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Dobsonian or tripod(equatorial) mount


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Hello.

I am in the middle of deciding what telescope should be my next. Previously i had a 2 inch (I believe) Bresser refractor telescope. I am super in to astronomy, and now I want something big and awesome. I've been looking at the skywatcher explorer 250pds (for which i would seperately buy an equatorial mount, would the eq5 do?) and the skywatcher skyliner 250(which is mounted on a dob)

I'm torn between a dobsonian and an equatorial. My biggest concern about a dobsonian would be that I wouldn't be able to stand up, and would have to bring some kind of table to wherever I'm observing from.

If any of you would be kind enough to help clear this up for me, I would be very thankful.

Best regards

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I am not sure why you think you would need a table?  If you buy the skyliner 250 then you would most likely be standing up to view a lot of things.  I had the 300P version and had to use a step to stand on to reach the EP for some of my viewing, especially targets near the zenith.  I would suggest if you are travelling to do your observing the Dob is the only choice.  The 250PDS is designed for imaging and would need a very substantial EQ mount to make the most of it.

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If you are visual observer then equatorial mount can leave the eyepiece in some awkward positions.

as said above, you do not need a table for a dob!

get the 250 dobsonian - 10 inch will blow you away if you are moving from 2 inches! It is a big scope , see if you can go see one in a store before you buy or find a picture on the web of one with a human standing next to it.

if you decide it's too big then an 8" SCT would offer the compromise of smaller package but still give great views. 8" aperture is a good starting point.

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THANK YOU FOR THAT VIDEO!

That's exactly the size comparison I needed!

They're massive!

I think I will be getting a dobsonian, I looked up the price for an EQ6(And I was intimidated :P) Also i think a dobsonian telescope would fit better in my room because disassembly is so easy.

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Before buying a Dob, bear in mind that they are best suited for looking at extended objects at low magnification, and that other tasks, such as going through a list of faint double stars identified by their RA and Dec, could be a severe pain. If you know this and are happy with it then fine.  There's a reason some people buy an EQ-6 with GoTo, costing a lot, rather than a Dobsonian mount which adds only a few pounds to the cost of the OTA.  Likewise an expensive SCT in place of a cheap Newtonian. But if you want a simple setup and point rather than a load of costly gear that needs setting up and aligning, as I said, fine.

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Sorry, not entirely helpful, I just love this video. You'll be fine with the 250 Dob, standing is fine when pointing high, and an adjustable bar (or ironing) stool when a bit lower. As mentioned, you'll need an EQ6 (at least) for a 250 and those prices are eye-watering.

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You can mount a 10" ota on an equatorial mount for imaging if you want - but I've used one on an NEQ6 and it just vibrates way too much for imaging, and even for observing it takes a frustrating while to dampen down. And then you can't touch it or it's off again shaking - nightmare even in a light breeze.

You'd be looking at much more substantial eq mounts costing over three grand for a satisfactory experience. On a dob base however it's a very nice performer - I've had some great views in a SW 250P dob. :)

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User Brantuk posted me a nice schematic picture in my thread here (page 3) this show approx. dobsonian heights relative to a 6' man at different sizes:

If you follow through to the end you will see that I bought the 200P flextube.  Tthere is a photo on the last page of my new telescope and the height of the top of the white stand is 78cm plus the telescope in that position.  I guess the viewing height very much depends on where I have it pointing, but then surely most telescopes of any design suffer from a change in height at some point.  I was advised to possibly buy a water butt stand which I've just done - £12.99 from ebay - this will add another 32cm to the height.  I've got to add a piece of board to the top as the telescope has 3 little legs on the stand and they don't quite fit, but this is an easy job.  If you are looking for a larger telescope this might all be useful information as clearly all your heights will be larger than this.  I am 5'8" and so far have found no problems standing for some angles and sitting for others with my version.

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Albeit tongue in cheek, rockystar was onto something there with the Skywatcher Skyliner GOTO series.  Their Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX FlexTube GOTO dob collapses for storage and has goto to help you find faint fuzzies or tiny objects like outer planets and planetary nebula and then track them so you don't have to keep nudging the tube yourself.  These are very popular at our local star parties here in Texas.  They put up really nice images and track very unobtrusively.

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