Skywatcher Startravel Telescope

[Matt1]

Hi,

I,am really new at astronomy so learning alot but enjoying it, my questione is I have been looking at the Skywatcher Startravel 102 AZ3 Telescope would this type of scope be ideal for a beginner like myself? and any reccomnedations on shops? any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Matt

[ronin]

It will be good as a starter scope so long as you realise the limitations, these are basically:

1) It will show chromatic aberation on bright objects - moon, Jupiter, possibly Saturn. So expect yellow or purple edges to some things.

2) It will not give high magnifications. The focal length just is not there and being f/5 achromatic really expect 100x to 120x as a maximum. Do not assume 2x diameter, 204x, as it will not give it.

If these are understood and not a concern then it should be fine.

Being the scope it is it will have a wide view and so be good for locating things.

Shops: FLO, Sherwoods Photographic, Rother Valley Optics, Green-Witch.

[Matt1]

Hi Ronin

Thank you for the infomation much appreciated I think that I will purchase one as a starter, just been looking around for some short courses and hopefully will got to the staffordshire astronomy society.

[Ags]

What kind of objects do you want to look at? The startravels are poor for planets but are OK for low magnification views of star clusters and nebulae.

[oldfruit]

Hi Matt. I had a Skywatcher st102 until recently and i only sold it to fund another scope. I would agree with the above comments but i thought it was a great scope. It was best suited for lower power work but it has shown me and others some impressive views of things like the Veil Nebula, (with O111 filter), M31, M33, M51, the Double Cluster, numerous open clusters. There are a lot of objects within easy reach of this scope and i for one would readily recommend it.

[sologuitarist61]

There are quite a few of us here on SGL that use Startravel scopes with great success. They may not be brilliant for planetary work, but are great for solar viewing/imaging and for deep sky objects which cover a good deal of the sky. Personally I would be happy with the the scope but would want to upgrade to an equatorial (with GoTo if you can afford it, as that will find things in the sky for you and so you will get to know where things are). Also get a copy of Stellarium for you PC/laptop, it is free and will help you find your way around the night sky. Good luck on your purchase.

[VigdisVZ]

Are you ready for a curveball? Have you looked at the 130p heritage dob? Will give you a bit more aperture and focal length (downside is that it's bulky and needs to be collimated at some point).

Also I should recommend the book "Turn Left At Orion" for a very useful and realistic guide to what you can find and what you can expect to see.

Richard also said Stellarium for your computer, +1 for that, I couldn't live without it.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Are you ready for a curveball? Have you looked at the 130p heritage dob? Will give you a bit more aperture and focal length (downside is that it's bulky and needs to be collimated at some point).

Great scope but i must contest your comment.

The Heritage is in no way bulky and i have owned mine for 3 yrs and it has never has needed collimation so far. I did it once when it arrived from the UK, just to check it and it was spot on.

Great scope..............well worth considering.

[jabberwocky]

I have an st102 as a grab and go scope on a camera tripod, great little scope and yes it does have some colour fringing but its a great scope for wide field views of clusters and nebulae

[Carbon Brush]

I used to own an ST102 and agree with the eariler comments on optical performance.

A very good scope for the money spent.

I was not though as impressed by the Altaz mount that came with it.

I think they must have improved in the intervening years, but do not have first hand knowledge of the newer mounts.

There was always a fight betwen scope balance and alt stiffness.

In the end I left a spanner on the tightening nut.

The az had a lot of backlash until reduced by packing washers.

Though the sloppy nut remained.

Hope this helps.

[Chris]

For 20 pounds extra you could get this:

http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

it won't have the colour fringing of the ST102 optics, and will perform better on planets because of this lack of fringing and also the longer focal length allows for higher mag thus better framing and larger apparent size of planets and smaller DSO's. I think give or take the odd point here and there such as the wider field of view of the St102, and the larger aperture of the 150mm Dobsonian, I think both scopes will perform roughly similar on DSO's. However, the Dobsonian base would be more stable which will allow you to see more details because there will be less vibration. All the money goes into the optics but the mount is simple yet sturdy.

[Matt1]

Thanks everyone for your advice been a great help though, I have just been reading up on the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian telescope, which I am turning to as is apparently it gives better detail in any object the more minutes you observe, as I am focusing on looking at planets in better detail any thought on this compared to the Skywatcher Startravel 102 AZ3 ?

[VigdisVZ]

Thanks everyone for your advice been a great help though, I have just been reading up on the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian telescope, which I am turning to as is apparently it gives better detail in any object the more minutes you observe, as I am focusing on looking at planets in better detail any thought on this compared to the Skywatcher Startravel 102 AZ3 ?

Bulkier but much much better. The 200p, from what I have heared from the many people that use it, is a scope for life.

[John]

The 200P dobsonian is a much better scope for viewing the planets with than the Skytravel 102. As it gathers 4x as much light, the 200P is much better for viewing most astronomical objects in fact. Planetary viewing is really not a strength at all of the Skytravel 102.

[Ags]

I own a startravel. It is practically useless for looking at planets.

[Matt1]

Thanks everyone for your advice just perchaed the Sky-Watcher Skyliner-200P Classic Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope just got to wait till it arrives, hopefully it should arrive at the end of the week

[Matt1]

Thanks everyone for your advice just perchaed the Sky-Watcher Skyliner-200P Classic Parabolic Dobsonian Telescope just got to wait till it arrives, hopefully it should arrive at the end of the week