Telescopes which one lol

[Wobblytable]

Hi all

I need some advice. I have been looking at telescope for a few years, but only really decided to buy one in the last few months, thats were the fun started well at the start, I was thinking of buying:

SKYLINER-200P FLEXTUBE SynScan GO-TO Dobsonian for about £800 then NexStar 8SE Schmidt-Cassegrain Reflector Telescope for about £1250 bit much then i give up lol, after leaving it for a bit i found

Celestron C9.25-SGT (XLT) Computerised GoTo Telescope plus Eyepiece and Filter Kit about £1300

Which one would u pick?

Which is better Celestron C9.25-SGT (XLT) or NexStar 8SE?

Which is best value for money?

Any help would be much appreciated!!

Thanks

Wobblytable

[Qualia]

Won't be able to help much for the enquiry is a bit out of my league but just as general questions: with regard to observing, I'd ask myself what are my preferences? Deep sky? Planets? All-rounder, etc? And will I be wanting to get into imaging? I'd also question buying into GOTO. I figure, it may be very handy for the extremely time-restricted astronomer but I feel it doesn't really lend itself to learning the night sky and to be honest with you, I'd prefer to put that cash into bigger optics and better glass and learn the relatively easy art of star hopping, rather than compromise these assets and purchase the goto system.

With regards to the scopes, newtonians are great. They offer the best aperture-price ratio of any design. If you want value for money, or a large aperture, or an all-round observing possibility, newtonians are probably your best bet - especially those dob mounted. Cassegrains are more compact for the same aperture as newtonians, but as you have seen, they are a lot more expensive. Refractors too are superb especially for solar system viewing, but their limited aperture won't reveal much or as much detail on DSOs.

I guess you know all that already, so the best advice is to see if you can see these scope in person, for I feel the size, weight etc will more than likely be the defining factor.

Hope I haven't confused the matter too much and welcome to SGL, Wobblytable

[Steep]

As Qualia says, Newtonians give by far the best bang for buck in terms of optics. Is there a particular reason why you've gone away from the Dobsonian to a Schmidt-Cassegrain type?

To be honest there are so many questions you need to be asking yourself before making the decision, like what do I want to see with it? where am I going to keep it? how much do I want to spend? (bear in mind there's bound to be a fair few accessories you want to add like eyepieces). Scopes with GoTo are much more expensive and a lot of the price goes into the electronics, GoTo is good but needs power and needs to be set up each time you use it.

My advice is to have a think about just what you hope to see and post you ideas here, then you'll get much more focused help.

[swamp thing]

Hi

TBH it's kinda tough knowing what's gonna float ya boat bserving wise until you get out there and do a bit.

For this reason alone I would go easy on budget for your first scope. Else you may find you've invested heavily in totally the wrong type of scope. Whilst its true that all scopes will do all things, some do certain things way better than others.

This scope, or its slightly bigger 8" brother would be my suggestion

http://www.firstligh...-dobsonian.html

These make great all round visual scopes that work pretty well on all targets, they won't break the bank, and they'll resell easy if and when you decide to upgrade/specialise.

[damnut]

Hi There,

Something about pandora's box and opening.!...

If you are new to observing, then before spending such a lot of cash, I would find the nearest local astro club and go along and see what kit others have, and have a look through. This will give you an idea of what would suit you and what you want to observe.

All the scopes you list are great scopes, but all are significant investments. When you do decide to buy have some budget set aside to get a couple of extra eyepieces and a book or two!.

Good luck with your choice.

Cheers

[faulksy]

out of the scts the 9.25 would be better but the 8" is excellent. bang for buck like all the above a dobsonian telescope. cools very quick no real issues with the glass foging up like the sct,s lite weight and cheap to buy. will also do everything you want.probably the most popular scope on this site, they cant all be wrong

[themos]

What does "lol" mean in "Telescope which one lol"?

[earth titan]

What does "lol" mean in "Telescope which one lol"?

LOL is text speak for 'Laugh Out Loud'..... Get me eh.... down with the kids. ROFL

[Steep]

Same as it means everywhere else on the internet themos. In this case possibly a slightly nervous one.

[bomberbaz]

Ok I know what all the dobbers are saying on here and they are spot on with the aperture to cost ratio, dobs win all the time. I also agree 100% with damnut in that you need to get yourself along to a local astro club and see what is what.

I have to be honest and say that after comparing dobs with sct's, I opted for the latter. For me its a great all rounder in what it can do. Planetray, DSO's and also some basic web cam imaging and the goto./tracking facility are things I like.

However I have also briefly had a dob (might have still had it had swmbo not put her foot down) and I really enjoyed using this also but when I now compare the two, I prefer the SCT. But thats just me.

Incidentally, I opted for an SCT after visiting an astro club and using one of thier somewhat larger (16" I think) SCT's. Awesome views.

So with that last point in mind, find an asto club as already mentioned before you go sheling out your dosh.

Steve

[PDW]

Never been attracted to ´dobbing´ - nudging my scope manually into a rough position - always preferred a controllable EQ mount (or even computerised Alt-Az mount) which will track my desired object - my style of viewing, once I have found something I like to admire it for a while.

[themos]

I see, lol.

[Wobblytable]

Hello again thanks for all the replys:)

If i was to spend 800 to 1300 on a scope, which would let me have great solar system and dso viewing,Goto to help with my time limits and the option to do imaging.

This looked good value for the money:

365astronomy.com/celestron-c925sgt-xlt-computerised-goto-telescope-p-3360.html

If u can think of a better set up for that sort money i would love to hear ur ideas.

Much thanks folks.

Wobblytable

[earth titan]

Thumbs up for the C9.25.

Typed by me on my fone, using fumms... Excuse eny speling errurs.

[starman1969]

I've got an 8" Newtonian and and a 6" Nexstar SE.

The Nexstar is great for finding difficult targets because it has a goto mount, but the Newtonian gives much better much better views of faint objects although it is quite bulky.

[bomberbaz]

Hello again thanks for all the replys:)

If i was to spend 800 to 1300 on a scope, which would let me have great solar system and dso viewing,Goto to help with my time limits and the option to do imaging.

This looked good value for the money:

365astronomy.com/celestron-c925sgt-xlt-computerised-goto-telescope-p-3360.html

If u can think of a better set up for that sort money i would love to hear ur ideas.

Much thanks folks.

Wobblytable

wow brilliant price. less than the nexstar 8SE. Only one thing to be aware of, as a minimum you will need a power tank (circa £100) http://www.firstlightoptics.com/power/skywatcher-powertank-17ah.html plus power cable and you will also need a dew shield and these can be bought http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/astrozap-flexible-dew-shield.html or make one yourself out of a camping bed mat

But that is a really good price for a 9.25 but on a cautionary note, this wont be the most transportable option, not sure if thats one of your main considerations but still an excellent choice.

[NotSoSuperNova]

I would go for the dob for aesthetics alone. That, and I'm more of a 'bang for your buck' type of guy