Buying a new scope

[lukeyboy]

Hi there i was wondering can anyone guide me on what scope to go for.

I recently bought a seben big boss but i wish i had done some research into it as i now know that it doesn't have a very good reputation.

I'm doing research now and i am a bit overwhelmed with what to get so any pointers would be great.

My budget is maximum £600 and i would like to see both deep space stuff and the planets. From what i have found out so far i don't think i want it to have a go to system as half the fun is actually finding my way around and also my money is spent on the optics not gadgets.

Any ideas on specific makes and models would be greatly appreciated.

Even though the big boss may be below the usual standard using it has really been enjoyable but i have been frustrated with its performance at times.

Thanks

Luke

[saturn5]

The Skywatcher 200 and an Heq5 mount could be yours for around £530.

Both are held in high regard by many users of this forum and ideal for DSO's and also good for planetary work,an excellant all rounder and hard to beat for value for money IMHO. :thumbleft:

btw i have the Skwatcher250 and Heq5 mount.

[Sam]

Luke,

Saturn5 is on to it. I have a similar arrangement to what Saturn5 suggested and it's great for both DSO and planets. I can see some of the surface patterns on Mars and also view some of the harder Messier objects. Having a motorised EQ mount is certainly very handy and well worth it especially when viewing the planets. 600 pounds is a pretty good budget.

cheers

Sam

P.S. Welcome to SGL

[lukeyboy]

cheers guys it is very good to get some idea of what to look at.

I wasnt sure whether i just had high expectations or i just had a bad scope (a bit of both i think) but thanks for taking the time to reply.

luke

[AndyM]

Have to echo the others and recommend the Skywatcher 200 on an HEQ5 - can't beat it for the money.

Andy.

[MikeP]

Luke,

Don't dismiss GOTO systems.

I bought an EQ6 Pro mount because I wanted something heavy duty but was determined not to use its GOTO until I could find my way round the sky. I quickly discovered that DSOs are very very dim (even with a 10" reflector) and for those of us with slowly deteriorating eyesight, very difficult to see.

I succumbed to GOTO quite quickly and it made observing more pleasurable for me. I can honestly say that without the GOTO, I would never have found some of the objects I've seen.

Good luck with your deliberations.

Mike

[lukeyboy]

cheers mike i will take that into consideration, maybe if i knew that the scope i was getting was good and i could trust it then maybe i wouldn't mind having a goto system for when i have hopefully mastered the art of navigating the skies. So i will definitely look into this skymaster with a bit more confidence thanks to feedback.

PS anyone wanna buy a seben big boss??

[lukeyboy]

Ok i have been looking all day after taking in all the good advice and i am sold on the skywatcher 200 with the heq5 mount. The best price i have found is £525 i just have a few questions so please excuse my ignorance.

What is the difference between the HEQ-5 and the EQ6 mount, and if i wanted to upgrade to a goto system in the future can i with a HEQ-5 mount.

I have also been looking at the explorer 250 px, it is an extra £300 and i was wondering is it worth pushing the boat out to get it or is the performance difference not that noticeable.

My thinking is that if i spend a bit extra then maybe i wont want to upgrade in the coming years (that is what i have said to the other half anyway)

Anyway please tell me if you think i am getting carried away as it is so easy when you look at whats out there.

[MikeP]

Luke,

My original purchase was an EQ6 Pro and an Explorer 250. There is no doubt that the 250 will gather more light than the 200 and hence allow you see fainter objects. Is it worth the extra? - that's quite subjective.

Something you may not have considered ....

I don't know how big your Seben is, but I can assure you that the 250 is quite big. It isn't too heavy to carry around and put on the mount, but it is quite a clumsy size. Also, being big, when the scope is pointed up at much more than 45 degrees, the eyepiece is quite high up - I needed to stand on small steps to get to the eyepiece (I'm only 5'7"). Not a big deal but irritating.

I'm really not trying to put you off, but I went down the same route of thinking that a big reflector was the way to go and ended up realising I was wrong. You are wise to be thinking ahead, but I'd be surprised if you don't upgrade once you have gained more experience.

When all said and done, the reflector is just a tube and a couple of mirrors and they are relatively cheap to replace. You have thought about a mount, but have you thought about eyepieces, finders, filters etc. - I seem to have spent £100s on bits and pieces.

Anyway, good luck - you are right to be excited about buying a decent scope and getting out and looking at the sky. Let us know how you get on.

Merry Christmas

Mike (also known as Scrooge)

PS Sorry I can't help with a comparison of the HEQ5 and the EQ6 - everyone on here seems happy with them though, so I don't think you can wrong with either.

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

What is the difference between the HEQ-5 and the EQ6 mount, and if i wanted to upgrade to a goto system in the future can i with a HEQ-5 mount.

The HEQ5 is similar to the EQ6 apart from being somewhat smaller. The standard HEQ5 is easily upgradeable to goto.

Some comparison pictures here

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Note that, although the mounts appear to be different distances from the camera, they are not. I was careful to try to keep the images "to scale".

Kaptain Klevtsov

[lukeyboy]

Thanks mike i appreciate your take on things its good to get advice on this site as i tend to get carried away with thinking bigger is better all the time but yeah there are other considerations.

Also thanks Kaptain Klevtov for the photos it gives me something to go on.

Well guys i appreciate all the advice but i think its time to go face the other half and tell her I'm going for a skywatcher 250 px with the EQ6 mount.

Seriously though its alot of money to spend but i know i will have years of enjoyment ahead of me so i don't take the advice too flippantly.

I was looking on some of the other threads and Ive seen that a star party was being organised for next year, i hope to be an active member on this forum and maybe go to the odd star party.

Thanks for now and merry Christmas

Luke :sunny:

[barkis]

Hi. Luke, I am not able to speak with any authority on the scope and mount you have decided, but the other guys who have contributed their knowledge certainly do, and a fair bit of experience at work there. I hope you good lady gives her blessing to the spending of a fair amount of money on this gear. There's no doubt you will be over the moon with the capability and results you will get.

Enjoy, and a very happy Christmas to you and yours too.

Ron.

[James]

Well guys i appreciate all the advice but i think its time to go face the other half and tell her I'm going for a skywatcher 250 px with the EQ6 mount.

Good luck...

Thats pretty much the setup I have (I have a Celestron scope rather than the Skywatcher one) and I'm pretty happy with it. The scope is big enough to give you some fantastic sights and the mount is more than capable of handling it. It all weighs quite a lot and takes a ittle while to set up properly but is worth it in the end for the views!

James

[philsail1]

Luke,

Have you considered the "Celestron Cn-8 Goto"?

It's an 8 inch reflector (virtually identical to the Skywatcher).

It's on a good solid mount - and with the added bonus of "GOTO."

Price is around the £550 mark I think ( It might be worth asking David Hinds - the supplier) if you qualify for the 10% discount he offers).

I note above that "maccers" has a Celestron with "GOTO" so it might be worth asking a few more questions about how he finds the set up.

I have the Skywatcher 8 inch Reflector on an HEQ5 mount, and it is a very good scope, but it does not have "GOTO," and as someone else has said earlier, it can be difficult to find some of the Deep Sky Objects without "GOTO." (unless you know your way around the sky, and can read and understand how to use the "Setting Circles" on the HEQ5 mount.

With hindsight Luke, I can honestly say that I wished I had gone for the Celestron with "GOTO." I don't have a lot of time to observe for hours, so "GOTO" would have helped me a lot. When you are trying to show friends some of the wonders of the night sky, they soon get bored waiting for for me to find these objects. With "GOTO" (after you have set it up) you just dial in the objects name, press a button and the scope automatically moves to where the object is.

Again, as someone else has said, even the biggest telescope us amateurs can afford, (say a 12 inch reflector) will only show Deep Sky Objects as pretty dim shapes visually (It is only when you start using imaging techniques that you are able to show things in there true glory), so you have got to come to a happy compromise between paying "££££££" for a huge scope which will give you reasonable views of things, but will be heavy, perhaps cumbersome scope that you will have difficulty in setting up and using, and selecting a nice sized scope that again will give you almost the same reasonable views of things, but is a scope which is lighter, easier to set up (and will find things for you!), and one that you will get more use out of.

There are two sayings I have heard quite a bit in the amateur astronomical world:-

1. "Aperture is King" (The bigger the better!).

2. "The best telescope, is the one you use most often."

From experience (both in time and in spending £££££££) I now personally believe the second saying is the more true!

Hope the above helps, and best wishes with your choice.

Regards,

philsail1

[lukeyboy]

I hear what your saying philsail1, i think the best thing for me to do is keep playing with my seben big boss whilst i try and teach myself around the sky and how to use the setting circles. If i find that its getting too frustrating maybe then goto is the way to go.

[beamer3.6m]

I have the 200 explorer on the HEQ5 and love it and cannot see me upgrading in the future as I do not consider that the extra 2 inches with the 250PX would help me that much.

I appreciate this may be open to debat though but I consider that in light polluted skies like have any more than 8" will not benefit me that much.

In addition the HEQ5 can be upgraded to GOTO for about £300 at a later date. Or you could buy the 200 Explorer on the HEQ5 Pro which comes motorised and is less than the EQ6.

I think the EQ6 is worth it if you intend to use seriously heavy weights on the mount, i.e. attaching a guide scope or very heavy camera equipment or perhaps if you want the 250PX.

Talk to Steve at First Light Optics - they price match and I got my 200 on HEQ for £507.00 and it was delivered the very next day. I price matched with warehouse express I believe.

[lukeyboy]

Can i just ask what is a guide scope and how does that differ from a finder scope (or is it the same thing).

[MikeP]

A guidescope is used during imaging. Typically, you have two OTAs mounted in parallel on the same mount, one of which - the imaging scope carries a camera which is imaging the subject. The other scope - the guide scope carries another camera which is trained on a star and sends messages to the attached computer whenever the star appears to move out of position. The computer uses this information to send instructions to the mount to move so as to reposition the star. This ensures that the imaging does not suffer from any alignment, drift or mount imperfection errors.

There are other ways of doing guided imaging, but hopefully this answers your question.

Mike

[lukeyboy]

Thanks for everyone who gave me advice as i have now ordered my telescope. I went for the skywatcher 250px with the heq5 mount. Spent more than orignal budget but not much more and hopefully it will keep me happy for a while yet.

All i need now is some clear skies when it turns up.