skyliner 150p upgrade to 127 slt ?

[cwesley1]

hi everyone i would just like a little advice, ive had a skyliner 150p now for 2 years and am now thinking of changing it to get a nexstar 127 slt just because i find it a bit annoying having to nudge the dob to keep what im looking at in view. the question im asking is will i be loosing out much on what i will be able to see due to less aperture, or will the better contrast make up for it? any views or comments welcome

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Ya cwesley1, you've probably had some nice views with the skyliner, your going to loose the field of view you have with the skyliner, your not going to really see a great difference regarding the slightly smaller aperture of the 127, but the 127 has a much longer focal length - so better results on the lunar/planets - not sure if you observe under light polluted skies or not, I've got the 127 and find it to be really good on the planets and moon, giving really good views of Jupiter at the moment, if you can work with the scope and spend a great deal of time at the eyepiece on the planets you can get some really good results, but you have to stay at the eyepiece and the more time you spend just looking, the more detail you'll begin to pick out.  The field of view isn't really a problem on the planets, you will loose it on more extended objects, but the majority of objects will fit into the field of view, the double cluster in Perseus won't fit in though and you will be restricted on the open clusters, but i find binoculars better here and if you observe from a dark site all the better.

I've used a number of different apertures and I can say that the 127 works better some nights than the CPC 1100 - trust me - when you consider that larger apertures suffer more when the seeing isn't so good, if you were to put the scopes side by side on nights of poor seeing and an unsteady atmosphere, the 127 really does punch above its weight!!!

If you get the GOTO on the standard tripod, just be careful of the spreaders that hold the legs of the mount - I broke one of mine and had to connect it with a chain - still worked ok, but just be careful when opening the tripod.

The 127 is a very capable scope and for its size, a really nice scope to use - you won't be disappointed.    Paul.

[cwesley1]

thank you for your input paul, im in mid wales so i dont have much light polution. i really want to try a goto telescope now for its ability to track objects and to find more objects in the sky,i was just worried about loosing viewing quality due to smaller aperture.

[Northern Soul man]

I think you have the main factor sorted as not having much light pollution - you lucky thing you!!!  Maybe just the inch loss in aperture is more than made up for you regarding light pollution, so with the GOTO, just align and away you go.  I found the mount very accurate, your going to see all that you could see in the skyliner - another thing as well the whole scope and mount can be moved around with ease - as very small package and with a little time spent at the eyepiece - very rewarding.   Paul

[Stu_]

I've had a skymax 127 for a month now, for planetary viewing it's better than my explorer 150p, as it gives more contrast. I've even used it for some of the smaller, brighter DSOs.

It's currently sitting outside cooling down :-)

[cwesley1]

do you guys use an external power pack? and what eye pieces do you use ive got one bst 8mm already

[Northern Soul man]

Nice 1 Stu, yes the contrast is a real benefit with this scope, I use a 5 in 1 powertank, the one from Maplins, but on the original mount,  I had to use a little velcro strap wrapped around the vertical part of the mount to hold the lead more securely.

I have a set of Meade 4000 plossls which I use - they seem to suit the scope well - but the BST's are a real winner on here, you don't need to break the bank for EP's as the longer focal length of the scope works with the Meade's I have nicely, they are small EP's - so not as to create any balance issues and put any undue strain on the motors.

[Stu_]

Unfortunately I can't advise on the power pack, as mine is on a manual eq mount.

I use a 9mm x-cel, so give the 8mm BST a go & decide after.

[cwesley1]

thank you paul and stu your comments have been helpfull 

[Ally8446]

thank you for your input paul, im in mid wales so i dont have much light polution. i really want to try a goto telescope now for its ability to track objects and to find more objects in the sky,i was just worried about loosing viewing quality due to smaller aperture.

Just out of curiosity, where in mid Wales are you ?

[cwesley1]

im in lampeter

[Steve777]

No direct advice on comparison, but I've had the same 'scope as you for a similar length of time & the same thing annoys me; when cash allows I'm thinking of the 8 inch Skyatcher on EQ Mount or a Tal 100rs.