First telescope - SW 80ED, 120ED or 150ED?

[Cosmic Geoff]

"+ the apparent drawbacks of a Mak makes me a bit hesitant about this type of telescope. "

What apparent drawbacks?

[johninderby]

The mak is a more specialist scope. Great at lunar / planetary and small DSOs but it’s narrow field of view means it won’t be as good at low power wide field observing. But it is compact and ideal for a small space such as a balcony. and is light and easy to carry outside. A 127 mak on an AZ5 or other alt az mount makes a nice little package.

127 mak on a photo tripod and head.

 

[jock1958]

My aim when getting back into this hobby after a long hiatus was portability and ease of use as the scope you use the most is the best and one of the reasons I gave it all up in the past.

My current and fairly portable setup is a Takahashi FC 100DL on a AZ4 steel leg tripod with an Alt / Az Skytee 2 Mount which I can carry out in a oner from my dining room to back garden, it's not exactly light but doe-able!

Given the size of your balcony my particular set up would probably be impractical  especially if you want to get around your setup and extend the tripod legs as @happy-kathas alluded to.

As I've learnt there is compromises to made and no one scope will do it all.  I've been looking at the ultimate grab & go for the last 18 months or so and still not sure what to get....maybe a Tak FS 60 on a Manfrotto tripod??

 

 

 

[joe aguiar]

that's a good pic but for those that cant tell a 120mm f/7.5 is also not really small either if there was the sw 80mm ed next to the 120 u then can see  the 120 is medium size. On the pic it show kinda small next to the 150.  But don't think the 120 on a mount is small either.

Joe

[johninderby]

This 304 f/11.8 makes an ED150 look like a finderscope. You would need a bigger balcony though. 😁😁😁

[John]

26 minutes ago, joe aguiar said:

that's a good pic but for those that cant tell a 120mm f/7.5 is also not really small either if there was the sw 80mm ed next to the 120 u then can see  the 120 is medium size. On the pic it show kinda small next to the 150.  But don't think the 120 on a mount is small either.

Joe

Thats why I used the word "possibly" with regard to the ED120. Quite likely it is too large.

As I now see that the balcony being referred to is just 1x3 metres I think maybe a maksutov-cassegrain or schmidt-cassegrain on a pedestal mount would be more suitable ?

 

[joe aguiar]

55 minutes ago, John said:

Thats why I used the word "possibly" with regard to the ED120. Quite likely it is too large.

As I now see that the balcony being referred to is just 1x3 metres I think maybe a maksutov-cassegrain or schmidt-cassegrain on a pedestal mount would be more suitable ?

 

Agree John I was just explaining to the poster of the size difference in case he thought the 120 looks small. I know u know the sizes but wanted him to know that

Joejaguar 

[joe aguiar]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

This 304 f/11.8 makes an ED150 look like a finderscope. You would need a bigger balcony though. 😁😁😁

Holy cow is that a 6 inch? Ya it does look small compared with that scope 

For me 6 inch refractor is as big as I would have 

joejaguar 

Edited March 16, 2020 by joe aguiar

[johninderby]

The OTA only without VAT  is US $169,000.00 Eeeek 🙀🙀🙀

Edited March 16, 2020 by johninderby

[Telescope40]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

This 304 f/11.8 makes an ED150 look like a finderscope. You would need a bigger balcony though. 😁😁😁

Blimey O’Reilly !!  I’m happy with my ED150, given its “howitzer” heritage after seeing this photo.  No wonder the guy is sat down. 🤣🤣👍👍

[Louis D]

Here's my fairly compact setup.  You could substitute your spotting scope for the AT72ED, a larger aperture SCT for the 127 Mak if that suits you, and the dual alt-az mount of your choice for DSV-2B.  The only tricky part might be sliding into position to observe between the two rear legs of the tripod.  Once you're seated on a small observing stool, though, you're good to go.

[Thingo]

On 16/03/2020 at 19:16, Cosmic Geoff said:

"+ the apparent drawbacks of a Mak makes me a bit hesitant about this type of telescope. "

What apparent drawbacks?

This other guys wrote: "There is a trade off with a mak in that it's better on bright deep space objects and in your light pollution won't likely reveal faint DSO."

What is your experience? It is quite attractive with the small size of it. 

Edited March 17, 2020 by Thingo

[Thingo]

8 hours ago, Louis D said:

Here's my fairly compact setup.  You could substitute your spotting scope for the AT72ED, a larger aperture SCT for the 127 Mak if that suits you, and the dual alt-az mount of your choice for DSV-2B.  The only tricky part might be sliding into position to observe between the two rear legs of the tripod.  Once you're seated on a small observing stool, though, you're good to go.

 

Interesting idea. I'll consider that.

[Thingo]

Seems to be a common problem to decide what telescope to buy 🤣 I have changed my mind about what telescope to buy about 50 times since I posted this topic and I have also started to look at other telescopes, some of which has been suggested here such as the skywatcher and the nexstar. 

I'm debating with myself whether a mak or a smaller refractor would be better? if now the 80ed is a stupid size because they have put it in a 4" tube, there are other brands, or there is the 72ED. Or what about going for something more expensive such as a william optics zenithstar or gran turismo series below 100mm? They look beautiful!

[Thingo]

N/A

Edited March 17, 2020 by Thingo

[johninderby]

Or for a bit more there is the StellaMira 85 f/6.6. Build quality is the same as rhe WO but with a bit better optics.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellamira-telescopes/stellamira-85mm-ed2-triplet-f6-6-apo-refractor-telescope.html

Edited March 17, 2020 by johninderby

[MarkAR]

53 minutes ago, Thingo said:

Seems to be a common problem to decide what telescope to buy 🤣 I have changed my mind about what telescope to buy about 50 times

I had that problem as well, limited myself to the best second hand seals on here, Ebay and AstroBuySell and ended up with a complete package instead of just a scope.