Returning to astronomy. Advice needed.

[StarReacher]

Hello, I feel it's time for me to give another shot at my old love - astronomy.

I already own 10" dobsonian I bought some 10 years ago and used like 5 times. I found it difficult to transport and to find objects manually, as I was and am inexperienced observer. I live in town in  multi-storey building and have a balcony pointing north and some access to the west. I also have an access to dark skies in our countryside 40 minutes drive from home for really dark nights. I think I would love to primarily  observe DSO, because I feel Solar system objects are too few and would be boring to look at the same objects over and over again, but seeing there are a lot of dedicated planetary observers here I might be wrong. I would like to try AP some time in the future, but it's optional while making my decisions.

So given my situation and budget I want to spend on new things here are 3 options I have thought of

1. Buy EQ6 GOTO for my 10" dobsonian

+ no new telescope required

+ EQ6 good investment for future scopes

+ good for DSO

- heavy kit, takes backseats of my sedan for transportation, no room for other people, etc.

- possible would not be used very often

2. Buy EQ5/SW 100 APO

+ Portable, excellent quality

+ Suitable for AP if I want to try

- not enough aperture for DSO

- EQ5 might not be enough for bigger telescope or extra AP tools in the future

3. Buy NexStar 8 SE

+ good all rounder, decent DSO and planetary, short exposure AP possible

+ still portable, can be used in light polluted place and still see something(?)

- mount is not very good or stable, not an investment at all

We don't have big market here, so there are no options to buy something cheaper or second-hand, and I don't really like e-shopping for expensive things. NexStar 8 SE is ~1700 euro here and I won't spend a cent more for my first purchase.

If I really happy with my initial purchase I definitely will invest on high quality EP and other accessories as I progress.

Waiting on your thoughts about my options, or maybe there are even more options I can get with my initial budget.

Thanks in advance!

[Dave Lloyd]

Hi and welcome StarReacher.

[gooseholla]

Hi,

If you buy an EQ mount remember you'll need tube rings and a dovetail bar for the dobsonian, that adds to the cost.

For me, the hassle of wires, a battery, large mount to setup are what drove me to a dobsonian. So simple to use and I've found many DSO quite easily with it. It only takes a few nights to learn your way around and to be finding objects from star charts quite easily. Not sure you'd be enthusiastic to lug a large EQ mount, telescope tube, battery up and down stairs in multiple trips? I don't know, maybe you would.

John

[Piero]

Welcome back!

if you had portability problems with your dob 10", I would think you will only add other problems with your solution 1. 

Solution 2 will not show you a lot of DSO, as you need more aperture if that is your primary interest.

Solution 3 could be okay, but in your location, cooling time/temperature changes could be a serious issue. 

My feeling is that you didn't get along with your dob10" because:

1. it was too heavy and not portable for you;

2. you didn't search for your targets with a sky atlas.

Considering this, I would go for something smaller (no more than an 8") (point 1).

Regarding Point 2, it depends on how much keen you are to learn your way on the sky. If you are seriously committed and interested to learn how to find your targets in the sky (which so far you haven't as you said you only used your telescope 5 times), then I would go for a dobson 8". Otherwise, something like your solution 3 might be okay (but be careful with the temperature!), as long as you take into account that you will have to carry batteries, mount etc out every time.. Another point to consider with this latter solution is: are you planning to store your telescope in a cool / cold place (e.g. your garage)? If not, I suspect you will really struggle with cooling time with that telescope in your location, particularly in the winter.

[Xiionn]

Sometimes, it isn't about learning the sky, its about laziness   I have been looking at the stars with my grandfather since i was a child, i know it pretty much backwards....however i could never be bothered to use my older scope, manually move it from target to target, each time using a finder, low power ep, setting it up, then observing...then doing that whole lot again. So i pretty much let the hobby die, then a few years later i would rekindle it, then get bored of faffing around with manually tracking and let it die. The scope stayed in the house most of the last twenty years.

Now i have finally got myself a goto system things are very different. I have pre-set it up, so i now only have to take it outside and put it in its spot. I then turn it on, go through alignment and then i ask it to take me to the things i like to see and it just does it. Last night i was just crater hopping the moon, then chose to look at Venus just before it went behind the trees, while the scope moved itself i went indoors, made a cup of tea and came back to look at Venus. Got into trouble with the wife because the kids stayed up to look at the man on the moon, so i set for Jupiter, went indoors and put kids to bed, came out around 10 minutes later to look at Jupiter and there it was, centre of eyepiece.

Now this is what its about    I wish i had bought a goto system years ago.

[StarReacher]

Thanks guys for all your points, every opinion makes whole picture clearer. I just had a chat with local store dealer on options I had, I was leaning towards 8 SE, but he told me that 8 EVO, has some benefits over SE version, more stable mount, better motors, so this package can provide even decent photos and less vibrations visualy. I hope he did not just want to sell pricier kit I guess I will save that extra money and go for 8" evo and enjoy the benefits of technology age

[StarReacher]

So in the end I went with 8SE and some nice 100angle 20mm eyepiece from Skywatcher.

[baggywrinkle]

8SE for portability....welcome back to astronomy