Help choosing replacement Scope!

[Steve72]

Hi guys,

I’m  thinking of purchasing a second scope and would really appreciate some advice.

My Celestron Nexstar 127slt has served me well over the past few years but recently I've found myself using it less and less and more often reaching for my 15x70 bins and monopod. This is mainly due to frequently only having a limited time for observing and not wanting the hassle of setting up the 127slt with its leads/battery pack, Goto alignment procedure (which can be frustrating at times) and then trying to overcome the vibration afflicted tripod.

After a lot of reading around, I'm thinking that an 8” Dob might be the best way to go. The reason being, 6” would probably not feel like much of an upgrade from the 127slt and an 8” ‘should’ be a decent improvement and yet still be relatively convenient to carry/set up.

From experiments (with a rolled up carpet rug), I worry that the 10” dob might be a bit too cumbersome. Also, I was hoping to continue using the eyepieces that I've already invested in (Meade 4000 24.5mm & 15mm,  Revelation 9mm, 25mm & 32mm) and have read that the fast 10”  can be more demanding on eyepieces. Therefore it seems  the eyepieces I already have would better suit the 8”.

Am I right in this thinking? Is there another telescope option that I should consider? My budget is £400-500

(Note: I’m not interested in Goto mounts although Orion’s Intellipoint system sounds tempting!)

 

All feedback appreciated,

Steve

 

[dweller25]

The 8" Dob is a  perfect choice for your requirements

[ronl]

The 8" is a very good scope and being on a Dobsonion mount will be simple and fast to set up.

Good Luck and Clear Sky's. 

[Putaendo Patrick]

To echo the above, an 8 inch Dob is something of an industry standard for this hobby. The only downside to this set-up is it is very limited for photography (if you're crazy enough or rich enough to go down this path ). Otherwise, I think it would be an excellent upgrade!

[brantuk]

Yup - I think you're on the right track already - 8" dob is a perfect upgrade size wise and satisfies your speedy set up requirements. The intelliscope system is still a "push to" - once callibrated you can take coords from a mobile phone star app - key them in - and then follow the arrows as you move the scope round to the object. But it's still essentially "push to" (as opposed to "goto").

[Steve72]

Thanks for the confirmation guys!

S.

[Steve72]

40 minutes ago, brantuk said:

Yup - I think you're on the right track already - 8" dob is a perfect upgrade size wise and satisfies your speedy set up requirements. The intelliscope system is still a "push to" - once callibrated you can take coords from a mobile phone star app - key them in - and then follow the arrows as you move the scope round to the object. But it's still essentially "push to" (as opposed to "goto").

@brantuk Thanks for your input. Have you experience with Orion's Intelliscope?. I like the idea of having manual control but still having some kind of guide for finding hard to locate objects.  Do you think it's worth the extra expense or am I just as well off with a good star atlas?

[laudropb]

I would stick to the manual scope and use the rest of your budget to get a decent 6mm eyepiece for planetary observing.

[brantuk]

I have used other "push to" systems - just not the Intelliscope one. They're all pretty similar and I can't see anything significantly different in the Orion tech specs. I have heard others sing it's praises so no reason to doubt it at all if that helps.

Imho - I would deffo put one on a larger 14" plus dob and feel the expense was worth it. But for a 200P I'd probably opt for a laminated AZ setting circle and Wixey angle guage mod instead - just cos it might not be so financially feasible when selling the 200P on for the next upgrade.

[Hitman77]

I'm thinking of the Wixey angle gauge mod for my 12" dob. Are the setting circles needed? I was thinking if the surface was level ( adding small spirit levels ) I could just aim in the direction of say Lyra and move the scope to the correct altitude (from Stellarium) using the Wixey and i should be close enough to find the Ring nebula. Or am I being too simplistic?

[Linda]

I am having a similar scope as yours and landed on the same additional scope with the same arguments. All alternatives are way more expensive.

[brantuk]

Using just a wixey you can set the tube to the object altitude - then pan left/right till you land on your target. Add a manual setting circle later if you feel like doing the mod - you might find you don't need it after all and not bother.