Best scope for around £600

[Gary170782]

Hi everyone

 

I'm looking at getting a telescope again, I originally started with a skywatcher 130, I thinks that's what it was called.

 

I have a lot more time on my hands now and was wondering what's everyone's opinion on my new scope, my budget is around £500 and want it for viewing planets mainly so any suggestions would be greatly received ?

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire :-)

[D4N]

You could get a 250PX dob for £429.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-250px-dobsonian.html

The 10" explore scientific dob is around £520 but I have heard mixed reports of these.

If you get something other than a dob the mount will eat most of your budget so you will end up with a lot less aperture.

[mikeDnight]

Hi Gary,

It may be at the limit of your finances but if planets and lunar are your thing, I'd look seriously for a second hand SkyWatcher 102 ED Pro. A quality scope and sharp as a razor! 

Mike

[acey]

Don't get the biggest (largest aperture) scope you can afford unless you're sure you want the weight and bulk that comes with it. You say you mainly want to look at planets, which you can do from a light-polluted site, in which case transportability might not be an issue. But you still need to get it into your garden (if you have one). An 8" dob is a very good all-rounder and very manageable: the Skywatcher 200mm dob is currently £285. The 10" is £429 and is considerably bigger and heavier, the 12" (Flextube) is £529. I have the 12" and use it for deep-sky viewing at my dark site, but it's not for the faint hearted (and not great on planets - my Orion 8" dob was better). If you aren't so interested in deep-sky and really want to concentrate on lunar/planetary you might want to consider a 4" refractor of superior quality: I'll let others recommend one in your budget. Similarly you might want goto, tracking or other frills, which I can't comment on.

Edit: previous post crossed with mine and looks a good refractor suggestion.

[newbie alert]

For viewing i dont think you can beat a dob..but you need to be able to lift it or transport it if your going any distance..so buy one that you can do both..also go to a shop and view them as it might be a shock of just how big they can be..the best scope for you is the one that you use the most..

[Glimpse111]

Don't buy any scope before trying different scopes. Go to the nearest astronomy club and try out few to find out what you want.

[nightfisher]

I would like to give my humble input as planets are my main thing (the moon being a very big planet)

Here goes, if you ONLY want to look at planets and lunar then a Maksutov is hard to beat but i would say 150 is the nice one to get, but you have the cooldown issue and mount needed

If your happy with collimation and have no interest in taking pics, then a 200 F6 dob (this will also be pretty handy on deep sky)

if portable needed then ED100 frac

[Mark at Beaufort]

I have tried many different scopes over the years including a 4" APO frac, 6" Achro frac, 5" and 6" SCT, 180mm Mak Cass, 6" Newt, 8" Newt, 10" Dob and finally a 12" Dob.

If I was solely interested in Planets and maybe the Moon I would buy a 5" or 6" Mak Cass. Okay you will have problems with cool down but the view will be worth it. Having £500 to spend you cannot buy an APO frac unless you are able to get one second hand. A great scope is the Celestron 9.25 SCT but that is too expensive.

Have a look at the Skywatcher 127mm or 150mm Mak Cass.

 

[dweller25]

Hello Gary and welcome to SGL.

I am a dedicated visual planetary observer and have tried many, many scopes to see what gave the best results.

Without a doubt the best visuals of the scopes I have owned came from a Skywatcher 10" Newtonian.

BUT - you need a tracking mount to comfortably watch the planets in my opinion so factor in an equatorial mount.

If that is too much money I would suggest buying the Skywatcher 10" Dobsonian and then when funds allow buy some tube rings and a tracking mount - this will allow you to take the tube off the Dobsonian mount and attach it to the tracking mount - best of both worlds

Like this ......

 

 

[Mr Spock]

Hi, welcome to SGL

My advice would be to get the 200mm Dob Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian at £285. This will leave you plenty of money for some high quality eyepieces.

Thre are two reasons for this choice. Firstly, don't underestimate the need for good eyepieces - they are a vital part of image quality. Secondly, the 200p tube can, at a later date, be detached from the Dob mount and attached to an EQ mount. EQ mounts are important for planetary work as they allow you to view the image without having to 'nudge' constantly. This allows to to concentrate on fine detail.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Whatever you buy, sharpness is vital for planets so make sure it's all premium quality optics, and don't rely on the stock eyepieces that come with the kit. I suspect that I partly wasted two seasons of Jupiter viewing with my Mak by relying on the stock 9mm eyepiece rather than the two premium eyepieces I bought recently.

And it soon gets annoying if you don't have a mount with powered tracking.

[Jimtheslim]

250p dobsonian. Then use the change for a nice 6mm ortho and a wide field mid power, like a 12 or 14mm. Whilst it's easy to say you just want to look at planets, if you have a relatively dark site to observe from you will want to look for DSO's on dark nights, especially when there are no planets to look at. That's why I would buy a decent amount of aperture and a lower power wide field ep. Orthos are fantastic for planets (my 10mm is an absolute joy on Jupiter and Saturn) as long as you don't mind tight eye relief and less than 60 degrees field of view. Also spend a fiver on a camping mat and Velcro and make a dew shield.

[Timebandit]

In my opinion if you have £600 to spend and want a good all round scope but a scope that is particularly good at planetary then there is one scope that will fit the bill. And that is a skywatcher 120ed Apo . Will need to get a s/hand but this scope will provide quality sharp optics . People compare these and rate them along side Taks at a fraction of the price. Praise indeed . 

I hope the above helps☺

[CraigT82]

3 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

In my opinion if you have £600 to spend and want a good all round scope but a scope that is particularly good at planetary then there is one scope that will fit the bill. And that is a skywatcher 120ed Apo . Will need to get a s/hand but this scope will provide quality sharp optics . People compare these and rate them along side Taks at a fraction of the price. Praise indeed . 

I hope the above helps☺

What see much through it without a mount though

[James Vincent]

look for a  dob on UK astro buy and sell , you could pick up a 12 inch light bridge for less than £500 if you are lucky.

 

 

[Timebandit]

52 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

What see much through it without a mount though

Gary said best scope for £600. So IMO best scope for £600 is a s/hand skywatcher 120ed Apo. Op did not say has to come with a mount. A lot of scopes do not come with mounts. Therefore you then have a choice of AZ , Eq, manual, driven , tracking ect ect. Obviously if chap wanted a scope and mount for £600 then that's a different story, but I can only give my opinion on what the OP said. Best scope for around £600.

I hope this clarifies for Craig and Gary

By the way garry. The 120 Ed apo is just great for planetary, as I have one. Also have a 14" newt on a Dob mount. And for sharpness then the 120ed IMO is better. It's like looking at the planets without optics. Also much easier to handle and transport ect

I hope the above helps☺ 

[mikeDnight]

Id suggest that whatever design of scope you decide on, ensure its got the finest optics possible within your budget constraints. Get the best quality scope first and worry about the mount and high end eyepieces later. For visual planetary a simple altazimuth mount will suffice until you can afford a basic eq5 or GP equatorial. Electronic RA and DEC drives are nice but not essential as manual slow motion controls are all you really need. Avoid computer driven mounts, they are an unnecessary expense!

For visual planetary you don't need complex eyepieces. TMB planetaries are very good and not expensive. Again, you can improve on your eyepieces as time and finances permit. The scope itself is the most important consideration! It's easy to try to cut corners simply to obtain a complete set-up from the start but its false economy. 

Some things to consider are: Do you want an easily handlable scope that works at optimum within minutes of setting up? If so, a ED refractor or small aperture long focus Newtonian reflector would fit the bill. If youre happy to carry a heavier tube assembly and heavier mount out each time you observe, (remember you've to carry it all back in again when you're tired and frozen to the bone), then a large aperture reflector may suit your needs. If you fancy a catadioptric scope such as a Schmidt or Maksutov Cassegrain, then are you prepared to wait for it to cool before it reaches thermal equilibrium? Catadioptrics that use an amplifying secondary mirror can be 25 times more sensitive to internal heat than either the refractor or Newtonian! They work best when stored at outside temperatures!

Mike

 

[James Vincent]

The best telescope is the one that is easy to set up and use, as it will get used the most.

if you belong to a club have a look through the members telescopes before deciding.

 

[faulksy]

as everyone else or near everyone else has said, a dob is the way to go, but i am biased

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

or the next size up

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-250px-dobsonian.html

 

[Gary170782]

Thank you for all your posts. I think by all the suggestions that I'm better going to to my local astronomers club and having a look at what people have and what I feel most comfortable with, I feel there could be a fair bit of research getting done ?

[Moonshane]

Given your  stated preferences my advice would be to get a tracking eq5 for about £150 and a used skywatcher 120 ed the older ones go for maybe £500

[Chris]

So far I make it 8 votes For a Dob, 5 votes for ED refractors, and 2 or 3 for Maks and SCT's.

Adding to this, my most pleasing views of planets to date have been with an ED120, and an 8" SCT Celestron EDGE HD.

For Deep Sky Objects I'd choose a Dob, and you get the mount too! I've had my best DSO views with an 8" f/6 Dob if I'm being honest with myself. 

Do you have any interest in deep sky objects like galaxies, globs, planetary nebulae? if so the Dob will be a good alrounder, if you're looking to purely look at planets, clusters, and the Moon the views through a good ED refractor are simply magical!

Confusing all this isn't it! So as you say, get yourself looking through various types of scope at a club  

 

 

[John]

46 minutes ago, Gary170782 said:

Thank you for all your posts. I think by all the suggestions that I'm better going to to my local astronomers club and having a look at what people have and what I feel most comfortable with, I feel there could be a fair bit of research getting done ?

Well worth doing to see some scopes 1st hand.

You will always get a range of views on what is "best" because folks all have slightly different priorities / interests / other requirements. I could probably make a convincing case for a number of different types. There are not really any bad ones once you get past the sort of stuff that is sold on e.bay but the various types have different strengths and weaknesses and you want to find one that is the best fit for you and your needs.

If your local club run star parties / observing sessions thats the best way to see scopes in action and use them yourself.

 

 

[James Vincent]

A big dob its the only way to Go. Aperture wins, a 10 inch dob will beat a 5 inch refractor and a 8 inch SCT on all objects.

providing it has good optics