benefits of motorised scopes?

[Bufferz]

http://www.telescopesandbinoculars.co.uk/acatalog/MAGAZINE_OFFER.html

Looking at the 2 of these explorer 130's, the plus of the pm version is the motor, for a newbie, is it worth getting the motorised version? or is it like a GOTO addon, where it would be nice to have, but better to learn to not need it to begin with?

[MikeD]

I would go for the motor, It means when you find an object it will track and stay in the Field of view. Also if you want to start imaging the moon or planets with a webcam it will be a must.

hope this helps.

Mike.

[Astro_Baby]

Well you should watch the ad more closely - one of those SkyWatcher 130s is the f/900 and the other the f/650.

Brainier folk than I could tell you what that means but in a nutshell longer Newts, like the f/900, are generally better at planetary work and shorter newts like the f/650 are better for deep sky objects. Personally I thnk it makes little difference from a small scope point of view BUT as far as I know the f/900 version doesnt have the parabolic mirror of the f/650 which would make a difference. Parabolic is better though.

The 130PM is a good all rounder and I have seen some great planetray views with mine - obviously its no Hubble Space Telescope so you need to be a bit realistic about what you'll see.

I had the 130PM just on the basis its a good all rounder for a small scope and for me it was a taster to see if I would get back into the hobby. I found the motor useful - it helps once your aligned as you not constantly messing about. Bear in mind its only a tracking motor not GoTo or anythng posh - its just there to track stuff once you have done the hard work finding it.

I found it usefu because I have lived without the motor and you end up constantly twidling the mount to get stuff centred which gets very tiresome believe me.

The prices on that page are about standard for those scopes - though if your anywhere in Surrey I have a 130PM for sale right now thats mint. Personally I LOVE the 130PM its a great little scope.

Heres a sketch done of Jupiter quite recently whocih would give you a fair idea of what you'd see with a 130PM

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,27678.msg281691.html#msg281691

And heres a pic of the moon taken with the 130Pm - this is at the lower end of its magnification and taken with a cheap snap-o-matic camera through the eyepiece of the scope.

[RobH]

Hello Bufferz,

I spent probably 35 years messing around centring objects again and again, finally went motorised (plus everything else!) in 2006 and realised immediately that it was something I should have done years before

Not having to fiddle about keeping an object centred allows you time to really look at it. You see details you would never see whilst tracking by hand. At higher magnifications it makes all the difference as on an undriven mount, objects will cross the field of view very quickly.

Keeping an object centred is also better optically as the centre of the optical train is where things will look the best on a properly collimated scope.

Go for the motor!!!

Cheers

Rob

[Bufferz]

It appears more of a necessity than a luxury like goto then - I wasnt looking specifically for this scope, I was just looking around at a few sites, and wondered if the price differences were justified, as obviously they are for the reasons you folks have explained :salute: tbh, I still havent decided what I wnt from my scope yet, though I am swinging more toward DSO's than Planets......

[RobH]

If you're after DSO's you need aperture...as much as you can get.

Be aware though that the vast majority of DSO's, unless you have a big scope at a dark site, just look like fuzzy blobs visually.

There are of course exceptions...M13 and 42 spring to mind immediately

Cheers

Rob

[themos]

I would recommend a motor if you're getting an equatorial mount.

[RichieP]

I would recommend a motor if you're getting an equatorial mount.

I totally agree. Whenever I try to explain an equatorial mount to any friends who express an interest, I always say that the benefit of an equatorial is that is is easy to track objects with a simple drive on one axis. An EQ without a RA motor is a real waste IMHO

[geoff_k]

Definitely get a motor as the whole thing becomes less of a chore. I know that I was starting to get discouraged until I got one. You can concentrate on the viewing rather than the finding. don't forget lots of batteries or a suitable power supply as well.

Although, one thing I used to enjoy from time to time was to switch the motors on off on the Moon, slip in a high mag eyepiece and 'fly' over the surface as it were. Quite an interesting effect.

[Bufferz]

well im sold on the whole motor thing, so now its the telescope choice, and im concerned by Rob's comments that most DSOs will be fuzzy blobs :crybaby: If this is the case, then it looks like it will be planetary viewings for me - as I said earlier, i have only just got into this hobby and so in no rush to say i have to have such and such a scope, DSOs sound more exciting I guess but tbh, I will probably end up with a couple anyway one for each type of viewing, lol

[PaulG]

Must get a motor for my mount.

Being a radio ham I'm used to twisting knobs and dials but tracking objects in my telescope is a pain especially at higher magnifications.

Paul

[Whippy]

well im sold on the whole motor thing, so now its the telescope choice, and im concerned by Rob's comments that most DSOs will be fuzzy blobs :crybaby: If this is the case, then it looks like it will be planetary viewings for me - as I said earlier, i have only just got into this hobby and so in no rush to say i have to have such and such a scope, DSOs sound more exciting I guess but tbh, I will probably end up with a couple anyway one for each type of viewing, lol

As Rob said, there are exceptions. Anything that is outside of out solar system is a DSO, that includes double stars and open clusters which can look good in the most basic of scopes. Don't be seduced by the glorious images (including some of Rob's fine examples!) you see here and all over the web. Fact is that unless you have a big scope, then the only object that will give stunning views is the Moon. Sorry to sound so pessamistic, but I think it's best you know now before you spend a whole lot of money and suffer that disappointment that so many people have.

Out of interest, what kind of budget do you have for the whole setup?

Tony..

[Bufferz]

about £500 give or take - got a bonus from work on its way for the first time in about 4 yrs! lol And theres nothing I really need right now, so.......

[beamer3.6m]

If you want to see stunning views then i would recommend that you consider astrophotography.

I personally find the whole 'grey smudge' a little bit of a let down sometimes but when you managed to capture an image of what the object actually looks like it is amazing.

If you do fancy this then your equipment will differ from purely visual stuff.

[Whippy]

I'm assuming Bufferz has no prior experience of telescopes so Beamer, no offence but I wouldn't recommend anyone trying to take on astro imaging AND learning how to use a scope at the same time. The learning curve would just be too darn steep.

£500 gives you a few options . If you want to observe DSO's then the bigger the better and that'll be a reflector. You could buy an 8" model that will show you a whole wealth of DSO's.

Tony..

[Bufferz]

I'm assuming Bufferz has no prior experience of telescopes

That's an accurate assumption there!

£500 gives you a few options . If you want to observe DSO's then the bigger the better and that'll be a reflector. You could buy an 8" model that will show you a whole wealth of DSO's.

Biggest concern i have is light pollution - unfortunately, the wirral is rather bright, and so it would have to be somewhat portable, would an 8" still be portable, to get out the area, or is it too heavy?

[Whippy]

Having had 6", 8" and 10" reflectors, IMHO an 8" is the best compromise between size, performance and portability. an 8" f5 model such as the ones by Celestron and Skywatcher are 1 metre long, not overly heavy (the mount would be heavier!) and it'll go on the back seat of your car, unless it's a smart car :shock:.

Light pollution is something almost all of us have to deal with, including me . You can buy light pollution filters which may or may not help but I wouldn't worry about that for now.

Tony..

[Jeff RV]

Knowing what i know now (not much) I'd go for an APO on a large eq, (Good for imaging) then later if it got very serious and you wanted more light grasp you could always use the APO as a very good guide scope or for dso's etc.

Seems logical to me! and the weight will be less.

Jeff.

[RobH]

My vote would be the 8 inch reflector

Of course, for 500 quid you can get a pretty big Dob....no drive though!

Cheers

Rob