Celestron Advanced VX 11" SCT Telescope

[MilwaukeeLion]

16 hours ago, kippford said:

Thanks for all the answers.

I have no particular observing in mind. Some planetary and some deep sky.

A bit of everything. I have DSLRs so some imaging.

12kg does not seem very heavy. It is the same as a bag of dog food which is easily lifted with one hand.

I like the style of this telescope as I have limited movement and it looks like it would be easier to see through the eyepiece at different elevations.

To be honest I would rather spend less but did not want to get something which limited my viewing.

ED80 triplet refractor is a popular first scope, costs less than half C11.  No cool down time, pairs great with your DSLR and on AVX mount.  Was one of my first scopes and still gets good use.  For imaging planets all you will need is an inexpensive ccd camera and barlow lens. Around $200 combined.

C11 is great out of the box, lunar & planet views are incredible.  If you want to use it for anything else you will need accessories and lots of them.  The weight is not bad, but I use 2 hands to mount it, once on top can easily tighten down with one hand and keep it from sliding off with the other (see accessory 1 below).  For cool down time, I mount it few hours before use to be safe so I always set up during daylight.

Accessory 1 = new heavy duty dovetail plate (for stable mounting) and matching saddle if your mount doesn't have a strong saddle.  What it comes with is not stable and makes mounting difficult. $100-$200

Accessory 2 = Dew shield, will fog in summer and frost in winter, this will help and block stray light but I still have to use blow dryer to defog/deice halfway through most sessions. $62 plus blow dryer.

Accessory 3 = F6.3 reducer, great for visual will give you wide field of view and allow you to do widefield imaging.  You can't take too long of subs though due to there are no mirror locks on C-11, you will need to continually refocus or stars will be elongated. $135

Accessory 4 = Electronic focuser, you will want this. $199

Accessory 5 = T adapter and T ring to mount camera $50

Accessory 6 = New finder scope if you want to do any guiding with your imaging. Finder that comes with is for visual only. $130

Accessory 7 = F1.9 Hyperstar, totally unnecessary but is sweet...Not for visual eyepiece use, allows quick viewing of multiple objects in one night on monitor / quickly image them.  $1428

Why did I buy a C11 again?  Ok, its coming back to me now, the views.

 

[Waldemar]

The main difference between a bag of dogfood and a telescope of the same weight is when you drop the bag of dogfood, the dog will still eat it.
If you drop the telescope you will see nothing anymore...
Try to lift that bag of dogfood with one hand on shoulderheight, open it with the other hand and try to get out one piece for the dog...
Be sure to tell him not to eat everything that will be on the ground!

Believe the people that already answered: it is not a good combination, especially not for imaging.
 

[Astro Imp]

First welcome to the best forum in cyberspace.
You have received very good advice already but I'll add my thoughts.
You will often see on here the best scope is the one that gets used, if your choice of scope turns out to be too much trouble to set up and take down you won't see anything with it sitting unused just taking up space.
You mention imaging, visual astronomy and imaging are two very different aspects of this hobby. I don't image but have seen some wonderful images posted on the forum, I suggest you look at some of these and see the kit used.
Be aware that visually you won't see anything like the colourful images posted by the talented people here. With very few exceptions DSOs will present themselves in shades of grey, they're not called "faint fuzzies" for nothing.
Please take your time and when you have made a decision I hope you enjoy this wonderful hobby.

 

[kippford]

Thanks again for all the answers. I get the point that 12kg may be too heavy now.

I have been watching astronomy images on the internet for some years, so I realise what the true view will be.

I am however not sure what aperture, quality and magnifications will give me those views.

Today I have been looking at this online https://www.celestron.com/products/edgehd-8-optical-tube-assembly-cg5

My brain is beginning to hurt.

[Cosmic Geoff]

1 hour ago, kippford said:

I am however not sure what aperture, quality and magnifications will give me those views.

To find that out you need to look through a telescope.  Any Internet image will show you what the object looked like with an imaging setup which is not quite what it looks like when seen visually (and often the difference is radical.)

However on the forum somewhere is a post which is called "What you should expect to see" or something similar, which will give you some idea.

[kippford]

17 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

To find that out you need to look through a telescope.  Any Internet image will show you what the object looked like with an imaging setup which is not quite what it looks like when seen visually (and often the difference is radical.)

However on the forum somewhere is a post which is called "What you should expect to see" or something similar, which will give you some idea.

Thank you. I will look for that.

[kippford]

There are no shops within a million miles of me so I will have to buy sight unseen. The stirling society website seems to have no updates recently.

[Davey-T]

If you click on the bit at the top of this page that says resources then astronomy tools, field of view calculator, you can put in various target, scope, eyepiece combinations to show you the expected field of view.

Dave

[kippford]

10 minutes ago, Davey-T said:

If you click on the bit at the top of this page that says resources then astronomy tools, field of view calculator, you can put in various target, scope, eyepiece combinations to show you the expected field of view.

Dave

Wow. Thanks.

[Astro Imp]

Here are a good set of sketches for all the Messier objects:- http://www.pbase.com/mike73/messier_sketches
Sketches give a better idea of what you would expect to see at the eyepiece than photographic images.

[kippford]

3 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

Here are a good set of sketches for all the Messier objects:- http://www.pbase.com/mike73/messier_sketches
Sketches give a better idea of what you would expect to see at the eyepiece than photographic images.

Thank you. I am getting some great information.

[Astro Imp]

25 minutes ago, kippford said:

Thank you. I am getting some great information.

You're welcome. I have found over the time I've been a member of the forum more experienced members have been of enormous help to me and like to pay back by giving what help I can to newcomers. 

[kippford]

2 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

You're welcome. I have found over the time I've been a member of the forum more experienced members have been of enormous help to me and like to pay back by giving what help I can to newcomers. 

Your telescope? Is that a Skywatcher 8" GOTO dobsonian. If so is it easy to see through the eyepiece at all elevations? I am not good at bending.

[Astro Imp]

3 minutes ago, kippford said:

Your telescope? Is that a Skywatcher 8" GOTO dobsonian. If so is it easy to see through the eyepiece at all elevations? I am not good at bending.

That's right. 
Before owning this I had the Skywatcher 150P on an equatorial mount. I always found it awkward as IMO for visual use a Newtonian scope on an equatorial mount is a thing of the devil. The eyepiece is always in an easily accessible position on the Dobsonian. Some members stand the base on the bases used for water butts to raise the viewing height but I have never found this necessary.  Set  up is very easy, some time ago there was a discussion on the length of time it took members to set up. I timed how long it took to take my scope from my garage to the adjacent patio, input the necessary information to the hand set, do an alignment and GOTO the first object, from memory this took about thirteen minutes. If reasonable care is taken with the initial setup the GOTO function works very well. Should you need any further information, just ask.

[kippford]

7 minutes ago, Astro Imp said:

That's right. 
Before owning this I had the Skywatcher 150P on an equatorial mount. I always found it awkward as IMO for visual use a Newtonian scope on an equatorial mount is a thing of the devil. The eyepiece is always in an easily accessible position on the Dobsonian. Some members stand the base on the bases used for water butts to raise the viewing height but I have never found this necessary.  Set  up is very easy, some time ago there was a discussion on the length of time it took members to set up. I timed how long it took to take my scope from my garage to the adjacent patio, input the necessary information to the hand set, do an alignment and GOTO the first object, from memory this took about thirteen minutes. If reasonable care is taken with the initial setup the GOTO function works very well. Should you need any further information, just ask.

Thank you. More investigation needed.

You can be sure I will try to overkill it though.

[SIDO]

I would suggest anyone purchasing a very large predominant narrow field heavy electronic telescope for a first and only telescope think strongly about a second smaller wider field non electronic unit for when one feels not like the work the weight and the malfunction of the former. 

Missing a major celestial event due to electronic failure, motor drive, power outage, handset faulted or the scope or its parts are off for warranty work is a real bummer.

If there is a power outage and the streetlights go out revealing the Best Milky Way your neighborhood has ever seen a non electronic quick cool down unit will get you in on it before the lights pop back on.

Portability, ease of use for roadtripping and vacationing should also be considered for this so called back up worst case senerio scope but when needed best case senario scope.

If I where ever forced to only have one telescope it would exactly reflect the second backup scope criteria I have outlined, there are many and very credible reasons why most astronomers own more than one telescope besides just for different imaging purposes, field of view requirements or electronic capabilities.

                 Best of Luck,

                       Freddie ?

 

 

[Astro Imp]

14 hours ago, kippford said:

 is it easy to see through the eyepiece at all elevations? I am not good at bending.

I don't have any problems, I always sit to observe rather than bending over the eyepiece. 
For a discussion on options of observing seats see here:-  
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/327297-what-to-use-for-an-observing-chair/
FYI I've just taken some measurement of eyepiece height:-
With the tube at an elevation of 20 degrees the centre of the eyepiece is at a height of 39"
When pointing at the zenith the height is 47"
 

[kippford]

10 hours ago, Astro Imp said:

I don't have any problems, I always sit to observe rather than bending over the eyepiece. 
For a discussion on options of observing seats see here:-  
https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/327297-what-to-use-for-an-observing-chair/
FYI I've just taken some measurement of eyepiece height:-
With the tube at an elevation of 20 degrees the centre of the eyepiece is at a height of 39"
When pointing at the zenith the height is 47"
 

I just measured my eye height sitting on a dining room chair. It is 53". 39" is very low. I would struggle to see that unless I sat on the floor. If i did that I might not get up again.

I wonder if a 10 or 12 inch might be a better height for me as the bending is my main limitation.

[kippford]

Thanks for all the help. I have decided to look into dobsonians a bit more.

They seem to be regarded as a good starter.

[kippford]

I just ordered a Skywatcher Heritage 130P. I feel it will give me time to think.

I also found an old box of eyepieces. 2 of them seem to be hand made.

I had a small telescope many years ago but lived in an area with terrible light polution so I never really used it.

[John]

10 minutes ago, kippford said:

I just ordered a Skywatcher Heritage 130P. I feel it will give me time to think.

I also found an old box of eyepieces. 2 of them seem to be hand made.

I had a small telescope many years ago but lived in an area with terrible light polution so I never really used it.

Thats a good move I think. The Heritage 130 will show some very nice views under a dark sky and you will use it frequently because it's just so quick and easy to set up and move about.

 

[kippford]

2 minutes ago, John said:

Thats a good move I think. The Heritage 130 will show some very nice views under a dark sky and you will use it frequently because it's just so quick and easy to set up and move about.

 

Thank you. I feel I have taken some pressure off of myself. My inkling is a 12" dob.

[Demonperformer]

Agreed. A good move. Not too great an investment, easy to set up and will give you the opportunity of discovering what objects really float your boat, making your next purchase more targetted at them.

Looking forward to reading of your experiences.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Yes, a good move. That scope is compact, light, easy to set up and does not require power, but has enough aperture to show you a large number of interesting objects.

With some practical experience of using it under your belt, you will be in a far better position to decide what kind of scope and mount you would really like to own.

The 130 will remain a useful spare or grab'n go telescope.

[dweller25]

@kippford

As already said the Heritage 130 is the perfect scope to test the waters.

I have a bad back so bending is a no-no for me. I always observe sitting down.

You can download “Stellarium” which is a very good planetarium program and it’s free.

If you browse the sketching section on SGL it will show what you can expect to see in various sized telescopes

Hope that helps