Looking to buy my 2nd Telescope

[Pullock]

I've had my Orion Skyscanner 100mm for around 5 months now and since then I have the following equipment, Eyepieces: 20mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6mm. A 2x barlow and 80A Blue filter,25 Red filter and a moon filter.

I was looking into getting a second one to complement it but with so much choice and even with hours of research I'm struggling to decide. I've read that a 4" Refractor can be a good idea but with the amount there is I'm finding it hard to decide on which one would be good, I've also looked into a Goto scope but that's not a requirement just a nice to have. I've also looked into larger Newtonian reflectors on a tripod (as I don't have one and have considered using it for possible OTA's in the future) but 130mm seems about the largest aperture at a reasonable price. I've seen the moon, random bright stars such as Altair,Capella etc. Andromeda galaxy, crab nebula, more or less that was while I was still new to stargazing I was just looking at anything and everything before the clouds came. I caught Jupiter for the first time a few nights ago and that blew me away it was so amazing. That's where I've read refractors with the FL can be good for planetary viewing.

There's just so many choices I wanted to get some more input before deciding on what to get, trying to budget around £300 for this but it's flexible for the right equipment. Hope I've said everything that I need to but if I've missed anything please feel free to ask and thanks for your time and any advice you can offer.

[laudropb]

For your budget there is little that would beat the Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian. It would be a vast improvement on your current scope. However much will depend on where you want to observe from. This is a large scope and not suitable for carrying up and down stairs. You also have to consider where you will store it. A more compact option would be a 127 mm Mak. Great for the Moon and planets and some of the brighter DSOs.

[Pullock]

26 minutes ago, laudropb said:

For your budget there is little that would beat the Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian. It would be a vast improvement on your current scope. However much will depend on where you want to observe from. This is a large scope and not suitable for carrying up and down stairs. You also have to consider where you will store it. A more compact option would be a 127 mm Mak. Great for the Moon and planets and some of the brighter DSOs.

I had seen about the 6" & 8" actually and the size of them and storing it would be my main issues as currently I store mine in the bottom of my wardrobe, which wouldn't work with the 200p especially as you say not carrying it up and downstairs. I could store it in the shed outside but I'd rather store it inside for security. I have looked at some Maks but honestly I don't have much of a clue about them besides the basis of how they work.

EDIT: Just a quick edit, seen a Skymax 127 Synscan GoTo for £280 and has only been lightly used, seems an interesting find so far.

[xvariablestarx]

Maybe an Orion StarBlast 6, which is a table top mini-dobsonian, it should fit in a wardrobe.

[Demonperformer]

What is your main "passion"? Or, to put it another way, what do you want this scope to do for you that your current one is not doing?

I have always found that answering the 'why' question makes the answer to the 'what' question much simpler.

[billyharris72]

8 hours ago, xvariablestarx said:

 

Maybe an Orion StarBlast 6, which is a table top mini-dobsonian, it should fit in a wardrobe.

 

This (or Skywatcher Heritage 130p if still available and if a 200mm Dob really isn't and option) would be a great choice. You won't get a frac that will outperform it for under about £1k.

Billy.

[Pullock]

3 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

What is your main "passion"? Or, to put it another way, what do you want this scope to do for you that your current one is not doing?

I have always found that answering the 'why' question makes the answer to the 'what' question much simpler.

That's a hard question as I'm still finding my feet, hence why I'm being cautious and sometimes I think I should of got the 130p instead for the larger aperture.

2 hours ago, billyharris72 said:

This (or Skywatcher Heritage 130p if still available and if a 200mm Dob really isn't and option) would be a great choice. You won't get a frac that will outperform it for under about £1k.

Billy.

I'll look into a larger Dob if I can find somewhere to keep it as I don't plan on having to transport it far.

[Demonperformer]

2 minutes ago, Pullock said:

I'm still finding my feet

In that case, my advice would be at this stage: don't. If you aren't "hitting a boundary" with your current equipment, continue to use that, exploring as far as you can with it, and wait until you do. When that happens, you will recognise it - guaranteed! You will also have gained more experience, have a good idea of what you want the new scope to do, so be better equipped to make a more informed decision, and (dare I say it) may even have saved a little bit more to have more choice in what you get.

[Pullock]

That's true, I have been interested in lunar, planetary recently but the only planet I've seen is Jupiter so I'm unsure if I'll get to see any of the others. Also I haven't even thought about DSO's or looking for them so that's another thing to consider and I certainly don't want to rush into anything and regret it.

[xvariablestarx]

5 hours ago, Pullock said:

That's true, I have been interested in lunar, planetary recently but the only planet I've seen is Jupiter so I'm unsure if I'll get to see any of the others. Also I haven't even thought about DSO's or looking for them so that's another thing to consider and I certainly don't want to rush into anything and regret it.

Jupiter is fun, but Saturn is a joy to see also, though it will look smaller than Jupiter, Mars can be interesting also. Venus, though it wont show details, will show Moon like phases in basically any scope. DSOs usually look like a smudge in the eyepiece, but I think the hunting of them down is the main attraction, unless you have the equipment to photograph them. If your interest in the Moon and planets persists and you aren't so interested in DSOs, you could get a small Maksutov telescope, those are best at high magnification. If you want more general astronomy, then a Dobsonian is good for most observing (but not for imaging). Or you could do what DP suggested and just explore the limits of the equipment you already have.

I only regret one past scope purchase, because it was a low quality Bird-Jones reflector, all the others were/are good scopes, within their design limitations. Decide what part of astronomy interests you most, then that will help you choose a scope.

[Pullock]

37 minutes ago, xvariablestarx said:

Jupiter is fun, but Saturn is a joy to see also, though it will look smaller than Jupiter, Mars can be interesting also. Venus, though it wont show details, will show Moon like phases in basically any scope. DSOs usually look like a smudge in the eyepiece, but I think the hunting of them down is the main attraction, unless you have the equipment to photograph them. If your interest in the Moon and planets persists and you aren't so interested in DSOs, you could get a small Maksutov telescope, those are best at high magnification. If you want more general astronomy, then a Dobsonian is good for most observing (but not for imaging). Or you could do what DP suggested and just explore the limits of the equipment you already have.

I only regret one past scope purchase, because it was a low quality Bird-Jones reflector, all the others were/are good scopes, within their design limitations. Decide what part of astronomy interests you most, then that will help you choose a scope.

I think I'll experiment a little more with what I have, I was even calculating maximum effective magnification etc. the other day and I'm really no fan of maths. I'll have a dabble in trying to view some DSOs but not going to get my hopes up, especially being a little north of Birmingham and looking south over one of the highest light polluted cities in the country. I have already spotted Andromeda and I think it was the Crab Nebula but as you can expect they were nothing more than a small speck.

Not too fussed in Astrophotography as I don't have a compatible camera anyway, I'm going to make use of the clear skies over the next few nights and hopefully by then I'll have a much better idea of what I'm more interested in.