Budget of £350

[bats]

Hi All

I have a Budget of about £350 and would like to get a GOTO scope ( pre owned ). What can I expect to get for my money and has any one got any suggestions on what I should get.

Cheers

Paul

[JamesF]

I reckon there's a bit of a "hole" in the market around that price.  A second hand 130 newt on an AZ GOTO mount probably wouldn't cost that much, nor a 127 Mak on the same mount.

Anything that size or larger on a larger GOTO mount is going to cost more than £350 used I suspect.

What you should actually get probably depends most on where your interest lies and why you feel you need GOTO.

James

[bats]

I'd like a GOTO just for simplicity of navigation more than anything else (laziness) . I'd like to be able to see in detail some of the planets and stars that I got to see at the star party in Brecon this year, but they currently elude me with my own scope at present (I have a sky watcher 1145), and I am new to the hobby.

[JamesF]

I think most people's suggestion for that sort of budget might well be a 200P dobsonian, but if you want GOTO then the budget won't allow you that large a scope.  I'd probably be inclined more towards the 127 Mak on the AZ GOTO mount if you want to view planets I think.  I'm sure there will be other suggestions.

James

[hoops86]

If your heart is set on getting a GOTO then go for it! The only downside is you will be spending most of your budget on the mount rather than the scope.

For £350 you should be able to pick up just about any of the 127 MAK's (used) Celestron, Meade, Skywatcher. Have a look about as most of the time these will come with loads of accessories! I picked up my ETX125 + case + loads of accessories for £400. If i was to have bought it all seperatley...i would think the figure would be closer to £700. So its worth keeping a good eye out for a good scope that come with all the extras.

They show incredible detail of the night sky with the benefit of being ultra-portable!

A word of caution! If you fall in love with astronomy....it wont be long till your wallet is back out ready for a bigger and better scope!

[garethmob]

personally paul i would go the same way as steve has with his dob (stevetynant) at the SWVG's starparty the other week

he uses a simple "push to" system that uas a 360degree circle on the base and a digital inclinometer (the brand name is a wixey) which is attached to the tube.  now using the AZ and ALT corrondants off a simple phone app like starwalk or i think you mentioned u have starry nights?   you can near enough place an object roughly in the middle of a 32mm eyepeice which u can ajust to zoom in with higher mags.

so basing it on that (and with FLO prices  (there are other telescope sellers but its easier to click the link at the top)     £279 for the dob,   wixey is around 30,    a circle with the degrees probally about 20,   and a phone app (which i think u said u had) u can have a far far better scope than a goto will provide.  

that night my goto had annoyed me as it wasnt working (sometimes happens) i had given up and just used bins.... lol   best advice i can give really is come along to one or 2 of the meets in blaenavon and have a look at every ones scopes see which suits you better,   but the push to system is far better bang for your buck...    

[stevetynant]

What Gaz said  Paul - you have best of both worlds then - cheap go to if you need it and aperture.

[bats]

I think its going to have to be the Dob.....Looking at everything it seems to make sense.

Where's the best place to buy one from, and what accessories should I get ? Thanks for all the info so far

[Freff]

I would highly recommend FLO, see top of page. If you decide on that Dob, get it and bring it along to one of the Blaenavon meets and try out other's kit before buying. It will save a lot of heart ache.

[garethmob]

just bare in mine paul it will need a little bit of DIY to do,  but i would seriously consider coming to one of the meets before you get anything just to see how it all works and see if its what you want.

my self iv got a 11" dob which i will be carrying out the mods on i detailed above  (only difference is i will have a digital rotary gemred as apposed to the 360 degree setting circal, but the same idea is there!

[edit]

as i reread your last post

the usual mods for a push to are -    

wixey  - somthing similar to this,  iv got the model without the bubble on the top so there are alternatives (and cheaper versions as well) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wixey-WR360-Digital-Angle-Inclinometer-Gauge-Hold-Button-Vial-Spirit-Level-/231063273787?pt=UK_Measuring_Tools_Levels&hash=item35cc71c13b   

a 360 degree setting circul  there are tools on tinterweb to get this,  and im sure some one might have a file kicking around from theirs

a phone app which can show alt and alz coordinants

a peice of wood, bluetac and a needle so you can zero the scope every time you use it first time.

 self leveling feet 3 or 4 (i think a few people use them twisty feet from washing machines ect)  to help a sprit level wouldnt be a bad idea althrough i saw steves fantastic idea on the meet of using the 2way caravan leveler!  will be getting another one for my self as id only just bought one for my trailer

and theres one more accessary which should  be standard on every scope but sadly not is a telrad.  used to help you find objects more easly as a finder!  its pretty big but well worth it

im sure others here can give some more useful mods althrough the main body of the forum might get more replys  

[Lee M]

I think its going to have to be the Dob.....Looking at everything it seems to make sense.

Where's the best place to buy one from, and what accessories should I get ? Thanks for all the info so far

They come up regularly secondhand. On here (you'll need some more posts), UK Astro Buy Sell, Ebay.

[Oily]

You could get this EQ5 on ABS and stick your 1145 on it:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=74568

Then buy Tom Carpenters AstroEQ for £90 which will turn it into a 'GOTO' using EQMOD via a PC/laptop,all for £340 or less if you haggle on the EQ5

[tich]

The 200P DOB is great advice Paul as you get more aperture for the money, it would be possible to go even bigger within your budget if you went for a used one. GOTO's and EQ mounts are great once you set them up but they take longer to do whereas a DOB you're ready to go within minutes. I'd see how you got on with the finder they come supplied with, some folk can get on with them ok others like myself struggled so I ended up buying a Telrad.

Are you still boring your missus about all this stuff? 

[bats]

Hi Tich....yeah....still boring her senseless    

[David_Pickles]

The 127Mak gets my vote as well - I had the auto-tracking (non-GoTo) version as my first scope and was very pleased with it for observational purposes. I even managed to do a little imaging of the moon and Jupiter.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[David_Pickles]

A good place to look for second hand scopes is astrobuyandsell.com/UK. I find the prices tend to be cheaper than eBay as there are no seller fees. In addition, the people than use the site tend to be more knowledgable.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bats]

We'll I finally took the plunge and bought a skywatcher 200 dob !!

Got it home , set it up in the garden and made the mistake of trying to view through the two eye pieces ( apparently a common mistake ) !! . Can't wait until tonight hopefully it will be clear. Going to order a laser collimator, any advice on which one and any other extras I should get. ? Nearly forgot .... Got a bargain at £200 it's only been used a couple of times and is only 6 months old. Happy days

[garethmob]

That's a good bargain!!!

Have a look for something called a telrad. It's pretty big but is a reflex finder and far far easier to use than the one supplied.

It might then come to the DIY stage of creating A 360 degree setting circle on the dobs base. Getting a wixy (a digital inclinometer) and you can use software on your iPhone then to search for different objects.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys

[garethmob]

That's a good bargain!!!

Have a look for something called a telrad. It's pretty big but is a reflex finder and far far easier to use than the one supplied.

It might then come to the DIY stage of creating A 360 degree setting circle on the dobs base. Getting a wixy (a digital inclinometer) and you can use software on your iPhone then to search for different objects.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys[/quote

By effectively having a "push to" mount

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys

[stevetynant]

Nice one Paul - like Gaz says a Telrad is a good investment. Hopefully we'll get a night up in Bleanavon soon and you can come along - theres quiet a few 200ps there for you to look at the various mods and accessories.  

£200 - Bargain

Plenty of room for accessories - Telrad @ £35, Wixie perhaps @ £30 and a decent wide angle lens - perhaps a 32mm panaview I think in the £100 range but definitely wait up until you can meet up with the rest of us- the spending slope is all to easy to fall down and despite the oft heard advice of wait - I would think most of us have been there and ignored it lol.

[bats]

Great views of Jupiter tonight ( in the back yard. )