Whats best for me to move up to?

[dave1978]

Started with astronomy about 1 year ago with an ETX-70 which i soon outgrew and upgraded to a Nexstar 102SLT. So i want to see deep sky objects & planets in greater detail than what i get now with the 102, and maybe move into imaging sometime in the future. So what is the best upgrade for me to target.

Option A - 4 or 5" Maksutov cassegrain (meade or skymax)

Option B - 6, 8 or 10" Newtonian reflector (celestron or skywatcher)

Thanks

[kniclander]

I am no expert but I think you might want something different for planets than for DSOs - for DSOs aperture is king but for planets contrast and resolution might be more important.

so the answer is........

you have to get two new scopes

[beamer3.6m]

Depending on budget, Explorer 200 on an HEQ5/6.

Option of GOTO or to upgrade later.

[John]

I think you should look to go up in aperture to at least 8 inches and preferrably 10 inches to get significant perofmance improvements on both DSO's and planetary detail.

Your option A would show you no more than your current scope IMHO.

As beamer3.6m says, I would have thought an 8" or 10" Skywatcher newtonian on an HEQ5 mount would make a lot of sense - and have the imaging potential if you decide to go that way.

John

[glennbech]

I very often say this; Don't buy a scope for "planets". Most of them are faint dots. Jupiter isn't any good until 2012. However; Saturn is awsome. The mak should be called the saturn&moon scope

I own the 150mm skymax. It needs a couple of hours to cool down. Before that is done, my 3,5" APO refractor outperforms it.

The mak is also pretty useless for Deep sky astro photo. The 150mm has a focal length of 1800mm (!!!). To keep stable at that focal lengt you need a tank solid mount. (EQ6 or heavier I would guess). I also havn't found any usefull focal reduer for the Mak. For planetary imaging with a webcam the Mak is great. (Again; Saturn/jupiter).

For visual DSO use, the mak has some major disadvantages;

- f/12 means that you're not getting much light. It's like looking through my newtonian, only with sunglasses on.

- You can't get the big open clusters into view without a new EyePiece (30mm+?)

.. Then again; The best view ever of the moon was through my cooled skymax 150. I've never seen such crisp and clear detail.

All in all I would say that a newtonian is a far more versatile scope at the cost of portability. (If that is an issue) I'm thinking of selling my skymax to partly fund a CCD camera .-)

[glennbech]

would have thought an 8" or 10" Skywatcher newtonian on an HEQ5 mount would make a lot of sense

A 10" Newtonian on the HEQ5 for Imaging would never work. I have the 8" combo and even small gusts of wind makes the whole thing shake. The 8" also requires the full counter weight. The 10" would require some extra weights or longer rod.

[beamer3.6m]

I think if you go for the 10" then the EQ6 would be needed.

For the 8" the HEQ5 is fine and mine tracks ok with a DSLR and giodescope attached.

[russ]

Meade or Celestron f6.3 reducer works well with the Skymax 150. I was also pleasently surprised by the DSO performance of my Skymax using a 26mm Meade 4000 and Meade 6.3 reducer.

The EQ Newts have some major drawbacks themselves that you'll need to consider. For my own tastes, a newt of 10" + on an EQ is a flippin awful combo. Awkward, cumbersome and not the most user friendly.

Now a 10"+ newt in dob form is a totally different proposition.

How about an 8" SCT? It can pretty much do it all and still remain easy to use.

Russ

[dave1978]

My plan is to mount whichever scope i get onto the Nexstar mount for the time being so i would only be getting the OTA's. There are always large newtonians for sale on Ebay at great prices. I know the Nexstar mount is no good for imaging but it would hold an 8" Newt surely.

So to improve my views of DSO's an 8" newt is the way to go and if at a later date i come accross a MAK at a good price i could snap it up for planets.

Thanks all!

[John]

I tend to agree with Russ about newts on eq mounts - they are awkward and bulky.

A 10" dobsonian would be a big step up for visual use then review your setup if and when you decide to go into imaging.

I don't think the Nexstar mount will hold a 6" let alone an 8" TBH :shock:

John

[russ]

If you want to use the SLT mount I would go for the 127 Skymax. I've used the 127 on the SLT and it was the limit of the mount.The 102 refractor and 127 maksutov would make a good combination.

Or you could buy yourself an 8"/10" dobsonian, which can be EQ mounted at a later date.

Russ

[Vega]

Newt all the way IMHO .

8" & HEQ5

or

10" & EQ6.

For imaging with a 10" You cant realistically go for anything less than an EQ6.

Matt

[Doc]

Personally I would hate to put a 8" newt on a nexstar mount.

Vibrations would be really bad.

[dave1978]

Yeah, vibrations are a slight issue now especially when focusing.

Mmmmmm what to do.

[russ]

The SLT mount has absolutely no imaging capabilities whatsoever. It's weight capacity is already being pushed by the 102 refractor. So as you can see there very little room to move up with it. Better to cast it off and start a fresh.

Not sure what the budget is but the HEQ5 Explorer 200P is a good bet for £500. It's driven in both axis but no GOTO (but can be upgraded later). Depends how attached to GOTO you are?

Celestron do an alternative called the Advanced Series GT for the same price (£550). It has GOTO and a guideport but has seriously noisy drives. And the mount is not as capable as the HEQ5. The tubes are the same though.

You could look out for a secondhand Nexstar 8. I've seen a couple come up for £600. Superb setup. Easy to use and setup, much easier than the HEQ5/200.

Russ

[dave1978]

Yep that may well be the case. So for now go for a Maksutov which will be OK on my mount for planetary viewing and make do with the 102 for now on DSO's with a plan to upgrade to a newtonian with a better mount in the future.

[russ]

yep that's a good plan if funds are short. Although an 8" Dobsonian will cost the same as the Mak and show a lot more.

How about another option?

Sell the 102 tube. Buy a secondhand 127 Mak for the SLT mount. Also buy an 8" dob. The dob becomes the DSO lightbucket. While the 127 becomes the grab'n'go lunar/planetary/bright DSO setup.

Russ

[ngc2403]

Beening honest i would think that if you buy a 5'' mak and a 8'' dob, then you will have to spend the same again to upgrade to a mount that can carry the dob and the mak with steady vibration free tracking. and only when the mak is on a good solid mount will you get the best out of it.

The focal length of the mak is 50% more than the dob and although that is ~three times as big as you have now there may come a time where you want a longer focal length i.e. bigger mak/sct type ota

the HEQ5 is the cheapest opinion and even it will be +£400 to get the it to take the dob.

hence i think that you have a big desicion to make. do you want to see the planets, (saturn) in lovely crisp detail or find by sky chart all thous DSO that you have not seen?

1) How good is the sky around you?

2) How much LP do you have?

3) What is the master plan?

try to get a look through a big dob and a mak before buying, i will help you alot

ally

[russ]

I suppose it all depends on budget really. If the budget is really tight, and i can appreciate that, things get tricky and compromises have to be made. A dob is the cheapest way of getting sufficent aperture to see those faint DSO's. On a tight budget there's no other option.

Really there's perhaps no real need to get the 127 as the dob will be a good visual planetary scope too. Sell the SLT 102 and put the money aside for a secondhand HEQ5. There was a HEQ5 up for £150 recently.

[mdstuart]

I have a 6 inch TAL and the mount is rock solid, so what about a TAL, they do some short tube things that are really great from what I hear... Then at least it is made out of metal rather than a recyled pepsi tin for a tube.

[thing]

I can understand the appeal of looking at planets, but there are seven of them, only three of which will give you interesting views over time after the appeal of actually seeing them fades unless you have an observatory class instrument. There are thousands of DSO's to find and photograph. No contest to me.

[Doc]

I can understand the appeal of looking at planets, but there are seven of them, only three of which will give you interesting views over time after the appeal of actually seeing them fades unless you have an observatory class instrument. There are thousands of DSO's to find and photograph. No contest to me.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Apart from Saturn and Jupiter there's no other planet where you will see detail with the instrutments you mention.

And Jupiter is very low at the moment and will be for a while.

[RobH]

Why not keep an eye out for a secondhand 10 inch LX200 classic.

Good aperture for DSO's, and you can realistically use focal reducers for F6.3, and F5, both visually and photographically. Great for planets, with a native 2500mm focal length.

I had one until the observatory was ready for the 14 inch, and I now regret selling the one I had (taxman!!)

If you're reasonably fit, it's portable, certainly easier to move than a 10 inch Newt, and will fit on the back seat of a car easily.

You should be able to pick up a decent one for £1000.

Cheers

Rob

[GazOC]

Its not a lot of help in this situation but theres a 10" SCT OTA on ABS for £375 at the moment. "Only" EMC coatings but still an good deal IMHO.

[dave1978]

I see your point with the above comments! think i shall look for an 8" newtonian or a Nexstar 6SE.