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Meade 114 light bridge compared to skymax 127


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Would there be much of a difference in the viewing experience of the Meade Lightbridge 114mm and the Sky-watcher skymax 127 ( not goto ).

I like looking at the moon, M42 and the Pleiades etc, with my 114mm.    I'd really like to see Andromeda , but when I look on my iPad using Star Walk 2 it always seems to be in the west of the sky ......and I have a huge tree blocking that area.

Would the likes of M42 be a lot better using the 127?

I read somewhere that as you get older that makes a difference too ?   Im 65 and just had 2 cataracts removed and can go about without glasses for the first time in 38 years !! Just need them for small print.

Any advice appreciated.   The 127 Im looking at costs £399 .......I did look at some of the "Goto's" but they seem to eat up batteries.

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Can you give us more detail? Budget, degree of portability required, how happy you are with tech, etc. Why that 127mm rather than anything else? Is it purely for visual? Are your skies dark or light-polluted?  Do you want to look at large stuff (star clusters, some bright objects) or small stuff (planets, double stars, planetary nebulae, most fainter galaxies?) 

Eating up batteries is not an issue - nobody runs GoTos on the internal primary battery - we use an external battery or "power tank" or a suitable +12v external mains-derived supply.

The Andromeda nebula is big (3 degrees across) but typically through a telescope only the small bright core can be seen.  It is visible with binoculars.

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Are you restricted to the size of scope? I say that because the excellent Skywatcher 200P Dobsonian costs only £285 and is significantly better than the other two scopes mentioned. IF you are willing to spend £399 that would give you spare cash for some decent eyepieces.

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Thanks for the replies

Im as more well off people put it " on a budget" though I hate that term.

£400-£500 would be mine.  Ive seen the portable battery thing and thats another £85 that I seen on Ebay.   So it is an issue for myself.   Ive read that some "cheaper" motor movements aren't too brilliant hence one that can be manual.   The newish Celestron Wi-Fi units seem by the posts I've read to have a bug where the wi-Fi is always dropping off or I would consider one of those.

Im looking for something with portability..........we're going on holiday up to Galloway near the dark sky place there.   Was up there 4 years ago and every night was cloudy.   At home portability would be good so that I could take it up near the village hall here so that theres no obstructions.    We live 14 miles west of Milton Keynes, but the lighting isn't too bad here.  

I already have 3 Plossl eyepieces to replace the meads + a 2 x Barlow

I also have  Pentax Q camera which i'd maybe like to use ( it has interchangeable lenses a mirrorless camera )    I bought a C mount attachment that fits where the eyepiece goes, but can't seem to get it in enough to become focused.

It would be good to go and meet others Im sure at an astronomy club, but as I don't drive ( my wife does that ), thats not much of an option.  She doesn't like driving in the dark too much, maybe because of her eyes an diabetes.

Managed to get this moon image just putting the camera lens up to the eyepiece.

As I mentioned in my original post the question is would something like the 127 give me any significant better views of dimmer objects? 

IMGP5618.jpg

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As you already have a 114mm scope then the next step really is up to 150mm or 6" (minimum).

150mm gives 73% more light gathering than a 114mm and will make a recognizable jump for you at the eyepiece.

if you want portable then I would look for a "second hand" SCT scope, something like a Celestron 6SE 

Here is one in Dover for £440...

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=132480

You need to buy a power tank £55

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/batteries-powerpacks/skywatcher-powertank-7ah.html

And a dew shield is a MUST with an sct scope £26

https://www.harrisontelescopes.co.uk/acatalog/celestron-dew-shield-6--8-sct.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAt8TUBRAKEiwAOI9pABt1Il_sOjJISwPki0V43wIkx6cv1xO071GT79GDfB_2z9oZMNyaHRoCfR4QAvD_BwE

so, just about on budget.

 

An sct will fit in your car to take to Scotland too.

 

Otherwise if portability is primary concern than the heritage 130p flextube is definitely that. But 130mm is not much more than 114mm and you need a table to sit the scope on to use it. Easily carried out of your village though?

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-130p-flextube.html

It's only £140, so may be worth it for your travels.

 

Lastly if you want something "in between" then I would look at a 6" dobsonian. More portable than the 8" dobsonian!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html

and only £210.

 

Hope this helps,

Alan

p.s. Keep your eye on astrobuysell, good scopes (and accessories) come up all the time and you can make your money go further...

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php

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A 6SE SCT is a good suggestion - half the size of a 6" Newtonian and quite portable. You should find that you can pick up the whole assembly and walk with it.  The GoTo is very useful. Yes things can break or wear out but we have few people on the forum complaining that their GoTo broke.  More often they complain that they can't figure out how to make it work. :hmh:

You can shave some money if you prefer: powertank £55    7AH battery from Screwfix £20 + some wiring, if you have a charger.

Dew shield £27  Make your own from cardboard £00

Dobsonians are very popular - mainly because they are cheap. Some people also like their basic no-frills design it seems. But do be aware that the more expensive SCTs are much more compact, and that Dobsonian mounts lack slow motion controls, powered tracking or GoTo, all useful features.

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Thanks again guys for your input

Ive seen a small 150mm dobsonian on Amazon for £262

Is there any big difference between the smaller compact Dob and the larger one in viewing terms ?

Its a Bresser Messier Dobson 6-Inch 150/750 m......coming in at £262 

This weighs only 8kg and seems quite compact 

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I believe that is a small table top dob rather than the full size 1200mm length tube skywatcher.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bresser-Messier-Dobson-6-Inch-Telescope/dp/B07338J8ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519508642&sr=8-1&keywords=Bresser+messier+150

its like the heritage 130 that I linked above.

here is a page from bresser site

https://www.bresser.de/en/Astronomy/BRESSER-Messier-6-Dobson.html

its cheaper from telescope house

https://www.telescopehouse.com/bresser-messier-6-dobsonian-telescope.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAt8TUBRAKEiwAOI9pAAc5oxpfT4GwgjpiBXsrgYomBauuEnWqgc_o0s0sK_8IuIlHPiH6vhoCgMgQAvD_BwE

 

the shorter tube will mean the scope has a higher focal ratio 750/150 = f5 compared to 1200/150=f8

f5 scope will need more expensive eyepieces as it is "faster" optically.

 

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The Bresser 150 does have many advantages over a 114mm.

It's just whether you want a table top scope?

- It's certainly travel friendly, nice and compact :) 

- it gathers 73% more light than a 114 and will show more :) (the exact same as the other 150mm scopes)

So it ticks some of your boxes, you just need to work out what you would stand it on when in use?

Have a search on here and read what heritage 130 users think of their table top scopes, same will be true for this 150 but this would show fainter objects as well :) 

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Thanks again for that........I bought a small table at Homebase for my 114 so thats not an issue for me.

I think sometimes I can do too much thinking and end up with my mind in a twist.

I'll try and look at the heritage 130 thing.    Im using an Apple computer and sometimes the search box up at the top isn't working properly

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Hello again.......thanks a lot for all your posts........I managed to find the 130 posts.   

Anyway, Ive just bought the Bresser 150 on amazon for £262 and free delivery tomorrow :-)

It ticks all the boxes for me especially the portability.   Hoping we get clear skies when up in Galloway in June 

 

Thanks again 

 

 

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