New telescope advice... but live in London

[ntansey]

Hi all,

I decided to try and get the advice of fellow stargazers in the search for a new scope. I have had a Meade ETX80 about 4 years and have managed to do the basics (lunar and some planetary) but I am really keen to progress further and maybe it's time to upgrade.

I was thinking of getting a reflector mainly to do with the pricing as My budget is up to around £400 region and I was thinking about the skywatcher explorer series either the 150p on the eq3-2 mount (£295) or 200p on eq5 mount (£405).

But the issue is that I live in London although in the suburbs of the city and while i can get access to some areas of relative darkness light pollution is an issue. but not sure if it would be even advisable getting one of these scopes. What would be advisable with this sort of budget?

Thanks all,

Nick

[baggywrinkle]

_{I have seen some opinions on here, which do make sense, that you can spend a lot on apeture but if there is a problem with LP then you are just amplifying the effect.}

_{That said, go for the best apeture you can afford and think about transportability so that you can take advantage of dark sky areas outside of London.}

_{Not an easy choice.}

[bingevader]

You could spend a life time on the moon!

Try this lot, I'm sure they can help!

Cheers

[damnut]

Hi Nick,

Have you considered a dob?? the 200p is £279 from FLO. If you don't need the eq mount then this may be the way to go for you as it simplifies transport & setting up on another site.

[Oddsocks]

Depends very much how you see your interest developing.

If you want to attempt imaging then the mount becomes the most important factor, even in light polluted London a small inexpensive achromatic refractor used with narrow band filters on a good mount can produce strong results.

If this is your plan then you could spend your entire budget on a second hand mount and have nothing left for the scope or filters.

On the other hand if you think that you will mainly be a visual observer then go for the biggest reflector you can afford together with a visual light pollution filter.

For example a Baader Neodymium visual light pollution filter costs between £45 and £80 depending which size eyepieces you have.

Of your preferred choices the 200P on the EQ5 mount is the sturdier of the two and can be upgraded to full Go-To drive in the future, but to get the best from it under polluted skies you would need to find the extra for a LP filter.

I don't think either choice would make a good imaging platform from London skies as narrow band imaging requires fairly long exposures on a good guidable tracking mount.

You could always upgrade the mount in the future of course and keep the optical tube.

Either of your choices will produce a much brighter image than your current ETX80.

If you spend time observing the moon you will need a variable polarising filter or a set of neutral density filters to reduce the light intensity for lunar observation.

Transporting and setting up time needs to be considered as well.

If you are going to be visual only observing from home then the simplest and fastest scope to use would be a big Dobsonian.

Something like the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P and the Baader Neodymium light pollution filter together would cost between £325 and £360 depending on filter size.

If you have settled on the choice of either 150P on the EQ3-2 or 200P on the EQ-5 with a budget on £400 under light polluted skies then the 150P EQ3-2 with a Light pollution filter would be my choice.

William

[rowan46]

there is a few ways of getting the best out of light polluted skies. The first is getting away from it ie travelling if you don't have a car getting a smaller portable scope out to darker skies can give very good views. If you do have access to a car getting a larger scope to darker skies is even better. The second best and second cheapest is apparure a largish dob with filters can punch through a fair bit of light pollution. The third best soluion is a long focal length scope best is probably a mak or sct with apparture but a long refractor can do quite well the small fov darkens the sky pretty well. the third way is probably the most expensive because long focal length scopes under light pollution are better with goto. for your budget a 200p dob with filters is probably your best option. No imaging but £400 is pushing it to get any imaging done under light polluted skies

[hoops86]

What about a etx 125? Very portable if you want to travel to a dark site. Plus you already have the etx80 so you must be used to autostar and how easy it is to use

[ronin]

When you say "access to some areas of relative darkness" what is the method of getting there and how happy are you at being there.

You have the ETX 80, what other eyepieces have you besides the 2 that came with the scope - 9mm and 26mm if I recall were Meades offerings, odd focal lengths, but fair plossl eyepieces. I ask because buying a scope is often the precurser to buying an assortment of accessories.

As you are looking at a reflector then at some time a collimator will be required, and I will guess 2 additional eyepieces to what you have. Only mention this as these cost money and does the budget include accessories or not.

As mentioned earlier viit the BSIA group at Regents Park on one of their nights.

Seeing what others use is a good indication of what is most useful, also you can ask questions.

A 200P on an EQ5 is not exactly small, the ETX is a nice easy scope to get hold of in one hand and take anywhere. As such I suggest you keep it, also if you do sell it then the supplied eyepiece will need to go with it and 2 replacement eyepieces are £70.

Something like a 150 on the EQ5 may be a bit better, slightly smaller scope, get the PL offering as the longer foccal length should be more useful.

If you are used to the ETX then do you want tracking on any EQ mount? Again more cost.

[ntansey]

Hi all,

thanks so much for all your advice. As I can see the cost isnt just the telescope but also accessories. I'm pretty sure I don't need any eyepieces, I currently have the Meade 4000 eyepiece and filter set which I thought would be a good choice as it should be good to keep when I upgrade. But I don't have a light pollution filter so I guess that will be a welcome addition which I am keen to get. Thanks for the suggestion William!

Well with the etx most of my observing was done in the garden and sometimes drove or walked to the hampstead heath which is about as dark as it can get without driving too far out.

So not sure whether to go for the dobsonian 8" or 8" EQ mount take it viewing wise they're the same. Think the 6" eq3 by the sounds of it isnt a great stable mount and if i were to uprgrade mount to eq5 think it'll be same price as the 8" anyway!

Say if I were to choose the dobsonian does it mean that I rule out a possibility of taking photos, i do have a dslr and wanted to try but maybe

quite unrealistic in London. So not sure if should go for the eq5 200p and then that gives me the possibility of upgrading to tracking or goto or the dobsonian...quite a tricky decision.

Has anyone have any experience of either the two? Quite a tricky one! I'm pretty indecisive!

Thanks for all the help guys!

[damnut]

Hi Nick,

I havent turned to the dark art of imaging, but if you are keen then get a copy of making evry photon count, this will save you dosh in the long term. The eq5 will probably not be man enough for the job for a large newt!..

Have a look at some of the stunning images in the galleries from folk using smaller apperture apo fracs. Do get the book first !!!

[ntansey]

Ah brilliant thanks damnut, well in that case I might opt for the dob which by the sounds of it will be a lot easier to use in the long run to set up and use especially if driving. and then i can at least use the remaining for accessories which I will need. And if I ever decide to try can always upgrade to a stable mount.

So the skyliner 200p would be the best bet right? £279 seems like a pretty sweet deal!

[Steve_meg]

I had a 250 dob excellent telescope, but very big and unpractical. Might be worth trying to view the 200p first.

[GeorgeB]

Go for the Dob! I sometimes get to use Glenn2214's one at his house in W. London near Heathrow airport and get very good views of many of the brighter DSO's. The Ring Nebula M57 is quite stunning in his OIII filter.

[ntansey]

Well I decided to go to a telescope shop in town to get some advice and to have a look at the options. The guy told me he'd definitely recommend a goto scope as it would make life a lot easier in London and it's what most people have in London. So I ended up getting the the skywatcher 127 maksutov goto. And I think it's perfect for what I need; a nice step up and perfect travelling scope. Think may have to go down the goto telescope route from now. But have been pretty impressed so far just waiting for a clear sky to try it out!! Thanks so much for all the advice.

[farunj]

I would also suggest the dob! Its very easy to use and you also get to learn the skies in the process! And its very rewarding to find the object you are finding by your own efforts!

Sent from my GT-S5570 using Tapatalk 2

[helicalwave]

I am a proud owner of a SW 200p and I live next to London Eye. On a dark night I can see some stars from my home, and planets/moon are easy to view. There is a monthly star party in Regents Park run by the Baker Street Irregular Astronomers, which you should check out. I have a LP filter which works when I am taking pics. I also travel outside of the city for truly dark skies.