RobertI Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 +1 for the Heritage 130P, it also has a dovetail for mounting on other mounts. You can get the Skymax 127 + GTi mount bundle plus the Heritage 130P for well within your budget. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 Thank you all for the kind help. It is much appreciated. I had not thought of the idea of getting two scopes, but in hindsight that seems like a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Imp Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Bearing in mind you intend to share observing with your son I would definitely choose one of the GOTO scopes mentioned. Once your target is in the eyepiece it will still be there when you swap positions at the eyepiece. I would think this would be a big plus. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Just a quick last question, before I outstay my welcome! If I was to look at a suitable refractor, what would that be? My top limit on the budget is roughly £1000, I would prefer to go lower, but would the ED100 be significantly better than the 127 Mak? Splitting double stars I guess, is an area where the refractor would shine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Lister Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 27 minutes ago, NordicSyene said: Splitting double stars I guess, is an area where the refractor would shine? I find the long focal length of my 127mm Mak. gives me good magnification for splitting stars without needing to use the smallest eyepieces. I tend to use my Star Travel 120mm refractor for the wider views. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 Just a quick final question before ordering the Mak 127 and AZ Gti mount. Do you think the ED72 or ED80 would fit on the Az Gti wifi? I'm thinking that it could be a handy widefield telescope in the future. There are some Dobsonians available s/h in Norway, like this https://www.finn.no/bap/forsale/ad.html?finnkode=112432120 - Keep in mind though that the s/h market here is almost inexistant...I'd prefer to try to source a Dobsonian locally, in lieu of the postage etc. For eyepieces I'll start with the BSTs, and take it from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Lister Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, NordicSyene said: Do you think the ED72 or ED80 would fit on the Az Gti wifi? Yes, they use a standard Vixen/Skywatcher/Celestron dovetail plate on the 'scope tube and matching clamp on the mount. This gives you an idea of interchangeability. Each OTA will fit on each mount, but the eyepiece end of an OTA may hit the mount if viewing at high altitude angles with some combinations. 1 hour ago, NordicSyene said: There are some Dobsonians available s/h in Norway I love my 10" Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX flextube Dobsonian. My version has the Synscan GoTo hardware fitted. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis D Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 On 2/19/2018 at 11:30, NordicSyene said: Just a quick last question, before I outstay my welcome! If I was to look at a suitable refractor, what would that be? My top limit on the budget is roughly £1000, I would prefer to go lower, but would the ED100 be significantly better than the 127 Mak? Splitting double stars I guess, is an area where the refractor would shine? I have my DSV-2B mount setup with a 127 Mak on one side and a 72ED on the other. The Mak shines for higher powers (about 60x and up) and narrower fields without false color while the refractor shines for low power views up to about 100x (125x starts showing color fringing). The pinpoint stars in the frac are intoxicating compared to the slighly bloated stars in any obstructed telescope. It just appears so pure and transparent that you don't feel like you're looking through a telescope. The two inch focuser in the ED72 also allows for using giant eyepieces like 40mm 70 degree designs to frame large objects like the Pleiades, Hyades, Collinder 70, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 2 hours ago, Geoff Lister said: Yes, they use a standard Vixen/Skywatcher/Celestron dovetail plate on the 'scope tube and matching clamp on the mount. This gives you an idea of interchangeability. Each OTA will fit on each mount, but the eyepiece end of an OTA may hit the mount if viewing at high altitude angles with some combinations. Silly question, but is it correct that the Skymax 127 uses 1"25 eyepieces, while the ED80 uses 2". I suspect it is not quite that simple, and that there is some sort of adapter? I have a decent Velbon Sherpa 600R photo tripod, could it be used with a widefield telescope/binos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis D Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 14 minutes ago, NordicSyene said: Silly question, but is it correct that the Skymax 127 uses 1"25 eyepieces, while the ED80 uses 2". I suspect it is not quite that simple, and that there is some sort of adapter? I have a decent Velbon Sherpa 600R photo tripod, could it be used with a widefield telescope/binos? The ED80 can use either size via an adapter. The 127 Mak can use 2" eyepieces only with a lot of effort (Mak-SCT thread adapter, 2" visual back, 2" diagonal) and some odd artifacts in the FOV. I've done this, but prefer using 1.25" diagonal and eyepieces. The Mak is not a wide field scope while the refractor is. You should play each to its own strengths. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Louis D said: The ED80 can use either size via an adapter. The 127 Mak can use 2" eyepieces only with a lot of effort (Mak-SCT thread adapter, 2" visual back, 2" diagonal) and some odd artifacts in the FOV. I've done this, but prefer using 1.25" diagonal and eyepieces. The Mak is not a wide field scope while the refractor is. You should play each to its own strengths. Seems the most sensible then is to just to get the eyepieces I want for the 127 Mak, and then deal with the rest later. Thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 After a bit to and from, I ended up with the 127 mak az gti, the bst 8, 12, 18 and an es 24 68. Hopefully this will be a nice continuation on our lunar observations with my old binoculars. Thank you kindly for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Astronomy Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Well done coming to a decision. There's so much gear out there its often hard to choose. I'm sure you will get hours of enjoyment out of the scope and I hope your son does too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Imp Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Good luck to you both with your new scope, I'm sure you will have many happy hours together exploring the night sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis D Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 13 hours ago, NordicSyene said: After a bit to and from, I ended up with the 127 mak az gti, the bst 8, 12, 18 and an es 24 68. Hopefully this will be a nice continuation on our lunar observations with my old binoculars. Thank you kindly for all the help! That's a slick looking goto mount I haven't seen on this side of the pond. You'll have to post your thoughts on it once you've had some time to learn it and get used to it with your son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Lister Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 14 hours ago, NordicSyene said: After a bit to and from, I ended up with the 127 mak az gti, the bst 8, 12, 18 and an es 24 68. Hopefully this will be a nice continuation on our lunar observations with my old binoculars. Thank you kindly for all the help! An excellent choice. I like the way Skywatcher have added their "Freedom Find" dual encoder system; it certainly adds more flexibility than I have with my earlier handset-equipped version of the Skymax. Also, by having the dovetail clamp on the outside of the mount, you can fit longer telescope tubes without them hitting the mount at high altitude angles. I still prefer the tactile feedback of real buttons on a handset, compared with the virtual buttons on a tablet's touch screen; but that's just me. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charic Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 As already mentioned, there's just too much to decipher when it comes to choosing and selecting astronomy gear, You wont know until you try it. That said, its possible the 8mm BST might get little use on the 127Mak due to the higher power your demanding. Pushing magnification beyond 127x with anything shorter than a 12mm eyepiece will magnify the image, but you'll tend to lose sharpness in the detail, the higher you go. For example, 6mm is my practical limit, based on the scopes ability (disregarding seeing conditions - but theoretically, my scope is capable of 400x magnification. That's a limited 400x, Infact the most so far was 375x on the Moon. The scope itself, the weather and seeing conditions prevent me from getting more. In fact, if folk stick with their telescopes aperture in millimetres, they should have no issues in reaching that figure as a magnification, therefore in my case, 200mm = 200x with a 6mm eyepiece, which also matches the focal ratio! On my scope the 8 or 12mm BST gets more use than the 6mm. If your needing higher powers, one option is to Barlow your 12mm or 18mm BST. If the 8mm does prove too much, swap it for the 15mm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Lister Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I found the optimum view of Jupiter, was with my 13mm Plossl on my 127mm Mak, at 5am this morning. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 I did not realise that some of the BST eyepieces were on back order. With the weather now for next week being forecasted as cold (well slightly cold -15c) and sunny, I'm tempted to replace the BST eyepieces with Vixen SLV. The alternative is to wait 10 days for the order to be sent. I guess the limited field of view on the Vixens would not be such a disadvantage in the Mak. Especially if we'll mostly use it for lunar, planetary and double star visual observations. FLO has the 9, 10, 12, 20 and 25 in store. The 15 being on back order. I've not really considered a Barlow, should I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis D Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 37 minutes ago, NordicSyene said: I've not really considered a Barlow, should I? With a 1500mm focal length on that 127 Mak, I wouldn't bother. You'll reach an exit pupil of 0.7mm with your 8mm eyepiece (0.7mm * f/11.8). There's little reason to go shorter. I can't get past the floaters in my eye beyond an exit pupil of 0.7mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 I ended up replacing the BST and the ES 24/68 eyepieces with Vixen SLV 9,12 and 25. It leaves a big gap, but for starters it will have to do. I got excellent service from FLO, and the order got shipped out the door just in time for the weekend. With cold and clear weather from Russia announced...we'll be eagerly awaiting our shipment from Exeter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charic Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 The vixens wont work in the cold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charic Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 They will really. We spend hours, days, weeks agonising over what to buy then Oh-no! its not available or awaiting new stock? Why then do we automatically change to another brand?...................I've even done it myself with a pair of binoculars. Were just too eager maybe, but the stars and planets will still be there when the new stock arrives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicSyene Posted February 23, 2018 Author Share Posted February 23, 2018 1 hour ago, Charic said: They will really. We spend hours, days, weeks agonising over what to buy then Oh-no! its not available or awaiting new stock? Why then do we automatically change to another brand?...................I've even done it myself with a pair of binoculars. Were just too eager maybe, but the stars and planets will still be there when the new stock arrives. Well, there is no going back now, at least according to DHL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charic Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I'm sure they'll be fine, just my sense of humour. I'm just about to pop my scope out now, I can see the Moon, before your blamed for the bad weather (associated with the purchase of any astro gear?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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