Dear All - Advice needed on new scope

[Markbarnes]

Dear All

I was a member a few years back when I had a telescope a sky watcher Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO I believe. Well due to life and various upheavals I had to sell it along with half my other possessions.

Well Life finally dealt me a helping hand and finally back on my feet and I can afford a new scope. 

I may have meet some of you at a few Starry nights on a Salisbury camp-site which were good fun. 

I'm now looking for a new scope around the £800 ish Area new or decent second hand i don't mind which.

I'm looking at Nexstar 6se or Skywatcher Evostar 120 with EQ3-2/EQ3-PRO/EQ5  and Celestron Omni XLT 120 type scopes.

Ideally I would like to do a bit of everything - planets and a few DSO.

My concerns with the old sky watcher was that it was a little shaky even on the goto mount which drove me crazy and the size (width/diameter with the combination of the length was a little too large for my cupboards and car.)

i would like something a little smaller like the Nexstar 6se. but the Skywatcher Evostar 120 with EQ3-2/EQ3-PRO/EQ5 type stability appeals too. 

I have got a DSLR and would like to use this at some point too.

Please can you help me choose. I think I will just enjoy a decent scope whatever I end up looking at. Not limited to these suppliers other i will consider too, just happy to be getting a new scope.

Thanks for your responses in advance.

Mark

[oldpink]

all I can say is get the best mount you can afford
no point having a great scope and get Rubbish results because your mount can't cope
mine is getting pushed to its limits already and will need to upgrade soon

as to your DSLR, you should be fine on DSO's but some DSLR's are better at Planets than others
you should take a look at APT backyard EOS etc these are a great help for planetary work

[Markbarnes]

Cheers for the reply. Out of the scopes listed which mount / scope is the better quality - i don't know much about the suppliers and materials.

[oldpink]

I can't really comment on anything but the EQ5 as thats what I have
once I worked out a few initial teething problems (mostly me getting it wrong) I have mine working Ok

and able to do Imaging using my 200p and my DSLR mounted though that is pushing it a bit past its spec's
also the EQ5 synscan is good as you can use it with the EQmod software and link all sorts of things up to a laptop and control it

[Daniel-K]

if your looking to plants stay away from the acro fracs the CA will drive you nuts you could get a 150MAK on a EQ5 or even better a giro mount .

[Markbarnes]

OK so im looking at buying the telescope and mount separately (unless they would do a deal together) so which one of these would be better for the mount ?

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/celestron-cg-5-gt-goto.html

Or

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-pro-synscan-goto.html

i assume the skywatcher (but im often wrong)

[Markbarnes]

Also how often do these go wrong (the motors and internal parts)

[Markbarnes]

sorry what does acro fracs mean?

[Tinker1947]

They don't normally go wrong if it works when it arrives it should carry on like that, the Skywatcher allows EQMod to be used (it free software) and really worth thinking about, the CG-5 i know nothing about......

EQMod, it does require a dongle they can be DIY'd or brought of the shelf......

http://eq-mod.sourceforge.net/

[Markbarnes]

interesting EQmod.

As my budget is about £800 - so lets just say i went for the http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-pro-synscan-goto.html

What do you think of this scope ?  = http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-120-ota.html

[oldpink]

Both of those mounts are very similar in what they do
the Skywatcher can be used with EQmod I don't think the Celestron can
you can buy a package of Scope and mount

[Gomtuu]

interesting EQmod.

As my budget is about £800 - so lets just say i went for the http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-pro-synscan-goto.html

What do you think of this scope ?  = http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-120-ota.html

If you're just observing, for £800 you can get an EQ5 Synscan and a Skywatcher Explorer 200p (or 200pds). They've served me well, although they are large.

Of course, after that, you'll find that there is an endless list of other things to buy!

[Alien 13]

When starting out do look at the scope/tripod deals it may sound daft but you can sometimes buy a package that is cheaper than the mount on its own and even if the scope is not too your liking it can often save you money and you get a free scope to sell or pass on.

Alan

[Epicyclus Dave]

Hi there,  a lot of folk recommend ( including me) getting a copy of " every photon counts" book , this will explain all you need to begin imaging.

 If photography is the main interest, a popular route to go is getting a HEQ5 and a mini dovetail for cameras (modern astronomy do a camera bar for about £20),  use the camera with lenses on the mount to begin with for nice big wide field shots & some clusters / nebula, then when the nights get darker in  September & you've mastered polar alignment over 6 months, you can save up for a skywatcher ED80 & the reducer / flattener to match and away you go , the scope & reducer coupled to a DSLR will equate to roughly a 500mm lens which is perfect for most of the medium to larger scale deep sky stuff.

Planets would probably benefit from a longer (focal length) scope , but as you read up more and soak up info from this great forum you'll get a better idea of what equipment is needed for what targets.

Get the book first and good luck

Dave.

[ronin]

sorry what does acro fracs mean?

An Achromatic Refractor.

A doublet lens at the front of the refractor is made of 2 types of glass, basically Crown and Flint glass.

In a "normal" achromatic lens the glass will bring 2 wavelengths to the same focal plane but the others are elsewhere.

So Red and Blue are at the same focal plane but green is a bit further out (very small amounts are involved) but the eye can see this so you in effect focus for the red+blue and the green forms a greenish halo. If you focus for the Green then the Red+Blue form a purple halo.

Next in quality is an ED refractor, oddly the same as the achromatics, 2 lens, but one is an ED glass (costs more) and this in effect does the same but the green is closer to the red+blue so there is less CA.

After that are the triplet apochromatics. From the name these use 3 lumps of glass to make the lens and you can therefore bring 3 wavelengths to the same focal plane. With this level of control you have Red, Green and Blue at the same focal plane and the rest have to be very close. In effect you would see no chromatic aberretion with the eye.

Back to Achromats, as there are several types of crown and flint the 2 used so if a crown (I think) that is a bit closer to an ED type is used then that achromatic will be a little better then another that is not so well chosen. In effect one achromat lens may not be quite the same as another.

[Markbarnes]

Cheers for the replies people. I will be looking over the next week for my new setup. I did look at the ED80 But it was a little over my budget. along with the Mount

[barkis]

If you intend to do serious Imaging, then use the money to buy a used  decent, and well cared for EQ6 Pro Synscan , or HEQ 5 Pro Synscan Mount

You won't have much left for a scope too of course, but you will have the most important bit of kit in your eventual imaging arsenal.

You can use the mount to guide your DSLR for wide field work while you save up for a decent imaging scope to park on the mount.

Build your kit in episodes, don't be in too much of a rush. Put some thought into your plan regarding what areas of work you have aspirations of.

You will get some great images just from your camera lenses. The Milky Way images will allow you to identify many of the jewels as targets for your

forthcoming telescope.

Learn how to be patient, an ingredient so vital to what you intend doing.

Ron.

[Markbarnes]

ok just getting my head around CA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatic_aberration. Does this happens at the eyepiece level or before. 

previously in this thread someone said "if your looking to planets stay away from the acro fracs the CA will drive you nuts you could get a 150MAK on a EQ5 or even better a giro mount ." 

is double CA really that bad for planets ?

How much would i notice it on DSO ?

triplet apochromatics - are there scopes you would recommend.  

And more importantly what scopes should i NOT get..

Cheers

Mark

[Markbarnes]

OK i have another question - IF I put Syncscan on hold for a later date and go for the manual Mount at the min and get a better Scope

How easy it to later fit a GoTO setup on this mount

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eq5-deluxe.html

I'm assuming this would be the correct thing to purchase at a later date

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/synscan-pro-goto-version-3-upgrade-kit-for-eq5.html

[barkis]

You might as well  save  an extra £200- and buy this.

Celestron CG-5 Pro.

I have one of these, it's a great mount.

Ron.

[Markbarnes]

It was on my list along with the EQ5 GOTO I just need to find more money

Cheers for the advice i reckon i will go for the following after doing some further research. - ( im still a little unsure about which scopes are not great for DSLR stuff but i reckon a week of reading i should have understood enough to make a decent - ish decision ) 

Mount (from what i can work out these are very similar. going to see which has the larger compatibility for software etc, so go a bit more reading there)

Skywatcher EQ5 PRO Synscan GOTO

or

Celestron CG-5 GT GOTO

Or

Celestron C6-N Newtonian VX GOTO (and sell the Scope) to keep the Tripod

Telescope 

1st Skywatcher Evostar 80ED DS-Pro Outfit (i would love a triplet, but that going to be toooo expenseive)

or

2nd Skywatcher Skymax 150 PRO

+

Skywatcher .85x Reducer/Flattener for ED80