Upgrading the Telescope

[BentleyMiller86]

Hi all,

As some of you have helped me before, you may remember I had a Astromaster 76EQ bought for me, I have had a play with it but it basically isn't up to doing what I want from a scope its not powerful enough to get a descent glimpse of the planets or sturdy enough to use with my DSLR... so its time for an upgrade, Iv'e been looking around and the choice is as varied as the price range! I would like something computerised that can give me a good view of Jupiter Mars and Saturn especially Saturn's rings! I would like some deep sky objects as well Andromeda and some Nebula maybe. I'm going back to Kielder but not until Oct'17 so I have plenty of time to save but I also dont want to be buying something that is far more than I need.

Can anyone suggest a scope for me please?

Thanks

[DirkSteele]

Can you give us an idea of budget?  Computerised could mean around £350 or it could mean £1,000+.

[BentleyMiller86]

I would be quite happy to shell out £1000 but it its overkill for a Doncaster back garden and three of four trips per year to a dark sky zone then I would feel disappointed spending that much, like I said the price varies wildly and I don't know enough about the technical workings of a scope to know what I'm buying, the cheaper the better but I don't want to be wanting for more

[RT65CB-SWL]

Apologies in advance for my negative reply here, but when you say 'computerised' do you mean a goto or EQ?

If you are going to start taking photos of planets than a goto should be ok. For DSO's you are going to need a very good EQ which can be an expensive outlay.

[BentleyMiller86]

6 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Apologies in advance for my negative reply here, but when you say 'computerised' do you mean a goto or EQ?

If you are going to start taking photos of planets than a goto should be ok. For DSO's you are going to need a very good EQ which can be an expensive outlay.

Its not negative Philip? A GoTo would probably be ideal but again I don't really know much about EQ mounts or if they can be combined at a later date?

[RuralBill]

8 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Apologies in advance for my negative reply here, but when you say 'computerised' do you mean a goto or EQ?

If you are going to start taking photos of planets than a goto should be ok. For DSO's you are going to need a very good EQ which can be an expensive outlay.

Hmmmm, not true, I have a fork mounted goto scope on a wedge, and get good subs of 10-15 mins guided, so for the cost of a good secondhand SCT with a wedge, (around £1000) you would be good to go, especially for planetary, and get a 6.3 focal reducer for deep sky....simples and works for me.

Bill

[RT65CB-SWL]

I should have included a fork mount on a wedge, as per Bill suggsestion, but the landline was ringing and I lost my thoughts to my answer. Now if only these damn 'cold sales' teams would start selling astrogear then I maybe interested in keeping their phone conversation going.

[nightfisher]

I would be tempted to suggest the 127 maksutov on the goto AZ mount BUT this will not be any good for dslr and imaging dso`s, it would suit a planetary cam for solar system imaging, the moment you mix DSLR/planets/DSO it gets complicated

[Geordie mc]

The Skywatchers 127 mark has a very good reputation for planetary work.  The problem we all have is that there isn't really one scope to rule them all! I use an 8 inch SCT for lunar and planetary observing and imaging and then have a 65mm and a 102mm refractor for DSO's. I use the same mount for both which is an EQ6GT. A solid mount is very important for DSO imaging. You might pick up a second hand HEQ5 pro for around £450. As soon as you start imaging it becomes a bit addictive and expensive! Do you have a local Astro group you could visit and see the set ups they use? I should also mention portability. Setting up large, heavy mounts and scopes on cold evenings in the dark only to find the clouds come in can be very frustrating. Think carefully about what you'd really use most. A planetary and lunar set up can be much lighter and quicker to put up/take down than a large DSO rig. Hope this helps and good luck.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Just another thought!

Should keep you existing 'scope, have you considered dual-mounting? and/or using the existing 'scope as a guidescope?

[BentleyMiller86]

So I basically need 2 scopes, one for planetary and one for DSO and a good EQ mount for both scopes.

Can anyone recommend a scope for each? Ill have a look around for a second hand mount.

Doncaster does have an astronomical society based at Austerfield but their website is rather vague about joining and they only allow members of the public on site on Fridays.

[Davey-T]

As may have been mentioned if you have any serious pretensions to start astro' imaging then the bedrock you need is a decent mount.

Minimum HEQ5 this is also portable so fine for star parties, no reason you can't use your existing scope and DSLR once you have a decent mount, then you can think about other scopes.

Probably an ED80 and a SW Mak

Dave

[Louis D]

I and several other experienced observers wandered the field at a local star party last weekend, and most of us thought that the Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 EdgeHD was giving the tightest, sharpest images of the planets and star clusters of anything on the field, including some really nice APOs and large dobs.  This SCT was putting up images that were so much better than the SCTs of yesteryear, it was hard to believe.  The fact that it can also be controlled from a cell phone or tablet was also really convenient.  Add a wedge, and you can also do basic astrophotgraphy.  It really is close to a do it all, compact telescope for the advanced amateur.  Yes, it is quite expensive, but you want one scope to do it all.