What telescope to buy with a £120-200 budget?

[Timebandit]

18 hours ago, alanjgreen said:

 

if FLO don’t stock it then it’s no good.

 

as @Ricochet says, get the AZ5 mount for the extra 50£ if you can afford it.

 

 

" If FLO don't stock it then it is no good"?

 

FLO does not stock Televue do they ?

FLO does not stock Lukehurst 3.6 Dobs do they?

FLO does not stock OOuk, do they? Best sell my scopes

?   Could not resist that ,only pulling your leg Alan

 

 

Edited February 21, 2018 by Timebandit

[alanjgreen]

26 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Are the axes clutched on that AZ Pronto mount in some manner such that you don't have to turn the slow motion controls to move the scope from one target to another in the sky?

If you watch the video then you will see that the mount has clutches for large manual movements  

[britto765]

How much better is the 130ps on az mount than the celestron travel 70 scope? 

[happy-kat]

The 130ps has significantly more aperture and the tripod is better too. 

What appeals about the Celestron travel 70mm scope?

Is it that it is a refractor. If so the star travel either 80mm or 102mm on the az3 tripod are within budget.

Edited February 22, 2018 by happy-kat

[britto765]

No it's that I already have a celestron travel scope 70 and was wondering how much better will the views be out of the 130ps telescope before I buy one? 

[carastro]

Try this calculator - input your current scope and eyepiece and then try the one you are planning to buy for size comparison.  

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php

 

 

[Red Dwarfer]

1 hour ago, britto765 said:

No it's that I already have a celestron travel scope 70 and was wondering how much better will the views be out of the 130ps telescope before I buy one? 

I have a travelscope and 130P . While I have a soft spot for short tube refractors on the one hand , the 130P is a much better telescope with good light gathering ability .

[Geoff Lister]

The 70mm OTA of the Travelscope is let down by its tripod. I found it difficult to use as a low-magnification terrestrial spotting 'scope, and almost impossible to get a stellar object to stay in the FOV as soon as I let go of the altitude handle. The 130ps is available on various mounts, all of them a vast improvement on the Travelscope's tripod, and, as a bonus, they will also work with the 70mm OTA's dovetail plate.

Geoff

[carastro]

What about the 130P on one of those pronto mounts?  They look pretty easy to use, much better than a cheap EQ mount.  It's like having a standing height dob. (ish). 

Carole 

 

[Louis D]

51 minutes ago, carastro said:

What about the 130P on one of those pronto mounts?  They look pretty easy to use, much better than a cheap EQ mount.  It's like having a standing height dob. (ish). 

Carole 

 

The problem comes in with that particular design that you can't leave the altitude clutch loose or the scope will tip backward above a certain altitude.  You have to keep it pretty tight which causes pretty jerky motions when not using the slow motion controls.  The AZ-5 (and AZ-4 before it) mount eliminates most of this issue by keeping the altitude pivot point passing through the telescope's center of gravity, rather than well below it as with the AZ-Pronto mount.  I say mostly eliminates because as the telescope tips backward with a tall, heavy eyepiece like a 17mm ES-92 in the focuser, the horizonal center of gravity shifts farther and farther away from the OTA's center of gravity causing the telescope to again tip backward above a certain altitude.  To counteract this, you need to have an equal weight protruding outward from the bottom of the OTA an equal distance away from the CG toward the objective.

[britto765]

Thanks for the information and advice all, im still ensure which one to buy but I am leaning to the Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ Pronto . I think I need a bigger budget to really improve my views from the celestron travel 70 scope. 

[Stu]

2 hours ago, britto765 said:

Thanks for the information and advice all, im still ensure which one to buy but I am leaning to the Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ Pronto . I think I need a bigger budget to really improve my views from the celestron travel 70 scope. 

Not a bad buy I suspect. I think @Helentried out the Pronto mount so may be able to give some input. It's not going to be amazingly steady but on a budget it's probably better than some other options.

[happy-kat]

Can't the tripod head in time be mounted on a different tripod anyway?

 

[britto765]

Is the Sky-Watcher Explorer-130PS AZ Pronto worth the £175 and worth upgrading for the celestron travel scope 70? 

[Eastman]

I  use mine with it's own dobsonian mount. Just placed it on a old piece of furniture from my sister. Made it the right height so I can observe standing up.

[Olli]

Have just purchased the az pronto/130p will probably write a review of it when I get the chance so you can see what it’s like.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Dinoco

[Kev25]

Hi,. Hope you don't mind me cutting in on this topic.  I too am a complete beginner in astronomy, and looking for a first telescope, after reading the posts in this topic I think the 130p flexitube would be a good start.  My question is, would I gain much by going for the Skywatcher 150p flexitube over the 130p ?.

Thanks

[Gfamily]

7 minutes ago, Kev25 said:

Hi,. Hope you don't mind me cutting in on this topic.  I too am a complete beginner in astronomy, and looking for a first telescope, after reading the posts in this topic I think the 130p flexitube would be a good start.  My question is, would I gain much by going for the Skywatcher 150p flexitube over the 130p ?.

Thanks

Yes, you'll get a bit more light through and a bit more scope for higher magnification in use, at the 'cost' of it being a bit bigger to store and carry outside when observing.

A lot will depend on the quality of the sky where you live and whether you'll be travelling to use it much. With good dark skies, I'd say you can get away with the smaller scope.

Less seriously, it used to be said that your next scope needed to be 4” larger than your current one to get a significant "step up" in use. So you might be looking for your next scope to be a 10" rather than an 8"

 

[Tiny Clanger]

25 minutes ago, Kev25 said:

Hi,. Hope you don't mind me cutting in on this topic.  I too am a complete beginner in astronomy, and looking for a first telescope, after reading the posts in this topic I think the 130p flexitube would be a good start.  My question is, would I gain much by going for the Skywatcher 150p flexitube over the 130p ?.

Thanks

After the thread has been silent for 2 years, I don't think anyone would see a new post is a rude interruption 😀

I was in a similar position, £200 to spend, back in the summer, and I went for the heritage150 (which had only just arrived as a new addition to the range, so could't have been mentioned in the discussion above.). I've found it very good, I like basic, simple, robust and faff free things, and enjoy the learning process of finding out how to best use them, and amateurish tinkering to improve things, so the dob is ideal for me.

I can't compare it directly with the 130, I've never used one, but the 150 is an appreciable step up from a 114 eq, which I have.

 

[teoria_del_big_bang]

37 minutes ago, Kev25 said:

Hi,. Hope you don't mind me cutting in on this topic.  I too am a complete beginner in astronomy, and looking for a first telescope, after reading the posts in this topic I think the 130p flexitube would be a good start.  My question is, would I gain much by going for the Skywatcher 150p flexitube over the 130p ?.

Thanks

Hi,

This is quite an old thread but there will be plenty of members very happy to help you with some great advice.

You may get better information if you start a new thread in this same section and maybe introduce yourself and explain what you are hoping to do with your scope. Do you want to just use it from your back yard, or do you want to travel to some dark sites, are you just interested in visual or are you wanting at some stage maybe to do some photography and so on.

Steve

[Kev25]

Thanks all for the reply's, it definitely sounds like it's worth spending the extra and getting the 150p (once one is available).   I am not planning to use it for photography, and need something I can store fairly easily.  Will be mainly using it in the garden, but also intend to take it to a dark sky area too, so the collapsible design of the flexitube sounds perfect.  

Edited November 30, 2020 by Kev25

[happy-kat]

could keep an eye on FLO offers page as I saw one on there

[Geoff Lister]

I am very pleased with my Heritage 130P, bought a couple of years ago, but would have probably gone for the 150P, had it been available.

Geoff

[Kev25]

Thanks Geoff, it's definitely looking like the way to go.  Once I have got it there's going to be a steep learning curve I think, but it does sound like a good piece of equipment for the price.