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Time to talk frac's

Oat

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Oat

Oat

Posted
Posted

I have reminded myself of the answer to the question: Which telescope should i buy?................. The one which you will use the most!

So i have taken the decision to sell my Skywatcher 200P Dob as it lives in my office upstairs and does not get used, mainly due to it's size. So i am now considering a refractor, as it will be smaller, lighter, maintenance free, and very easy to take outside. But which one?

Due to budget (less than £300) i guess i am looking at a Skywatcher. Having never used a frac', and wanting a good scope that will be my only scope, i need to cover as many eventualities as possible.

So which of the following?

Skywatcher startravel 102 (F4.9)

Skywatcher startravel 120 (F5)

Skywatcher Evostar 90 (F10)

Celestron Astromaster 90AZ (F11)

As my use will be occasional i have an Alt Az mount in mind.

What's your verdict?

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RT65CB-SWL

RT65CB-SWL

Posted
Posted

Hi 'Oat'

May I suggest the TAL100; http://astronomia.co.uk/index.php/telescopes/tal-telescopes/tal-100-rs-ota-telescope.html

I have looked through one at a star-party and was very impressed.

What alt-az mount did you have in mind? Will it be on a tripod or pillar?

Have you or had you considered a catadioptric, (Mak or SCT)? They take up less storage space!

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DaveS

DaveS

Posted
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Being short fl the startravel 'scopes will show horrendous CA.

Do you have anywhere closer to your observing position where it could be stored? I think any of the 'fracs you mention will be a bit of a come-down after the 200p

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Oat

Oat

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What type of astronomy targets are you wanting to observe ?

This would be a good all rounder .....

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-102-eq3-2.html

Thanks

Being short fl the startravel 'scopes will show horrendous CA.

Do you have anywhere closer to your observing position where it could be stored? I think any of the 'fracs you mention will be a bit of a come-down after the 200p

Yes and no... but the viewing position is dreadful on the dob, it is a heavy beast to set up and put away, and takes up alot of space in the house. That just means it will gather dust. I understand it's all about aperture, but aperture means nothing if it doesn't get used.

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Herbig

Herbig

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I agree with DaveS, views with a sub £300 frac are going to be poor compared to your 200p.

I sympathise with your plight but make sure you have a look through the sort of scopes you are thinking about before you buy.

Think about second hand, this will make your money go further, I got a second hand Tak for less than half the cost of a new one.

Views through this are superb, but I'd probably never been able to justify a new one.

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Qualia

Qualia

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So i have taken the decision to sell my Skywatcher 200P Dob as it lives in my office upstairs and does not get used, mainly due to it's size. So i am now considering a refractor, as it will be smaller, lighter, maintenance free, and very easy to take outside. But which one?

So i have taken the decision to sell my Skywatcher 200P Dob as it lives in my office upstairs and does not get used, mainly due to it's size. So i am now considering a refractor, as it will be smaller, lighter, maintenance free, and very easy to take outside. But which one?

I have a 10" truss dob principally made of decent, solid wood and it weighs about 15kg. I also have an AZ 4 and Tal 100rs and these together weigh about 13kg. In terms of weight, they're pretty much on a equal footing. When it comes to occupying space, clearly the frac and AZ 4 take up more. Not only when packed and stored in two long canvas bags, but also when fully assembled. The AZ 4's foot print is greater than the 10" dob's. It's also worth pointing out that in terms of light gathering capacity the 10" gathers over 6 times more, so on a general night will not only see further but will have better resolution. Taking these considerations into account, I feel a mounted 4" f10 frac or bigger won't be smaller, lighter or occupy less space than a 8" or 10" dob.

If you're looking for a light, grab n go set up, and live at a relatively dark site then something like an 80mm (apo) frac or a 5" Mak or Cass might be the business, but obviously will need some kind of mounting and tripod system.

Best bet is to get to a star party or local astro-group and check out the gear in person.

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fondofchips

fondofchips

Posted
Posted

I have a 10" truss dob principally made of decent, solid wood and it weighs about 15kg. I also have an AZ 4 and Tal 100rs and these together weigh about 13kg. In terms of weight, they're pretty much on a equal footing. When it comes to occupying space, clearly the frac and AZ 4 take up more. Not only when packed and stored in two long canvas bags, but also when fully assembled. The AZ 4's foot print is greater than the 10" dob's. It's also worth pointing out that in terms of light gathering capacity the 10" gathers over 6 times more, so on a general night will not only see further but will have better resolution. Taking these considerations into account, I feel a mounted 4" f10 frac or bigger won't be smaller, lighter or occupy less space than a 8" or 10" dob.

If you're looking for a light, grab n go set up, and live at a relatively dark site then something like an 80mm (apo) frac or a 5" Mak or Cass might be the business, but obviously will need some kind of mounting and tripod system.

Best bet is to get to a star party or local astro-group and check out the gear in person.

Good advice from Qualia, my comment as I own both types of scope is that your budget is too low to avoid some disappointment or frustration.

The Lyra 102mm Refractor I have was worth every penny, there is no way that I would sell it, outside your budget but a sound investment as well as the new price has increased since I bought mine.

There is one for sale on ABS - http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=88592  This one is only £20 more than I paid for mine.

A cheap mount & a couple of budget eyepieces & you are in a different world to the budget refractors.

Cheers

Fondofchips.

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Oat

Oat

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I have a 10" truss dob principally made of decent, solid wood and it weighs about 15kg. I also have an AZ 4 and Tal 100rs and these together weigh about 13kg. In terms of weight, they're pretty much on a equal footing.

Best bet is to get to a star party or local astro-group and check out the gear in person.

I appreciate the advice and comments but an 8" dob tube weighs 11kg, plus the same again and a touch more for the stand. I agree an astro group is probably what is needed.

I have used a 5" compound scope before and got on OK with it - could be a good compromise. From experience i do appreciate that the brightness of the Dob will not be repeated on a lesser aperture.

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happy-kat

happy-kat

Posted
Posted

I have a small dob and a small refractor on an az3, the refractor for me is more versitile and still quick to set up. Tripod is left collapsed rather than stood up. I have made a counter weight for my az3.

A small refractor will be portable grab and go or take on holiday or use as guide scope etc. I prefer for me the easy light az3 when I was looking for a tripod. I sit to.observe and found it a lovely.position tripod half extended. Yes some CA but I sww jupiter small but sharp with moments of no CA. My ST80 and az3 total roughly 6 kilos

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michael.h.f.wilkinson

michael.h.f.wilkinson

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For size, a small SCT or mak-cas packs more of a punch, but they are not that good for wide field. They are also more expensive, although the Skymax 127 is very affordable. They beat a cheap frace massively in terms of planetary and lunar views. A skymax 127 on supratrak mount costs GBP 295, second-hand you might even get a 6" SCT for a little more. Very compact, travel easily, and on most objects (even DSOs) an 6" SCT takes a low-cost 4" frac to the cleaners. An ST120 will be trounced on planets by a Skymax 127, and the Skymax 127 is much shorter than the ST120 and weight 500 g less.

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John

John

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I used to find the Celestron C5 quite a useful, versitile and portable scope. You can use an F/6.3 focal reducer on them to get the focal length down from 1250mm (f/10) to 788mm (F/5.3) so a 32mm 1.25" plossl will give you a 2 degree true field. There are a few compromises with such a system but it's not bad at all. You might be able to find a used C5 OTA plus something like the AZ-3 mount (which will carry it) for your budget.

I was being a bit silly in this picture with the eyepiece choice but you can see the portability of the scope I hope:

post-118-0-04633600-1413812867_thumb.jpg

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rowan46

rowan46

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I use a c5 spotter on a tecnosky elle mount  and heavy duty photo tripod total weight aprox 7kg but you could easily knock 2.5kg off with a lighter tripod it outdoes my 80 triplet on planets and dso's  and is a litte lighter

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damnut

damnut

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Having a spread of fracs (152mm, 127mm,120mm f9, 120mm f5) at the moment and a 6"mak, the one that gets toted round the most is the ST120. ITs my grab n go, impervious to snow, sand and dog slobber. Goes everywhere, boot, roof box, back seat. Yup some ca on bright objejcts, but how many dso's are bright!!!, hard to beat for bang for buck apperture wise and sits on an az4 very nicely.

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Sirius Starwatcher

Sirius Starwatcher

Posted
Posted

Hello oat having read the threads can I just throw into the melting pot another thought.

What about a skywatcher heritage 130p flexitube. Large aperture, small portable mount, good price good reviews.

I am considering buying one as a second scope to my 8 inch dod because of its portability.

Best of luck with your choice.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

The Heritage 130p is a lovely little scope. So very handy,

Nick.

I must and always do agree. This scope punches way above its weight. Its cheap,compact and the views if offers are fantastic.

Moon,planets,galaxies,nebs..............all visible.

Not spectacular views of galaxies and nebs..................but visible.

I dont use this little gem of a scope enough.

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Oat

Oat

Posted
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Hello oat having read the threads can I just throw into the melting pot another thought.

What about a skywatcher heritage 130p flexitube. Large aperture, small portable mount, good price good reviews.

I am considering buying one as a second scope to my 8 inch dod because of its portability.

Best of luck with your choice.

Hi

I looked at the 130 before i bought the 200 Dob. I like the 130, but find fault that it needs to be used on a table or platform of some sort which would probably not be steady and would then hamper the viewing and target finding. I'd be interested to know how others support and use their heritage 130.

A 130 Newtonian on a stand could be another option.

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