Another which scope thread: Sorry! Dob 8/10 or eq mount 8?

[drnat]

Hi Guys,

Thanks up for your advice so far in various threads. Am now at a stage where I want to buy my first scope.

I will be using in a field behind our house. Reasonably good viewing but some mild light pollution. Will not be moving the scope too far. Mainly wanting to observe & want to observe some planets and some DSOs. I may want to do some low level webcam/photos at some stage, but mainly observing.

My current thoughts/options are:

1. Dobsonian 8 or 10" skywatcher

Great viewing & simple - good for a beginner.

Will the 10" really give much better views or more detail?

Will the fov be worse in the 10" & is this significant

Will the collimating be a big problem on the 10 v 8

Is the requirement for better eyepieces significant for the 10? Much more costly??

2. An 8" 200p SW on an HEQ5 mount

Is this too complicated for a newbie?

Is it too heavy to carry

Any other thoughts re this

3. Goto Dob - either Orion 8" or SW flextube 8"

Is the flextube ok or more hassle alignment/collimating wise

Is dew a real problem for the flextube

Thoughts re Orion quality v SW?

Sorry for lots of questions, any advice, comments or experience gratefully received!

Thanks,

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GuillermoBarrancos]

If your main interest is observing, then definitely go for a dob.

A large newt on an EQ mount is a nightmare for observing.

If you are interested in doing some planetary imaging, then a motorized GoTo dob is a good choice.

[Mick UK]

Personally, considering you have already mentioned imaging and knowing through experience just how addictive imaging becomes, i'd say have a good think about it before you buy anything because once you taken a few images you'll want to take more and better.

If it was me starting out today and knowing what i do know, then id look at getting a good mount (if funds allow for it) NEQ6 Pro would be(and was) my choice of weapon and also a Skywatcher 250pds which is great for imaging planetary or Deep Space and also great for observing on.

Not sure of your budget but the above mount and scope along with a webcam and Tal barlow will set you back exactly £1500 from First Light Optics and that will be you hooked on imaging for the foreseeable future so get saving cos before the weeks out you'll want to ad to that list, its one of the most addictive pastimes ive ever had for spending money and one of the most satisfying i might also add!

[Langy]

Not knowing very much about the scopes, one thing I do know is that if you want to do more than just planets with imaging then you do need a good EQ mount. Anything else will be just planets and moon with webcam and short exposure times with a camera not through the scope.