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SkyWatcher Skymax-127-supatrak worth getting ?

scottphillips

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John

John

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Nothing that a good barlow won't correct. In all fairness though, the Mak can get to high magnifications easier.

But again, a larger aperture and lower central obstruction (subject to proper collimation) should produce better results.

Of course it depends also on the quality of optics which in both cases are generally good, but there is a lot of variance in production...

Good points Nicos :smiley:

My original suggestion to Scott was the 130mm Newtonian when I thought what he wanted was a GOTO for visual for £300.

With some inventiveness you can use all sorts of scopes for all sorts of things. DSO imaging seems to have particularly exacting needs though.

Folks with good DSLR's often don't understand why cheap webcams are proposed for lunar and planetary but very good results can be obtained from such devices thanks to stacking and processing methods available for free today, plus they are much, much lighter than a DSLR which is important when using a lightweight setup such as the ones discussed here.

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nicoscy

nicoscy

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Good points raised by you as well John,

I prefer Autostakkerrt for stacking as it is much faster than Registax and more automated, giving better results and faster, but nothing beats the wavelet function of Registax to clean up an image and bring out hidden features. Thankfully, both \are free software  :laugh:

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JamesF

JamesF

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The 130p in 650mm length wont that have problem reaching focus and is this the scope where people have to move the primary mirror up?

Depends on the camera design, really.  And if you're using it with a barlow that probably helps too.  But I'd really not chose this scope for planetary imaging, as I've already said.

James

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JamesF

JamesF

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However the 130P can be used for solar. Just use the appropriate size Baader Solar Filter: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

As can the 127 Mak.  Here's mine doing just that:

IMG_0005.jpg

One of the nice bonuses of the Mak when you have a sufficiently-stable mount is that with a DSLR you can get a solar or lunar image that fills the frame really nicely.  It's pure chance, but the native focal length just happens to make it work.

I think my approach in the OP's shoes would be to look out for an SPC900 camera on ebay or in the classifieds, especially now they don't seem to be selling for quite the silly prices they used to, and get the Skymax 127 GOTO, possibly with a view to upgrading the mount later on.  My gut feeling is that the original mount wouldn't be that hard to sell on to offset some of the cost of the upgrade.  Bonus points for being able to find the OTA and mount on offer or used.

James

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nicoscy

nicoscy

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I am no good at FOV calculations but how does the 127mm mak compare with the travelscope 70mm? (just curious)

Just think compared to the 70mm how much more light grasping there will be. The Moon will be draw dropping in the mak.

The 127 has a focal length of 1500mm. The travelscope has a focal lenght of 400. Say you stick a Pa noptic 24mm 68 degrees AFOV. 

The 127 yields its maximum FOV of 1.08 degrees and the Travelscope yields its maximum FOV of 4.08 degrees.

Actual FOV are slightly less as I took the roundabout way of dividing AFOV to magnification.

As for light grasp, no competition really. The Mak blows the travelscope out of the water in terms of light grasp.

However, do note that the Mak may need a good hour to cool down Vs zero for the travelscope.

But also note that the Travelscope has high chromatic aberration and is built to a certain price point (i.e. very low)

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nicoscy

nicoscy

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A barlow with my 130p (same mirror) 650mm is not enough to gain focus with either a webcam or DSLR for the DSLR I have to drop the trusses down about 3 inches for focus to be reached.

It should reach focus with a barlow. Others have done it from past threads I have found:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/126781-webcam-in-heritage-130p/

and there is a nice video on Youtube on this:

However from a technical point it will be much harder to actually manage to focus the telescope. The MAK will have an easier time to find the "sweet spot" where everything is nice and focused. 

OK, I would say that for general  all around use I would prefer the 130, but since the thread is for planetary imaging and I assume with less fiddling being desirable, the 127 is the way to go, taking into consideration though that it will take an hour to reach thermal equilibrium to actually put it to use...

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JamesF

JamesF

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The 127 with GoTo is priced at £355 so out of my budget yet the 130p with GoTo is £285 which is ideal !! I can use a webcam with the 130p right ?

The 127 Supatrak is only £295 and you really don't need GOTO for solar system imaging, just tracking.  If you're capable of aligning the mount to get GOTO to work then you're easily capable of finding a planet without it.

James

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nicoscy

nicoscy

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+1 for what James said. If you however plan to view any DSO or double stars, GOTO is a must with such a narrow FOV, so plan ahead.

As for the webcam bit, apparently it may depend on the barlow used and specific webcam used, so your mileage may vary.

So, after 3 pages in this thread, it seems that the 127mm Supatrak is the winner  :blob7:

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JamesF

JamesF

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Yeah but I want GoTo because that tracks rather than just the tracker !!

I don't understand what you're saying here.

The Supertrak will track.  The GOTO will track.  The GOTO will also find a target assuming you have already aligned the mount sufficiently well.  But if you are capable of aligning the GOTO sufficiently well for it to find targets accurately then you really don't need it for finding planets.  The Supertrak will be sufficient.

James

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