Next scope

[Darren27]

Hi

Been getting back into the astro hobby over the past couple of months using my very old and basic 60mm refractor which I have dragged out of the loft after several years of storage.

I an now looking to upgrade to something a bit better and to take the interest a bit further. But here lies the problem.

I like looking for nebular and galaxies etc which would be best served with a big reflector, while my son is keen on following the planets, at the moment he is trying to make a daily (weather permitting) sketch of the position of the moon's of Juipter and he would like to see more detail of the surface/atmosphere, which would probably be best served by a refractor.

Our other problem is storage, even if I wanted, I don't have the room to store a big dob. The mount and scope will have to be stored separately.

We would both prefer some form of tracking mount, eq or computerised nut don't want to compromise the optics too much.

Can both of our interests and requirements be satisfied on a budget of around £400?

I have looked at so many options my head is spinning and I would welcome any thoughts, biased or otherwise which might help nudge in towards deciding on a solution.

Cheers

Darren

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[Peter Drew]

The performance of a 6" or 8" Dobsonian on nebulae, galaxies and planetary detail will far outweigh any storage or operational compromises within your suggested budget. 

[CSM]

What's your budget?

[Blazar]

I would also ask how old or tall is your son? The reason this is important is where the eyepiece sits on the dobsonian. If it's too tall its not going to be too much fun....mind you I do end up in some odd situations when looking through my refractor on its standard GEM EQ.  just thought I would add that thought in. good luck with your choice.

[wheresthetorch?]

Small GOTO Mak? Good for planets, acceptable views of brighter DSOs and less time hunting them down!

[wheresthetorch?]

Or this?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-skyprodigy/celestron-skyprodigy-130.html

[Darren27]

CMS my budget is around £400, I have a little more I could spend although ideally I was looking to spend the extra on any necessary or recommend accessories.

Blazar my eldest son is 7 and his younger brother I'd 5, both average height fir their age.

Wheresthetorch? A mak or sct was my gut instinct although the Sky prodigy looks interesting, big saving over the usual price. Do you know how long the OTA is as that is the big issue storage wise.

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[rowan46]

the 6 and 8"  dob have a fairly small footprint if you point the tube up it has a  footprint not much if any larger than a bedside cabinet

[wheresthetorch?]

Hi Darren. Sorry - I don't know the dimensions of the Sky Prodigy, but First Light Optics are excellent at answering this type of question if you email them.

[Darren27]

Just for info I have managed to find some details on the Sky prodigy, the OTA is 24 inches long.

I have managed to get out recently and have seen some SW Dobs, I was very surprised by the size of the units, overall much smaller than I had first though.  The 150 or 200 would probably fit in my store quite easily with the tube pointing straight up.

Only issue I can see is how easy they would be to transport to a local viewing site, I am lucky that I have dark skies at home and can see a reasonable amount from the back garden, however because of a hill I can really only have clear access viewing N and E, from the top of the hilll I get a full 360 view, but there is no way to get there other than on foot and I am not convinced that I want to lug a dob all that way!