Choice of scope

[AlanCrossley]

Sorry but yet another plea for advice from a beginner with regards choosing a scope.

after much reading ( much of it on this excellent site) I have several scopes for consideration ( my budget is upto £1000) which are:

8/10 inch dob manual,have had little play with a 8 inch dob and was very impressed with what I could see. Staying with dob scopes I realise they would not be suitable for taking images so would a GoTo dob be ok for taking images. At first I would be only interested in just in looking.

My other choice would be a 6 inch Nexstar or a 8inch Nexstar ( second hand) how good are they, can you take images, are they easily set up, handled?

I realise these questions have probably been asked before but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Alan

[Steve Ward]

Unfortunately the GoTo Dob is no better for imaging than a PushTo Dob , it still operates in Alt/Az mode .

OK for webcam planetary stuff but not DeepSky ,

The same goes for the Nexstar range that are also Alt/Az mounted.

For your budget I would be going for an HEQ5ProSynscan with a 200PDS , great for visual on planets and DSO's and quite capable of delivering 4 - 5 minute un-guided exposures with careful accurate Polar Alignment.

[brantuk]

I'd echo Steve's good advice - you should be able to pick up his suggested configuration second hand under a year old in near perfect condition for around £750 to £800. That would leave healthy budget for essential accessories like a collimator, fan, dew shield, and maybe secondary dew controller.

[RikM]

4-5 min unguided at 1000mm focal length is quite...optimistic 60 - 90 sec is more easily achievable.

For visual use an 8"/10" Dob would be easier to use, for lunar / planetary imaging an 8" SCT would probably be easier to use, for deep sky imaging a smaller telescope would be easier to use. 200P/HEQ5 is a good compromise to be able to have a go at everything.

The 200P is very good visual telescope and quite good for web cam imaging. It is towards the upper limit of an HEQ5 (it's not the weight, but the focal length and sail area) but can be used successfully for deep sky imaging. You would want to add an autoguider to be able to get longer exposures.

[Steve Ward]

I've had 5 minute unguided subs with mine . . .

Took a while to get it drift aligned properly but it's possible with a little effort.

[RikM]

I've had 5 minute unguided subs with mine . . .

Took a while to get it drift aligned properly but it's possible with a little effort.

With the 200PDS or the ED80? ED80 fine but if you managed that with the big Newt then I tip my hat to you Sir well done, most wouldn't get close to that

[Steve Ward]

'Twas with the 200PDS.

I admit that 3 minutes was a consistent average , the tweaking involved maintaining 5 was a bit of a drag on a non-permanent set-up.

I've consequently started using the Synguider in earnest and now grab 20 mins with ease .

It all depends on how quickly you can master drift alignment and your patience threshold . . .

[AlanCrossley]

Ok gentlemen, firstly thanks for your replies much food for thought I had not considered the 200 /HEQ5 system, so after a quick look several options on the web several questions. Firstly what is the difference between EQ5/HEQ Pro mounts (apart from cost) and what is the difference between 200P and 200PDS? Also is the 200/HEQ5 easily handled,is it heavy?

i hoping to be able to visit Rotherham Valley Optics this week to have a look in the flesh at some scopes to help me make my mind up.

Alan

[RikM]

There is a massive difference between the EQ5 and HEQ5 mounts, much more than just an 'H' would suggest. The way to think of them is the EQ5 being a big EQ3, where the HEQ5 is a little NEQ6. The HEQ5 is the one to get if you want to put a 200mm Newtonian on it. The 200P and 200PDS are essentially the same scope. They are optically identical but the PDS has a dual speed focuser and more backfocus so a bit easier to use with some cameras.