For fun - what scope or setup would you buy with £800.

[Chris]

Just for fun, and to see what others would do with the near £800 I've been lucky enough to accrue in my astronomy savings account.

Well, in all honestly what a want is to not make a mistake buying the wrong scope/setup with what I consider quite a sum of money! But it might be fun to see what others would buy and why?...plus it may open my eyes to something I've missed?

So to recap, If you had £800 tucked away for a scope or entire setup, what would you get and why? It will be interesting to see if others are heading in the same direction with their astronomy?

 

 

  

[RobertI]

Interesting poser Chris! I think I would go for something that minimises my setup and searching time and maximises my observing time. So I'd probably go for a goto eq mount with onboard battery, possibly wireless and with Starsense. I think an Evo mount with Starsense would probably blow the budget, perhaps the new Skywatcher Az5 GTi (or whatever it's called!) with Starsense for a lighter weight scope. 

[John]

Is this to add to stuff we already have or are we assuming that it's an only scope ?

[Galen Gilmore]

£800 is approximately $1050. With that I could get an 8" dob, the go-to upgrade to my EQ5, and couple of telrads. Now I still have almost $200 to spend on other things, mabye some filters, or some editing programs, or I could get a jump on autoguiding by buying a guide scope.

Lots of things you could do with that money! 

[Charic]

For fun, I'd like to try Skywatcher's Pro 80ED APO. Not sure what to do with all the change? Oh yeah! a suitable mount for astrophotography will be required. Will I have enough?
If its for a first time setup, I'd suggest the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P with the 8 and 12mm 60° ED BST Starguider eyepieces and a 32mm Skywatcher Panaview, and build from there (plenty of options to personalise your scope and eyepiece collection). 

[N3ptune]

With 800 pounds? (1320CAD) I would buy the materials to build a nice Dobson base for my current 203x1000 SW 200p and there would be around 1100$ left. With this, I would take a 2 week vacation to do astronomy. 

 

 

[John]

2 hours ago, John said:

Is this to add to stuff we already have or are we assuming that it's an only scope ?

Ok, if I was adding something new to my current gear I might spend £800 on a used Celestron Edge 8 SCT optical tube to use on my Skytee II mount. This plugs the gap between my 130mm frac and my 12" dob. An alternative would be an 8" F/6 Orion Optics 1/10th wave PV optical tube to use on the same mount.

 

[Louis D]

Since you only have reflectors now and in the future, get an ED refractor to see what all the fuss is about with them.  I love my little AT72ED (~3" objective) that I picked up used for $200 a couple of years ago.  You could get a Skywatcher Evostar 100ED DS-Pro Outfit (~4" objective) and a 2" dielectric diagonal on that budget.  There's something magical about pinpoint stars with no black holes in them from the obstruction or spikes from a spider.  Planets look engagingly sharp compared to obstructed views.  It won't replace your 6" dob, it will complement it.

[nightfisher]

Knowing what i do from experience i would be thinking a Maksutov on a goto mount, but this is a bit of an unfair question because we would need to know what the light pollution is like, would it be for observing and or imaging, would it be used from home or taken to a darker site

[Moonshane]

I only buy used so if I didn't have them I'd get a used eq5  with motors and a used ed120. 

As I have those I would probably sell my 102mm  f7  ed and possibly one other scope and put those funds with your funds and save a bit more to buy a 100mm Tak. 

[Chris]

8 hours ago, RobertI said:

Interesting poser Chris! I think I would go for something that minimises my setup and searching time and maximises my observing time

This sounds very sensible, Rob, I can't argue with this logic.

 

8 hours ago, RobertI said:

So I'd probably go for a goto eq mount with onboard battery, possibly wireless and with Starsense. I think an Evo mount with Starsense would probably blow the budget, perhaps the new Skywatcher Az5 GTi (or whatever it's called!) with Starsense for a lighter weight scope. 

  Do you mean AZ mount? The new AZ5 GTI does look very interesting, I didn't think about the possibility of adding Starsense to one? Would you need that if the 2 star align using a phone/tablet works smoothly? Did you know that you can pick up the old Sky Prodigy 70mm frac package for £199, and just use another small OTA with it, that's a cheap way of getting a mount plus Starsense, I've been tempted but wonder what the catch is  

[Chris]

8 hours ago, John said:

Is this to add to stuff we already have or are we assuming that it's an only scope ?

Good question, John, lets just assume adding to existing kit  For me it would be adding to the kit in my sig.

[pete_l]

If you wanted to dip your toe in astro-photography and you already had a laptop, you'd be able to buy an iOPtron Cube Pro (£400). A second hand Canon DSLR + lens for about £150. You could use the rest for a webcam and finderscope guider and to upgrade the iOptron's tripod.

[Chris]

6 hours ago, Galen Gilmore said:

£800 is approximately $1050. With that I could get an 8" dob, the go-to upgrade to my EQ5, and couple of telrads. Now I still have almost $200 to spend on other things, mabye some filters, or some editing programs, or I could get a jump on autoguiding by buying a guide scope.

Lots of things you could do with that money! 

Everyone should have a Dob, I love my 6" f/8 Dob, it's so easy and convenient. It's tempting to say everyone should own both a manual and a goto mount judging by how I've flitted back and fourth between the two for years, sometimes you want to hunt things down yourself, and sometimes you want to find things quick to image them for example.    

[YKSE]

If I were you, I'd be trying to locate a USED 5" to 7" MN from Intes Micro, a scope type you've not looked through yet? buying used should ensured that you have miminum loss in pounds

[alanjgreen]

I would get a used cpc800. Great scope, solid as a rock mount and future proof 8". Not too big to carry either. No money left for eyepieces though, but at least at f10 you won't need expensive ones.

i used to own one and it was a great scope. With aperture fever I moved on to a c11 but I always intended to drop back to one of these when my back fails...

[Chris]

8 hours ago, Charic said:

For fun, I'd like to try Skywatcher's Pro 80ED APO. Not sure what to do with all the change? Oh yeah! a suitable mount for astrophotography will be required. Will I have enough?
If its for a first time setup, I'd suggest the Skywatcher Skyliner 200P with the 8 and 12mm 60° ED BST Starguider eyepieces and a 32mm Skywatcher Panaview, and build from there (plenty of options to personalise your scope and eyepiece collection). 

If you've not tried an ED refractor Charic? I'd highly recommend it. Stars look especially stunning through a good frac, and the sharpness and contrast are really very pleasing. I've had a few ED80 over the years, weird how I don't hang onto them considering how good they are. I guess I just think they are a bit on the slow side, even reduced, for quick imaging, an f/6 would be better for that purpose. The fit and finish doesn't match the optical quality either, but hey they are 350 quid for an 80mm true Apo (fpl53 glass), that's cheap in Apo terms, but obviously not cheap if you're used to reflectors!  

A 200p Dob is excellent choice for a first scope, I agree  

[pete_l]

10 hours ago, Charic said:

For fun, I'd like to try Skywatcher's Pro 80ED APO. Not sure what to do with all the change? Oh yeah! a suitable mount for astrophotography will be required. Will I have enough?

I'm uncertain that an ED80 is good for visual. Its aperture is too small for dim DSOs and its focal length is too short for planetary views. It's great for imaging. But a basic imaging rig for it would be about £2000 - ED80, FR, HEQ5, finder-guider + QHY5 cam, modded DSLR

[Mr niall]

An old Questar 3.5, so pretty.

If I couldnt find one then definitely the Orion Optics 140 Mak. That should leave me just enough left over to buy my wife apology flowers.

[RobertI]

4 hours ago, Lockie said:

This sounds very sensible, Rob, I can't argue with this logic.

 

  Do you mean AZ mount? The new AZ5 GTI does look very interesting, I didn't think about the possibility of adding Starsense to one? Would you need that if the 2 star align using a phone/tablet works smoothly? Did you know that you can pick up the old Sky Prodigy 70mm frac package for £199, and just use another small OTA with it, that's a cheap way of getting a mount plus Starsense, I've been tempted but wonder what the catch is  

I did mean 'AZ'...... it was late!!  The Sky Prodigy 70 does look incredibly good value, Jessops are also selling for £279 so I reckon it could be worth it for the mount alone and put the Heritage 130 on it! 

[mikeDnight]

Personally, I would definitely not waste any money on anything with goto, but rather focus on the best optics available for £800. I'd definitely go for an ED refractor from the SkyWatcher range. The Equinox 80ED is a jewel, but I think I'd probably lean more towards a 100mm ED or perhaps a second hand 120ED. They offer razor sharp views along with superb wide field and high power capabilities, and never need colimating or recoating. They are a no nonsense multi purpose workhorse that will last a lifetime. 

[Stu]

39 minutes ago, pete_l said:

I'm uncertain that an ED80 is good for visual.

It's a nice scope for widefield viewing under a dark sky, makes a great grab and go option and will still make a good fist of planets although obviously by no means optimal!

[Chris]

11 hours ago, N3ptune said:

With 800 pounds? (1320CAD) I would buy the materials to build a nice Dobson base for my current 203x1000 SW 200p and there would be around 1100$ left. With this, I would take a 2 week vacation to do astronomy. 

 

 

I can recommend making a Dob base, I put one together for a 150p f/5 about 4 years back now, and really enjoyed the project and the result  

The 2 week astro holiday sounds a wonderful idea. I very much hope to do such things once my 3 kids are older and less dependent on us 24/7. Good use of money 

[RobertI]

5 hours ago, Lockie said:

The new AZ5 GTI does look very interesting, I didn't think about the possibility of adding Starsense to one? Would you need that if the 2 star align using a phone/tablet works smoothly?

Sorry to jump around on this post, you're right Chris, I think being able to align using SkySafari or similar on a tablet by just tapping your chosen stars would speed up alignment a lot, so perhaps the Starsense is less useful in this setup.....which leaves me enough money for the Evo mount! 

[Highburymark]

44 minutes ago, Stu said:

It's a nice scope for widefield viewing under a dark sky, makes a great grab and go option and will still make a good fist of planets although obviously by no means optimal!

Agree Stu. I've had great views of scores of brighter Messiers with my Equinox 80. And sharp views of Saturn, Mars and Jupiter at 170x. The Pro series SWED may be an even better planetary scope with its longer FL.

In answer to the OP's question, I think I'd put it towards a fund to upgrade my solar scope from a Lunt LS50 to a 60mm. Would have to be doubled stacked. Problem is that £800 would only get me 20% of the way there......