What Telescope to get? please help!

[spartacus-space]

Im looking for a good telescope and ive found 2 but undecided with which one to get, its between the SKYHAWK 1145P SYNSCAN OR THE CELESTRON 31145 NEXSTAR, please help need some advice.

[VigdisVZ]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

It might help a bit if we knew your budget, and what features you're after in a scope.

As you've seen from the specifications you have a larger mirror and thus greater ability to collect light with the Nexstar 130 SLT. In my opinion the aperture of the 1145P is a bit small if you dont suddenly want to feel the urge to get something bigger.

They both have GOTO wich is nice but if you can live without the computerized help you might be better off to spend your money on say a 200p dobsonian. THis way you get a much larger mirror and capacity to see faint objects as the money goes into optics, not electronics. With that being said I own a GOTO function myself and I enjoy using it in conjunction with finding my own way around the sky with a pair of binoculars.

Best of luck with your purchase.

[Rich MedRev]

Welcome to SGL

a few questions spring to mind - How much have you got to spend? what are your astro interests, deep sky (DSO's) or solar system?

how well do you know the sky and where do you intend to observe from?

once you have answered the above, the SGL members will be in a better position to give you a considered answer.

Goto is nice but unless your skies are so light poluted that you cannot star hop and have just enough stars to perimit a three star alligment for accurate goto set-up then my advice is to consider a decent 6 or 8" dobsonian.

Good luck as Astronomy is a wonderful pastime and the sky is not rushing anywhere!

[Brian Nordstrom]

Good advice on both , I would go the 150-200mm Dob as well , so much easier to use and you will se enough to keep you satisfied for years ( 114mm is ok but you will soon see all it has to show , and less of the frustration that computers give us all .

Brian.

[JamesM]

Have to agree with the above comments and depending on the budget, Goto can be an expensive mistake if you ultimately have to choose a scope with a smaller aperture to pay for it. The Skywatcher 200P is the U.K's best selling scope for good reason, its aperture for the money makes it a bargain in my view and it is at that aperture and above that details and structure in viewed objects starts to show. In the longer term, you could always buys some scope rings and a dovetail that would enable you to put the 200Pt on an equatorial mount with motors for tracking or even with Goto to help you find objects, thereby building on what you have without the need to buy a whole new set up. A Goto scope listing a catalogue of some 15,000 objects sounds good, but how many of them will you be able to see with a small scope?

Clear skies

James

[Eastridge]

Having had a 1145 as my first scope I would agree with people here saying that if you can afford to go for a greater aperture then do so. I found the 1145 limiting and so it sat unused for much of 6 years before I took the plunge to something larger.

However, I would be less 'gung-ho' about not having GoTO - as it's very much a personal thing, that depends on factors such as: How well do you know the night sky already? Have you considered the downside of 'set up routine / time' for a GoTo? etc. How patient are you, are you the sort of person who gives up on things if you can't get them done easily? How much money have you got?

Overall, I am happy I spent my fixed budget on aperture rather than computerisation but if I had the £££'s it would save a lot of swearing and frustration, especially when clouds roll in ( or feet freeze) before I have managed to locate the desired object in the scope.