Skywatcher Heritage 130P or somthing just a little bit pricier?

[purdo]

Great news, at least that should be the most expensive piece of gear you have to buy!

[ianpwilliams]

Definitely, everything else is half that price, and that's new!

[ianpwilliams]

When people do visual, do they do any kind of logging? I know people do sketches, but I'm no good at that stuff. I just wondered if people log what they see (in the same way that train spotters and the like), seeing as I'll be starting out just doing visual, and I'd like to keep some kind of record of what I see (and eventually hopefully what I photograph too).

[ianpwilliams]

So this is what I'm thinking about buying once I go for it with the scope (just doing visual to begin with):

Skywatcher Explorer 150PDS OTA £234.00 http://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ds-ota.html       Starter Accessories           Turn Left at Orion or Stargazing for Dummies £19.54 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundreds-Telescope/dp/0521153972/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393766779&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=turn+left+at+oirion Rigel Aline Collimation Cap £4.95 http://www.firstlightoptics.com/other-collimation-tools/rigel-aline-collimation-cap.html Red head torch £9.00 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Red-LED-Multiposition-Adjustable-Lightweight/dp/B00AYXG3E0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396252508&sr=8-2&keywords=red+torch David Chandler night sky planisphere £16.00 http://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/david-chandler-night-sky-planisphere.html Chair £20.00   Weatherpoof mains extension reel £40.00 http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9109177.htm?cmpid=APPSOCIAL01 Eye pieces - what ones?     Baader Neodymium Filter? £44.90 http://www.firstlightoptics.com/light-pollution-reduction/baader-neodymium-filter.html       TOTAL £343.49  

Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions?

I'm not sure what eye pieces to go for (and I note that at the moment the FLO website doesn't say what eye pieces come with the 150PDS).

I also don't know if it's worth getting the Neodymium filter or not. It sounds like it could be really useful, but it is quite expensive. I will have light pollution to deal with, which one of the reviews says the Neodymium filter is good at dealing with, or I could just get a light pollution filter. But then when I do eventually do imaging, it seems to me that the best way to deal with light pollution might be post-processing anyway rather than filters, and when it comes to visual, I'm not sure how much a filter would help closer to the horizon (where the orange glow is worse), and higher up it looks like it should be much less of a problem anyway.

Don't know about the head torch either. It sounded like a good idea to begin with, especially having hands free, but it might not be that comfortable. And a lot of the custom red hand torches are expensive, so I wonder if I should go down the DIY route instead. Something like a cheap LED torch with red nail varnish on it, if that really works. Although wouldn't you have to be really careful to make sure you didn't accidentally rub the nail varnish off?

I'm also guessing that it would be worth buying a weatherproof mains extension reel rather than a normal one, seeing as it will be for outdoor use. As far as I'm aware, two sockets should be enough (one for the GOTO, and one for a laptop if and when I buy one for more advanced imaging). But if I've missed something then I could always use a double socket or something.

[ianpwilliams]

I'm also now considering the possibility of going for an Evostar 80ED DS-Pro OTA instead of an Explorer 150PDS OTA:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-ota.html

It's nearly twice the price, but the 80mm options have been in the back of my mind, seeing as people recommend them so much when it comes to imaging:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/198737-skywatcher-80ed-pro-or-skywatcher-150pds/page-2

The main advantages of 80mm seem to be:

1 - wider FOV, which can be good for capturing more of individual galaxies without the edges being cut off

2 - easier to work with (no collimation required, less cooldown time etc), so better for beginners (i.e. me)

3 - smaller and lighter, so less stress on the mount

4 - could be used as a guide scope for a bigger scope later on

Whereas the main advantages of the 150PDS seem to be:

1 - better aperture (but I'm not sure how much better it would actually be visually, and imaging-wise aperture seems pretty irrelevant)

2 - shorter subs for imaging (but I am a patient man, and with a radio/mp3 player and a pair of binoculars I'm sure I'd be ok with longer subs)

I did a a bit of messing around on the FOV calculator website comparing the two, and although I know it's only a rough guide, there doesn't seem to be a huge difference in the "zoom" level (not as much as I expected anyway).

I don't know why but I generally prefer the idea of a reflector over a refractor, but if making the choice on the above advantages, then it does make me wonder if 80mm is the way to go.

[Russe]

You won't go wrong with either scope.

The 150pds will give you more satisfaction visually I'd guess.

[ianpwilliams]

I've had some very useful advice here:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/198737-skywatcher-80ed-pro-or-skywatcher-150pds/page-3

And that Blackwater site is amazing for a getting a rough idea of how they compare:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/198737-skywatcher-80ed-pro-or-skywatcher-150pds/?p=2311925

So I'm definitely going for a PDS (I fear I may end up being a bit underwhelmed with an 80mm seeing as I'll be starting out just visually), and the obvious choice does seem to be the 150PDS (the temptation still being the 200PDS, but yes I know, weight and wind issues!).

[glynnlondon]

Great site ! Thanks to your reviews I have just ordered the skywatcher 130p explorer as a first scope from FLO. Also bought a baader classic ortho 18mm eyepiece and a premium cheshire, so will see how it goes and let you know. Clear Skies Everyone 

[ianpwilliams]

Good luck, I'll look forward to hearing your opinions on it

[ianpwilliams]

My HEQ5 arrives tomorrow! The plan is to buy various accessories (collimation tools, eyepieces, mains extension reel etc) during the next two weeks, and then I'll be aiming to get the 150PDS delivered two weeks later. I'll start out by doing visual, and then hopefully a bit of unguided imaging.

Speaking of collimation, do you think it's worth buying both the Rigel Aline Collimation Cap (£4.95) and the Cheshire Collimating Eyepiece (£26)? Or would one or the other do?

[ianpwilliams]

Uh-oh, look what just arrived...

I've also changed my mind (again) about the scope. I've come to the conclusion that I'm an all or nothing man, and the 150PDS seems to be a more "middle of the road" scope (assuming that you want to do both imaging and visual). So I'm now planning on going for the ED80, more specifically the "outfit" version:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/pro-series/skywatcher-evostar-80ed-ds-pro-outfit.html

The reason being that it's smaller (I'm running out of room in my flat, really need a clear out), lighter, quicker to set up, no collimation, no cooling. Also I'm just not convinced that I would see all that much visually in medium light-pollution, whereas I know that light-polluted images can be processed a huge amount based on what I've seen here.

So I'm thinking an ED80 for imaging (unguided to begin with), with the £65 Olympus Binocular 10x50 DPS-1 binoculars for looking while I wait. Then maybe later I could buy gear for guided imaging later (guide cam, laptop, convert finderscope to finderguider etc), and then eventually buy a 200P OTA for purely visual sessions.

[happy-kat]

Your journey now begins :-)

[ianpwilliams]

Yes, and it only took 3 months to get started

[RichM63]

You now have a heck of an incentive having a big empty mount sitting all alone.

Still, you can practice, just take the weights off first though.

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah there's quite a lot to learn just to set it up it seems!

[purdo]

Congrats on the mount, we'll wait in suspense for the decision on the scope

[purdo]

Ian, if you have a look in Getting Started with Imaging forum, you will see a thread - SW 80 ED Pro or SW 150PDS, may be helpful. It was started in Nov last year.

[ianpwilliams]

Thanks, I believe there are actually two 80ED v 150PDS threads, and I've read (and commented in) at least one of them! So I'm fully read up on both of those. I'm still leaning towards the 80ED for simplicity, and even more so now that I have a better idea of just what is required in just setting up the HEQ5, never mind polar aligning it!

[purdo]

I hadn't read all the thread at the time but just have, plenty of food for thought as the saying goes.  Good luck. I've just got the SW 200P Dob & was given a run down on how to collimate it etc & of course it's raining.

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah I'd be tempted to get a 200P (Dob or Explorer) later on. I imagine the views would be great.

[ianpwilliams]

Another small step...bought a spirit level and metal ruler (for preparing the HEQ5 based on the video tutorial), and I've ordered the Olympus DPS-1 binoculars online:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000AKGX3/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got them for £45, but £49.99 seems like a decent price too. Can't wait to use them!

[purdo]

Had a look at them on Amazon they seem  like a good pair ok. Will be interested to see how well you think they perform.

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah they seem to have come up a few times on SGL, and on this helpful binocular guide:

http://binocularsky.com/binoc_choosing.php

I did consider an 8x42 instead for the lightweight approach, but I'm hopeful that the DSL-1's will be ok (they are apparently less than 1kg).

[purdo]

That is an excellent guide.  I only use my bins occasionally,  the 7x50 were my Dad's, I find them too heavy & the optics wouldn't be great. The 8x42 were bought for viewing animals not the sky, but are ok, if I was very keen to get another pair I would probably go for a Canon with stabiliser.

[ianpwilliams]

Yeah I did look at stabilized ones at one point, and then I quickly stopped when I saw that they cost even more than the ED80 outfit!

The intention is to use the bins for general observing while imaging with the ED80.