what to upgrade to???

[fazerdenzil]

Hi all. I've had 2 scopes so far and my current 1 is a seben big boss, i know not brilliant but as i'm told it's better than no scope! (the focus wheel is stiff so would like something smoother)

Right down to business, i would like a scope that would be capable of viewing planets, galaxies and betelgeuse (interesting objects), but i want to use a webcam ep and registax as my back has taken enough punishment! (i'm 48 now don't u no!) I believe a motorised kit would be better but not realy that important OR IS IT? Motorised would be nice but i do have google sky app on my phone.

Now my budget for this would be around £350.

I am still newish to this hobby so please people laymens terms so i can understand what i'm reading!

So what scope do i need for all of the above or most of the above??

Thanks in advance

[nightfisher]

how about a skymax 127 on a tracking mount

[houston]

Hi fazerdenzil, id go for 8" dob with a few pounds for upgrading eyepieces etc. You could put it on some sort of platform to make a more comfortable viewing position but wont be much good with the webcam eyepiece. With your budget im not sure you would get much aperture with a motorized mount.

[MrFinster]

or maybe stretch to this for a little bit more.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-nexstar-127-slt.html

[sidewind]

Hi all. I've had 2 scopes so far and my current 1 is a seben big boss, i know not brilliant but as i'm told it's better than no scope! (the focus wheel is stiff so would like something smoother)

Right down to business, i would like a scope that would be capable of viewing planets, galaxies and betelgeuse (interesting objects), but i want to use a webcam ep and registax as my back has taken enough punishment! (i'm 48 now don't u no!) I believe a motorised kit would be better but not realy that important OR IS IT? Motorised would be nice but i do have google sky app on my phone.

Now my budget for this would be around £350.

I am still newish to this hobby so please people laymens terms so i can understand what i'm reading!

So what scope do i need for all of the above or most of the above??

Thanks in advance

Hello fazerdenzil

You are right, any scope is better than nothing. As for your problem with the focuser, try to read astro-baby's focus tune-up article on her homepage.

About your want's, you just ask for minimum 2 different scopes, because one can't do them all. For planets you want a scope with a large focal lenght, like what you have right now, that can also be used for stars. Galaxies need a shorter focal lenght like 6-700 mm.

You can use your webcam ep on all scopes.

A motorised mount is not paramount, but you can't hardly live without. I don't know if you can get motors for your mount, but in your pricerange you will be hard pressed to find any motorized new scopes, let alone a mount alone. You will have to look secondhand.

So my advice is look into if you can get motors for your mount, and if not, look secondhand.

Clear skies

Søren

[Squagnut]

A 127 Mak (SkyMax or SLT) would be suitable for what you want, but don't expect to be able to see many DSOs (deep space objects, i.e. distant faint fuzzy things) with a webcam. Moon and planets, yes, but galaxies and nebulae will prove to be too faint. You'll be able to see them visually (i.e. through an eyepiece), of course.

Often I link my 127 to a laptop, then control all the goto and tracking from there using Cartes du Ciel (CdC) planetarium software, while observing and recording video or images on whatever software is suitable for the camera I'm using. Viewing and imaging the moon this way is comfortable and never gets boring, but it would be a serious underuse of the scope only to use it for this purpose. As I said, it's not so good for DSOs with a camera, so a lot of the time I use eyepieces. This can be hard on the back - perhaps an adjustable observing chair/stool would help?