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algol

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algol

algol

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ok guys and gals, i have the skywatcher 130pm and have been thinking of upgrading sometime next year or so.

now i know a few of you have started with this scope and since moved on to bigger and bettrer things.

so i'd like to know whatt you went on to and your suggestions for where to go next.

cheers

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geoff_k

geoff_k

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With the last reply in mind, if your budget will allow, the Skywatcher Explorer 8" Newtonian always gets lots of hugs. Very similar in essence to what you have, but bigger so no great learning curve to go through in operational terms.

On the other hand, one of those nice Skywatcher APOs are not to be sneezed at, although your credit card might catch a cold.

Geoff

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TheThing

TheThing

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I had a Skywatcher 130m. My next few scopes ran like this: -

- Traded in for Meade ETX-70AT cos I thought I wanted GOTO. Horrible mistake that I have regretted every day since! ETX got little use and was sold to fund a pram for my little boy (best thing for it really!)

- Went without a scope for 8 months and missed it terribly. Regretted getting rid of 130 even more! Couldn't afford a new scope, so was resigned to old bins for a while.

- Was gifted a 5" Helios short tube refractor from a very generous CAS Chairman. Great scope, but I'm not a lover of refractors. Had plenty of use though.

- Swapped the Helios for my current beauty - 6" Tal 2M Newtonian. Much happier now!

So, I haven't really increased in size much at all!

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algol

algol

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don't travel with the scope, but if i did i would probably take the one i have now.

erm, well i'd like to be able to se more and in more detail, i stil havent found M1 or galaxies such as M81/M82 so a bigger scope may help me with this. also i want more planetary detail, eg cassini on saturn or anything on mars lol.

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legion48

legion48

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ok guys and gals, i have the skywatcher 130pm and have been thinking of upgrading sometime next year or so.

now i know a few of you have started with this scope and since moved on to bigger and bettrer things.

so i'd like to know what you went on to and your suggestions for where to go next.

cheers

Hi Agol,

If you want to get into imaging then read on.

The 130PM was my 2nd scope and while it was a cracker, it really wasn't that much better than my 1st, a Celestron 114mm. Neither was my 3rd - a Celestron 130SLT. I'm on my 4th now, a Celestron C6 NGT and this one is a keeper. Sure, I'd like a 8 or 10 inch but I really couldn't handle the extra size. I can have my C6 aligned and imaging in less than 10 minutes as it fits in my shed so cool down time doesn't come into it.

What makes this one a keeper is the mount, a CG5. OK, it's a bit noisy on slewing but it's rock solid with the C6 on top and that's what you need for imaging. With x2 and x4 barlows stacked At F40 it will keep Jupiter or a Lunar crater on screen for a couple of minutes and that means 1200 frames or more. I was lucky to get 600 frames at F10 with my previous mounts.

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