Skywatcher 200p goto

[despot67]

Well I've owned a 150p with a motor drive ( not goto) and a celestron 127 nex star which I use the most for planetary imaging use a zwo cam and wonder if a 200p goto would be a nice upgrade to replace both?

I've got about £800 to spend and wondered what the members opinions are?

[Ships and Stars]

Find a big dob for £1200-ish and convince them it's worth £800, plus good karma to them for selling cheaply. Okay, maybe the karma aspect is negligible. £1000 used should get you in the 14" to 16" range for a nice example. There's a 12"  Meade dob for £175 online, but mirror needs a polish!

[bottletopburly]

Why not keep both and buy a good condition Eq6 pro or neq6

[despot67]

My 150p has a motor drive focus on it plus a drive for the eq3 mount and a polar scope so its upgraded. I have looked at the 200p goto scopes as an upgrade even a eq5 goto mount for my 150p?

[Carbon Brush]

From a chronic equipment hoarder who likes choices, here are my thoughts.

Lookout for a used EQ5 or similar size/payload goto mount.
This will easily carry either of your existing scopes and the improved stability will hopefully let you get some longer exposure images. That is not just planetary.

You could look for a bigger mount HEQ5/EQ6) but costs go up and if you have to do a lot of shifting and packing away, it becomes more of an issue.

If you can have a permanent setup. Go for a pier and add the biggest mount you can afford.

After doing this, if aperture fever is still diagnosed, look out for a used 8" newtonian.
They are on sale quite often as a lot have been sold.
You might even get something at a good price on a dob mount, so you just need some rings to drop it onto the EQ5/6.

An EQ5 will even carry a 10" newtonian for visual use. But for photo use you will need a no-wind night.

Enjoy choosing and using.

David.

 

[despot67]

Thanks Dave it does make sense. I have been looking at a nexstar 8 se this morning which I could get if I sold both of mine but I'm not sure of its dso abilities?

But a new goto 200p or pd is affordable but again I assume this wouldn't give me any benefit over my celestron for planetary imaging?