Refractor Combo

[Bino Pete]

With a budget of around £1500 can I get a 150mm refractor with stable mount? What combo's do you recommend? Which includes any extensions to the mount for comfortable viewing.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Bino Pete

[cloudsweeper]

Happy hunting, Pete!  Will you hang on to the 127?  I've decided to keep mine for quick, easy sessions.  Trying to sell it attracted some obvious time-wasters, and - as you commented - people who want to pay very little.

Doug.

[brantuk]

I've been looking at 150 fracs recently too Pete. These seem to get reasonably good reviews (though I've no experience of them yet):

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-150-ota.html

http://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/bresser-messier-ar-152l-1521200-exos-2-telescope.html

This would leave a comfy 2/3rds of your budget for a mount and accessories - something like HEQ5 or NEQ6 Pro. I would look to the used market for something under 2yrs old for the mount - around five to seven hundred should get a good example. Hth

[Bino Pete]

57 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

Happy hunting, Pete!  Will you hang on to the 127?  I've decided to keep mine for quick, easy sessions.  Trying to sell it attracted some obvious time-wasters, and - as you commented - people who want to pay very little.

Doug.

If I get a dob then I'll keep it, if I get a frac or sct I might sell it. You'll have some competition then. 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Bino Pete said:

With a budget of around £1500 can I get a 150mm refractor with stable mount? What combo's do you recommend? Which includes any extensions to the mount for comfortable viewing.

If I were buying a 150mm frac (that wasn't a £5k triplet Apo!), then I would get one of these:

http://www.altairastro.com/starwave-152mm-f5.9-achromat-refractor-telescope-with-3-crayford-focuser.html

Not sure about the mount, possibly an Ercole or an AZEQ5 or 6??

Out of interest, why have you chosen not to get a dob

[Bino Pete]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

If I were buying a 150mm frac (that wasn't a £5k triplet Apo!), then I would get one of these:

http://www.altairastro.com/starwave-152mm-f5.9-achromat-refractor-telescope-with-3-crayford-focuser.html

Not sure about the mount, possibly an Ercole or an AZEQ5 or 6??

Out of interest, why have you chosen not to get a dob

I've not chosen one or the other yet! After 'begging' the other half she's finally relented and said I could buy a bigger scope. I don't know if I will ever get in this position again so I want to look at all my options!

[cloudsweeper]

2 minutes ago, Bino Pete said:

I've not chosen one or the other yet! After 'begging' the other half she's finally relented and said I could buy a bigger scope. I don't know if I will ever get in this position again so I want to look at all my options!

I only got "permission" to get another 'scope after flogging off a load of stuff from my previous pastime to help pay for it.  Not unreasonable, of course!

Doug.

[Stu]

2 minutes ago, Bino Pete said:

I've not chosen one or the other yet! After 'begging' the other half she's finally relented and said I could buy a bigger scope. I don't know if I will ever get in this position again so I want to look at all my options!

???

Sorry if I've missed this elsewhere, but what are your ambitions with the scope so we can help a little more?

What do you think of the Starwave? Very nice for widefield/deep sky observing

[alacant]

Hi

You may just be able to get one of these fast Petzvals:

http://www.bresser.de/es/Sale/Ofertas-Especiales/4852760.html

and an eq6. It's 10 kilos so anything less is pushing it... HTH

[Bino Pete]

38 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

I only got "permission" to get another 'scope after flogging off a load of stuff from my previous pastime to help pay for it.  Not unreasonable, of course!

Doug.

Exactly like me, I had to say bye to my kayak!

[Bino Pete]

43 minutes ago, Stu said:

???

Sorry if I've missed this elsewhere, but what are your ambitions with the scope so we can help a little more?

What do you think of the Starwave? Very nice for widefield/deep sky observing

Mainly visual, I like the look of those scopes especially the 152, how would my eyepieces cope with that focal ratio?

[Commanderfish]

If you're going for visual then get a Teleoptics Ercole from Teleskop Service in Germany.  Works out around £280.  All the mount you'll ever need for visual.  Can mount 2 scopes, one on each side, up to 18Kg per side.  Or you can mount one scope with no counterbalancing up to 10Kg.  You'll also need a tripod and an extension.  I use my AVX tripod (2" steel legged) and an orion Sky View Pro extension so long fracs don't bang into the tripod.  There are many tripods it will fit, you may already have something suitable. If not, TS stock lots.  You'll also need a Vixen clamp - or two if you want to mount two scopes side by side.  Oh, and a little pack of M6 flat head screws, 25mm long if I remember rightly.

Edited April 13, 2016 by Commanderfish

[Commanderfish]

Here's an example of what you can do with an Ercole:  15 Kg of ED80, ED127 and accessories on the left, 11 Kg of 9.25 SCT and accessories on the right.