Which one would you pick?

[starrgrrl]

Sorry. Another one of these topics.

I've researched as much as I can and seem to be getting no where in helping my friend.

Basically he has a budget of 800€ to spend on a scope. He loves my my nexstar 8se which I bought recently. But obviously that's not near to being in his budget.

What do you think is his best option?

Mainly for some planet viewings but in time some astrophotography. What's a good all round scope?

Portability and storage is not a problem. He has a good space for it.

Would he be very dissapointed with a 4se after viewing through my 8se?

Would you recommend an XT10i Dobsonian?

A goto(push to) is a must.

Thanks again. Sorry for another new topic.

[Daniel-K]

Get a 10inch dob and some nice glass swerve the AP and enjoy the sky

[RT65CB-SWL]

Sorry. Another one of these topics.

I've researched as much as I can and seem to be getting no where in helping my friend.

Basically he has a budget of 800€ to spend on a scope. He loves my my nexstar 8se which I bought recently. But obviously that's not near to being in his budget.

What do you think is his best option?

Mainly for some planet viewings but in time some astrophotography. What's a good all round scope?

Portability and storage is not a problem. He has a good space for it.

Would he be very dissapointed with a 4se after viewing through my 8se?

Would you recommend an XT10i Dobsonian?

A goto(push to) is a must.

Thanks again. Sorry for another new topic.

That is what SGL is about. Helping each other. Just tell your friend to keep you supplied with Jaffa Cakes (I hope you like Jaffa Cakes as most members on SGL do).

Anyway, a work colleague of mine purchased the Skywatcher 200P dobsonian just before christmas 2012 and he is smitten with it. He took a photo of the 'super moon' with his smartphone using the afocal method (handheld). He is over the Moon (pun not intended) with its performance especially when it comes to lunar and planetery views.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Newtonian optics gives the best aperture for your money, whereas the 4SE would almost certainly disappoint after the views through an 8SE. The Dob route seems sensible.

[baggywrinkle]

Yes having seen through an 8SE then a 4SE might well dissapoint.

Does your friend want GOTO?

If not then a Dob which can be upgraded to GOTO at a later date.

[starrgrrl]

Hi yes. He wants a goto (frustration)

The push to on some dobs would be ok.

[John]

He might not notice much difference between a 6" and an 8", especially on the moon and planets and even on deep sky objects, if his skies are darker than yours. I think a 4" would seem underwhelming though, especially if he got the chance to use it alongside your 8".

His options are much wider if he can drop the GOTO requirement - he could get a dob that would out perform your 8" then

A GOTO 4" is of dubious value in my view. The sorts of objects that look nice in a 4" can be found readily enough without a GOTO.

[andrew63]

What about a used 8 SE ? They come up quite often on ABS.

andrew

[starrgrrl]

Thanks for that John.

I really don't think he'd drop the goto.

Think that's actually what he liked most about mine. "How easy it is"

So if you had to pick

A nexstar 4se v XT8i Dobsonian? For roughly the same price 500£

[Dunkster]

The 8" scope will win every time for views.

But also check the model of Dob they're interested in - the XT8i is their Intelliscope "push-to" and not a goto scope. It shows you arrows on the controller to direct you to the object you're looking for but you have to do the pushing bit yourself. They also don't track an object once it's been located. The goto model is the XT8g, btw.

[John]

If GOTO is a "must" then I'd go for a used mount like this (not mine !):

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=71379

And I'd buy a used 8" Newtownian optical tube to put on it. The total might be a bit over £500 but not much.

Alternatively I'd save a little more and get the Skywatcher GOTO 8" dobsonian which is £750 from First Light Optics.

Buying new, the GOTO facility just soaks up too much of a £500 budget to allow for decent optics (which is what delivers the "wow !") for my liking.

[starrgrrl]

I think he wants to buy it in a package. As an amateur he believes if makes less room for mistakes and missing parts Etc. he's leaving toward a push-to dob now. Thanks for the advice so far.

[Peter Drew]

I have an XT8 with push to and it is a fine system.

[Joves]

Why not a Celestron Nexstar 130SLT? It was my first scope and well and truly satisfied my needs... To the point where I've since spent a bucketload on plenty other things (to me that's a sign of how much I loved my intro to astronomy with my SLT). Yes, it's smaller than your 8 inch, but it actually has great optics, awesome GOTO (it's more accurate than my LX90 10" by a fair way) and most certainly falls within your friends budget. Your friend will have no problem viewing planets, the moon (I think it absolutely excels on lunar imaging) and DSO's (provided the conditions are right, obviously... But that's no different in a larger scope) and is extremely portable.

if I were starting out all over again, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the 130SLT again!

[Joves]

By "smaller", I mean in aperture, btw... Being a Newtonian, it's not quite as compact as the 8se... Very light though!

[AlexB67]

Close to your budget would the 8 inch dob GoTo. If you shop around, someone may do it cheaper. I mean this one

http://www.pulsar-optical.co.uk/prod/telescopes/Sky-Watcher/Skyliner/flextube/synscan/Goto-200.html

Other than that I can only suggest that you work on your friend a bit, massage his brain cells and try convince him what that extra cash can buy in terms of optics, and the added fun in finding objects in the sky by yourself

That budget would buy a nice big DOB, or any scope for that matter I imagine, if he is willing to give up on the gadgets

[starrgrrl]

Hi everyone.

Thanks for the replies. He has decided to go for the SkyQuest IntelliScope XT10i Dob.

Hopefully it's ok for him.

He has the room so that's not an issue.

Hopefully it's the start of something great.

Thanks again for all your help. Really appreciate it.

Starrgrrl

[66mikeg]

The explorer 200p EQ5 Goto is £705 from FLO just about on budget, it's 8" aperture and go to, QED

[DaveS]

A dob will be no use for AP.

This is a bit smaller but goto and set up to facilitate AP.

http://www.firstligh...5-pro-goto.html

The 200DS version is a fair bit more expensive and sits on a HEQ5

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-200pds-heq5-pro.html

[sgaber]

Sorry. Another one of these topics.

I've researched as much as I can and seem to be getting no where in helping my friend.

Basically he has a budget of 800€ to spend on a scope. He loves my my nexstar 8se which I bought recently. But obviously that's not near to being in his budget.

What do you think is his best option?

Mainly for some planet viewings but in time some astrophotography. What's a good all round scope?

Portability and storage is not a problem. He has a good space for it.

Would he be very dissapointed with a 4se after viewing through my 8se?

Would you recommend an XT10i Dobsonian?

A goto(push to) is a must.

Thanks again. Sorry for another new topic.

If your friend liked the Nexstar 8se, why not suggest the 6SE? It would offer the same Go-To features and almost as much resolution. In the USA, the 8SE costs $1200, while the 6SE is $800. They come up on Astromart and Cloudy Nights for much less. Only thing I don't like about these is the tripod, which is a bit spindly.

[LukeSkywatcher]

There's an 8se for sale in the classified here. Its asking price is £750. You need a certain number of posts to view it though.