recommendations...?

[adrastea]

I'm going to be making my own 12" dob over the winter but I'm also thinking about spending around £250 (with a maximum of £300) on a small GOTO which is portable, gives good images of a reasonable range of objects and has decent scope for wide-field astrophotography. I'm completely realistic and know that no telescope I could ever buy will give me what I want (the kind of bright and crystal images you'd expect from Mauna Kea), but I still want a decent scope which will cover the basics and last me a good few years. I was bought an old 114mm reflector which was absolute rubbish, really expensive, difficult to set up with awful optics, and it did more to put me off astronomy than all the confusing equations in the world. I don't want to make that mistake again, so if anyone has any recommendations for a telescope which is largely for recreation but may occasionally be needed for minor research purposes, I'd like to hear it (and that includes telling me that I'll have to save up longer and double my budget, if that's really necessary). P.S. I'm thinking of a Celestron NexStar 130, but am open to suggestions.

:jupiter: :jupiter: :jupiter:

[gary1968]

Hi Adrastea,

You could do alot worse than buy a 130SLT, I have one and for the money, if it a goto you want, I dont think you could get any better. Bear in mind that it is an altaz mount and won't be happy to carry out long exposure piccies.

Gary A

[The Warthog]

Why not a 6" or 8" dob ((I'm not sure of UK prices on these) whichever fits your budget. Either would satisfy your desire for stargazing and give you practice using the dob until your big dob is ready.

[Cloudwatcher]

The NexStar 130 sounds your best bet within budget if Goto is essential. However,have you checked out the Skymax 127 Supertrack at FLO? Not GoTo but the mount does track and both it and the scope,which are very compact and portable,can also be used terrestrially as well as for star gazing.

CW

[iancandler]

I dont think you will find that combination of widefield and go to at that price.

I would grab one of the semi apo 80mm william optics clones or even the 66mm wiliam optics (I believe ian king is selling these for around £259)

And use it on a photo or cheap alt az mount for now.

Concentrate on the optics and worry about mounts later.

Having said that with something as small as the 66mm you may well get away with using it on the little orion table top driven eq mount, you can certainly put a camera and 400mm lense on it with confidence.

The two would come out a little over budget.

£259 for the scope and around £90 for the mount (but double check the mount will handle the scope and a camera.)

It would certainly be a portable set up. Just not go to.

The only other option is a little alt az goto mount available in the states at present, but if your stopping of there you should be able to pick one up for around $199 dollars and it seems a cracking little mount for the money.

Now that coupled to the 66 williams optics would be a nice little grab and go widefield set up.

http://www.ioptron.com/products.aspx

*edit* 66 semi apo wo going on ians site for £200 http://www.iankingimaging.com/show_products.php?category=79

[gary1968]

Adrastea,

Having just ordered a new scope I have a 130SLT for sale if you are interested. It has been a good scope for me over the last year and I have seen a good load of things with it.

I ahev also had to learn a bit about the sky recently because after you use SkyAlign you are better to check it has mapped the sky correctly and you need a basic knowledge for that. Or, at least know the names of a few stars that you reqularly use.

If you are interested PM me for more info.

Gary A

[philsail1]

Adrastea,

That celestron of Gary's look a good prospect. It will give you reasonably wide field views, has a good aperture at 5" and the benefit of "Go-To". I think another major benefit is the "alt-azimuth" mount having no heavy weights to fit. Granted, it might not track for as long as an "EQ" mount, but you have to think about how much time you have to get your scope out and observe!

(I'm on the point of selling my Explorer 200mm and going for a 5" Maksutov) as it's lighter and quicker, more portable and easier to use).

Best of luck n your choice anyway!

Regards,

philsail1

[dph1nm]

I have just bought a Celestron Nexstar 102SLT refractor, on the same mount as the 130SLT. Super little scope, gives great images and over a 4deg field of view if you stick a 2" eyepiece on the end. And you can do imaging with it if you are prepared to stack.

NigelM

[adrastea]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all the advice!! I'm still liking the idea of a 130SLT but I'm beginning to wonder about whether or not I'd prefer something that could be better for imaging as I do love my photography. About 10 years ago I was bought a Tasco 114mm reflector with an EQ mount and it was absolute RUBBISH, it was really jumpy and wobbly and I couldn't track a thing. It also took about an hour to set up and the optics were really bad and just... arrghh!! I guess I'm really nervous about buying scopes now. As far as I can see the 130SLT has a great reputation and pretty good optics, and it's (just) in my price range. I'm not hugely confident as an astronomer which is why I wanted a GOTO. Trouble is I fully intend to learn my way around the sky a lot better and so I'm wondering whether I should spend the money on something fully manual but a bit bigger. And I would really like an EQ mount for photography... my main concern is money really, that's my only limiting factor - I'm totally broke and since I'm hoping to do a PhD next year, I'll probably be broke for a very long time but still want a decent scope that will last me for years. Ohh, I don't know what to do...

[themos]

Start saving money!

[The Warthog]

My older daughter, who finished her M.Sc. a couple of years ago has decided against doing the Ph.D. for the moment, because she's 28 and tired of having no money. Her partner is doing his Ph.D., and she's decided to get a real job, so I understand fully about your situation at the moment.

In a cheap scope, a major concern is the flimsy mount and tripod. Give those a close look when you buy, and consider what you might do to make it sturdier. I like the small Celestron gotos.

[GordonCopestake]

If you want to do imaging you need an equitorial mount. It's possible with an Alt/Az but you'll save yourself a lot of pain going EQ

[adrastea]

I know in the long run an alt-az won't do what I want it to, but I just haven't been able to find a decent motorized EQ mount anywhere within my budget, let alone getting a good scope on top of that. I do have a broken manual EQ but aside from wide-angle skyscapes, it's pretty useless for all practical purposes. I'll probably just get the Celestron for winter observing, and try to save up for a decent EQ / Camera set-up over the next couple of years. Actually I quite like the sound of that, it sounds like a good compromise. Of course, there's still my original plan of building that dob and a barn door mount for my camera, but I'm starting to doubt my ability to complete such a big project in a small flat and smaller budget. I just don't know whether I'd rather have small, expensive quality + convenience or bigger cheaper hard work + live with my own mistakes. arrrghh.... there just seem to be so many factors to consider, I wish I could make my mind up!!!!!

Though having said that,

Concentrate on the optics and worry about mounts later

does sounds like pretty good advice to me.