Upgrading Telescopes

[Event_Horizon]

Hi all, I'm currently looking at purchasing a better telescope than my astromaster 130EQ. Now I've been looking at dobsonian telescopes at the moment because they give (what I've gathered after reading reviews) the best observation capabilities for price, I'm interested in getting the Orion Skyquest XT8, but I've seen mixed reviews. For example, reviews along the lines of "it's a good telescope for beginners which accounts for its high rating, but for people who are seriously looking into astronomy as a hobby and future, there are better scopes on the market for around that price".

What I'm here to ask is, would you recommend the Orion SkyQuest XT8? Or do you think there are better telescopes that I can upgrade to for similar price?

(FYI I don't want to spend more than £350, oe)

Oh and I'd appreciate it if anyone could take the time to attach pictures of observations through the telescope you recommend (like to get an idea of what I can see)  

Many Thanks

[ronin]

Orion make some reasonable scopes but Orion (the US one) doesn't manufacture the components, they purchase either all the component or simply rebadge others with their name. Have a look at their catalogue and a large amount is simply rebadged Skywatcher/Celestron items that come from Synta.

For their dobsonians the mirrors are generally GSO items. So if the price is significantly higher then you could be paying for the wording "Orion" on the side and no optical improvement over a GSO dobsonian from TS. Equally TS dobsonians are GSO ones with TS on them.

There is also as mentioned elsewhere on SGL a "problem" with spares if anything goes wrong. As the first purchaser you should not have a problem, however if you sell it them Orion offer no support or supply of any spares to the next person. It is well reported over on CN also. This could effect the price you could sell it for in the future.

Means it can be a difficult decision.

Not possible to attach a picture of what you see, the camera and the eye are different and do you want a picture of a stacked 120 sceond avi that has been processed to bring out the detail that the eye cannot detect ? Lets face it someone could take an infra red image the you cannot see at all.

If you are thinking of what sort of images can you take through the scope then forget it and buy an equitorially mounted scope suited for imaging.

[Laurie61]

Hi , it all depends on what you mean by better   the orion Xt looks like a typical 8" f6 dob with conventional base. As such it should perform in a very similar manner to the other options available -   http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation-8---F-6-M-CRF-Premium-Dobsonian--White-.html  -  http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html  -

Ect, It really comes down to spec and price, eyepieces supplied, fan fitted and so on, as to which one better suits your needs. You could go to somebody like Orion Optics who will provide higher quality optics but this would push the price up beyond your budget unfortunately. On a side note the 8" dob is so popular they do come up regularly second hand and it might be worth having a look on http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php  for instance and see if you can save some money