seduced by the light side

[kegstar]

Howdo all,

In need of what you people do best, advice.

money for first telescope nearly saved, problem is I've had time to look at other scopes.

Was after a sw explorer 150p but after looking at several other scopes  I have been lured by the "light side" & now thinking of a dob.

My criteria has slightly changed

• budget £300-350
• portable
• suitable for novice
• poss ap in the future?
• wanting to observe everything I can

Now have my heart set on a sw skyliner 200p dob.

but it don't end there as I then found a thread on here bout a 200p v bresser messier, & I like the look of those as well. or should I save bit more & get a 250p?

so many choices so confused. any advice gratefully received

many thanks

[happy-kat]

Portable, it's a personal measure as for me for example anything above 130mm is no longer portable. So you may have to clarify what portable to you means?

[DRT]

A 200 dob would be a great start and well within your budget - but it is not going to do for AP in the future. That said, a 200P dob will sell very easily so I'd go for that to get you into the game and then upgrade to something else if you decide to try AP later on.

 

[kegstar]

Howdo both, thanks for that.

55 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Portable, it's a personal measure as for me for example anything above 130mm is no longer portable. So you may have to clarify what portable to you means?

Portable for me aint so much to do with weight, more to do with transporting around the county by car, how robust it is, ease of assembly etc

 

 

[laudropb]

I would go for the 200 Dob. I have not seen the new Bressr Dob but can vouch for the skyliner. Depends on the size of your car as regards how portable.

[kegstar]

No probs there, defender 110. What to pack it up securely in is the nxt question.

Perhaps a new topic on how to transport scopes?

I'm sure there's must be a thread somewhere?

[Putaendo Patrick]

Dobs are very easy to set up and transport. Generally they break down into two parts, the tube and the base. Some people just put the tube across the back seats held in place by the seat-belts.

200mm of aperture will give you a lot of potential for a long time for visual observation, and is perhaps something of a benchmark for amateur astronomy. In the long term you might want to upgrade to bigger aperture, but depending where astronomy takes you and the type of objects which most fascinate you, you might want an entirely different type of telescope eventually. The 200mm dob will be an excellent starting point!

[MarkVIIIMarc]

To compare:

My Z10 is the BIGGEST thing I can put in my Olds Aurora, it rides fairly well though as long as I'm not interested in having a passenger.  It will probably fit in my MarkVIII.  It is not an option in my 68 Mustang.

It is an easy fit in the wife's Grand Caravan.

[Dave In Vermont]

I agree as well. A 200mm Newtonian-reflector is a scope capable of the most at a cost that's the least. 200mm can keep one busy with new and fascinating sights every night for life - if one chooses to sit pat with one telescope.

Some of us, of course, buy (or make) others for different puurposes. You never know where the road leads sometimes.....

Dave

[rockystar]

the Skyliner is great, I love mine, but i also looked at the bressier - if it's the one I think it is, I looked the look of the base. I'd probably suggest you leave AP to start with, as it can get expensive, and use any spare money to buy the inevitable upgrades and accessories. You'll have a lot of fun with 200mm reflector

[Jimtheslim]

I recently bought the skywatcher 250p dobsonian and I love it. the 200 would be great, but you'd always wonder about paying a bit more for a couple more inches of aperture. In terms of portability, if you're willing to take apart a 200 dob then the 250 is only going to be slightly heavier. If you buy either of the scopes from new then the box comes with 6 pieces of massive polystyrene that protect the OTA. I have kept mine and although I haven't been out in the car with it yet, when I do I will probably try and rig something up using a sleeping back with the polystyrene protection inside. I have seen others put them in the passenger seat with a pillow between the OTA and the glove box. As long as it's not going to get massively jolted around and you can collimate it at the other end you should be fine.