekky. LOL. i'm pretty lucky i suppose its gonna be straight from garage to path to viewng. think i've set my heart on a 300. thanks everyone.