Looking up..!

[philipw]

First of all thanks to everyone on here for help on previous posts!

I went along to the Baker Street Astro meet last night, it was blumming cold! Had my 15x70 bins out for the first time, I was shocked at the detail they picked up, I could see the moons of Jupiter! Blimey! I looked through several telescopes and probably made a muppet of myself asking really stupid questions.

I am going to get a tripod for my bins, but have decided to get a scope now as well. This has been recommended http://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-eq3-2.html as one of my considerations was portability, but that is less important as I will use the bins for camping trips etc. So I would really appreciate a little more guidance.

This is all still quite new to me, still exploring the sky and don't have much of a clue but happy to learn. I have a question though; Is getting a Goto going to reduce the amount of actual real familiarisation with the sky? Should I be manually finding things to get used to where everything is?

I have £400 to spend, perhaps a little more so any pointers would be great.

Thank you!

[fredster]

That is an excellent scope recommendation you have been given, the Skymax 127 is a very good telescope indeed and the EQ3 has no problem holding it rigidly. But the Skymax 127 is not what we would call a good 'all rounder'. It is somewhat aperture limited which is compounded by a very slow focal ratio. This all makes it a wonderful solar system orientated telescope but a less suitable deep space telescope.

This one is a good all rounder:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-eq3-2.html

On the same mount but with a 150mm F5 Newtonian telescope. Still a great scope for planets and the moon but far more capable on the deep sky objects. Plus its a fair bit cheaper at £290. Or you could have it with Goto for £560.

If you think you could live without Goto or tracking, then a possible better option is the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P 8" dobsonian. Superb all round views of everything, ample aperture and dead easy to use. And again well under budget at £290.

There are Pro and Cons to using Goto. It is only natural you won't learn the sky to the same degree as someone who is star hopping and learning star patterns to find faint objects. And there is also the argument that the majority of objects are not all that interesting to look at, just very small and dim fuzzy patches. And that a lot of the fun and sense of achievement comes from locating that dim object. But on the other hand you could spend all night trying to locate one object and even then fail miserably. While someone with Goto would have had a very productive night viewing all there is to see on that particular night.

[Eastridge]

I'd agree with the above for that budget - 200P Dob if you are happy without GoTO / tracking or the linked one if you feel you need it.

We went the Dob route and are very happy 'more bang for your buck' ( and the 200P gives you some budget for upgrades) but many feel the help of GoTO and tracking is invaluable.

Deoends if you feel that the act of 'finding things for yourself' is part of the fun or a time wasting distraction.

[philipw]

I think I would like to know where things are and I fear a goto might encourage laziness. I don't need much encouragement actually!

I'll look very closely at both,thanks for your advice.

[rowan46]

A goto is just a tool it has no virtue in itself. It's how you use it that matters you can learn with it or not and in a very light polluted sky, star hopping can be a chore. just my opinion

[philipw]

I think I will be going for the atcher Skyliner 200P 8" dobsonian having looked at the rave reviews.. & it looks quite simple to use which is important for me!

Fingers crossed

[brantuk]

Depends what you mean by "portable" and "camping" - I know some dedicated astronomers who bring 22" and 24" dobsonians to star camps as well as 11" and 12" SCT's - and all sorts of other big heavy stuff. One guy even comes along with a massive equatorial mount on the back of a pickup - and another with a caravan laboratory with a dome on top containing a big Sct and pier legs extending through the floor lol

But for a first scope you'll find it hard to beat an 8" dob - dead quick and easy to setup and use - and you do get the benefit of having to learn the sky - so it's a good approach to the hobby, and the scope will let you look further into space than the 127 Mak which is great for sharp contrasty views of planets. You're correct - goto does make you lazy (or rather it makes me lazy lol) - but I do use manual scopes as well. A big benefit of goto is for imaging - it gets you pointed and set up to snap away much sooner than if you have to spend time finding an object first.

Conversely - one friend of mine can find objects using a manual dob quicker than I can with goto. The main thing with scopes is that they are like cars - different instrument for different purposes. You wouldn't buy a formula one racing car to pop round the shop for a packet of fags and something pretty for her indoors lol. You've made a great choice - the 200P is easily portable in most cars and gets you up and running quick - and the knowledge you gain using it will stand you in good stead for future scopes of different types and sizes. Good luck