my first go to telescope what, shall i buy?

[munro]

The thing that slighty bothers me about GOTO is that if you don't understand coordinates like a lot of Newbies don't (myself sort of included)- how do you know you are looking at the right thing? If you do know about coordinates why bother with a GOTO in the first pace

[DaveHKent]

I've got the NexStar 90 and I've been pretty pleased with it, though being my first scope I have no point of comparison. You get good views of planets and some of the brighter clusters, though I've never quite figured out why the alignment is sometimes off and why the tracking drifts a bit.

The scope does pack neatly into a £20 Maplins flight case (without the mount), so I've found it fairly portable.

I notice you are in Kent, I'm Whitstable based. Where are you?

[DaveHKent]

The thing that slighty bothers me about GOTO is that if you don't understand coordinates like a lot of Newbies don't (myself sort of included)- how do you know you are looking at the right thing? If you do know about coordinates why bother with a GOTO in the first pace

Is the point of a goto that you don't need coordinates for at least the most popular objects. You can just stick in the name or catalog number and off you go.

[naxos10]

I have also been looking for a portable system and within my budget the 127 XLT and Nexstar 4se seem to be the common recommendations. The 4SE has the better mount and it is a case of no shake or extra aperture. I come from a photographic background and believe shake to be the greater of the two evils.

As many have said there is no 'one scope fits all' solution.

Nice to here that you are happy Nexstar 90 Dave, it may just sway me towards the 4 SE

[dephelis]

Co-ordinates are largely redundant anyway, unless you've modded the average mount to have much larger setting circles. The ones you get with an EQ3-2 are next to useless for locating something purely with them.

My own experience of GOTO (Celestron Nexstar) is that what I ask it to show me is always within a low power field of view, if there is any doubt I can always check it against a star map. It took me a serious amount of time (several sessions over a week) to successfully find Bodes Galaxy in my 150P, I slewed to it within 5 minutes of setting up my Nexstar 127 SLT ... a far less frustrating enterprise. There are a few other convenience points, such as once I have something in the field of view I don't need to touch the scope to keep it there.

In my case, I bought the Nexstar as a grab'n'go travel scope and it came with GOTO. I often observe without it, but its useful and I can see its advantages for easily frustrated beginners.

Also came in very handy when I gave a talk at my son's school, which has no northern view, a quick three star align and I was pointing things out to his class in no time.

[Jcousins]

hi thanks for the thoughts on this!1 hi DaveH, i am in sittingbourne so not far! i have joined MKAS what about you?

I think goto scopes are the way forward as they enhance your observing enjoyment. I am pretty knowledgeable on navigating around the night sky such as most bright stars/constellation and few nebula/clusters . But a goto will give i hope less frustration looking for objects and more time viewing!

but as all things it comes down to budget etc i think a £350 budget is good but shall I just get a 127/102 Mak or 130 Newt on a goto or maybe a 4" refractor, thats the issue, celestron or skywatcher?

[naxos10]

On the feedback I have had most people have recommended the Celestron scopes over the Sky watcher. I believe that the goto is better and certailny from the Nexstar ...SE the mount is also.

[Jcousins]

I might go for the Celestron Nexstar 90 SLT for about £300 then? Has anyone used or own this particular scope, your thoughts would be of interest to me?

James

[dephelis]

If you're still ok with the £350 budget I would go for the 127 Mak over the 90 Mak.

[yesteryeargames]

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Just held my iphone up to the lens and i got this shot of Jupiter using a standard 10mm stock lens on my new skyliner 200p, great scope i highly reccomend it

[yesteryeargames]

I zoomed in a bit , it looks about the size of a pea in the eyepice, maybe a bit better quailty too through eyes , just thought i would share as im a complete beginner and having a good time with this scope,

[Jcousins]

After all the deliberating, I have purchased a celestron nexstar 102gt refractor from eBay, good price too! Has anyone had any experience with it and what upgrades can anyone recommend?

At some point in the the future I could purchase a MAK ota of say 127mm aperture, the mount and goto system would great combo?

Your thoughts please?

James

[scopekid1325]

Hi there I'm sure if u contact flo they will give advice

[rwilkey]

Mak scopes can benefit from better eyepieces, as most scopes can, but a Barlow is often of no benifit as the Mak already has a long focal length, and using a Barlow would just push any magnification beyond the capabilities of the telescope. A 2x Barlow effectively doubles the focal length of a scope that already has a long focal length, so not practical in my opinion. Certainly you will be able to see the solar system objects you want to see, and very well I'd say, as well as DSO's like M31 and the Orion Nebula, but remember a Mak has quite a narrow field of view and in my opinion there are other telescopes that are better on these targets - its horses for courses I think.

[cantharis]

I would buy a GOTO equatorial mount - of which the available choice is large - then any scope you buy will be GOTO. Which is what I did myself in maybe a roundabout way - I bought a EQ5 and have later added SynScan GOTO. Paid for it by selling my Celestron 4SE.