90mm refractor or 130 newt

[MrGuGuZai]

Hi, want to get a new telescope, SkyWatcher Evostar 90 EQ2 or SkyWatcher heritage 130p? i saw many suggested refractor is good for planets, i mostly target planets, moon and some star only, live in city.  need some advice. thanks. 

[Nerf_Caching]

2 hours ago, MrGuGuZai said:

Hi, want to get a new telescope, SkyWatcher Evostar 90 EQ2 or SkyWatcher heritage 130p? i saw many suggested refractor is good for planets, i mostly target planets, moon and some star only, live in city.  need some advice. thanks. 

If I were you I would choose the 130p over the 90mm for a number of reasons. Firstly, the 130p will not only provide you with good views of the planets, it will also show you a variety of deep sky objects due to its larger aperture than the 90mm refractor. Additionally, while the 90mm refractor excels for planet viewing, that would be the end of its advantages. The 130p may require an Barlow lens(which I think is included) to get to the higher magnifications, although you can still see Jupiter and Saturn clearly even without it. Above all, the 130p is extremely portable,  more so than the 90mm which means you can easily transport it to a dark-sky site if and when needed. Hope this helps!

Edited March 31, 2020 by Nerf_Caching

[cletrac1922]

Welcome first of all from Land Down Under

I would go for Skywatcher 250mm Flex Dob

Easy to store and transport

I am out a couple times per month with my club, doing presentations in primary schools an scout groups

I use wideangle 15mm and 17mm eyepieces as well, and ideal for Saturn, Jupiter, Orion Nebula and other DSO

Attached pic taken at a recent club public viewing day/night

I also use a right angle finderscope, as saves having to lay on the ground to align what is overhead

With the lid, there is a small detachable cap, and sticky tape Baader visual film to underside of the lid, over the hole, can then use for solar viewing

John

 

 

[Stu]

20 minutes ago, cletrac1922 said:

Welcome first of all from Land Down Under

I would go for Skywatcher 250mm Flex Dob

Easy to store and transport

I am out a couple times per month with my club, doing presentations in primary schools an scout groups

I use wideangle 15mm and 17mm eyepieces as well, and ideal for Saturn, Jupiter, Orion Nebula and other DSO

Attached pic taken at a recent club public viewing day/night

I also use a right angle finderscope, as saves having to lay on the ground to align what is overhead

With the lid, there is a small detachable cap, and sticky tape Baader visual film to underside of the lid, over the hole, can then use for solar viewing

John

 

 

John, that is a completely different proposition from a budget and size perspective so not really helpful to the OP.

@MrGuGuZai I would tend to agree with @Nerf_Cachingthat the Heritage 130p is a great little scope for the money, and is very compact and easy to use. Great optics too given the price, I have split tight double stars with mine down to 1.4”, quite impressive for something that cost me £50 secondhand!

What sort of budget do you have and where would you observe from?

[MrGuGuZai]

6 hours ago, Nerf_Caching said:

If I were you I would choose the 130p over the 90mm for a number of reasons. Firstly, the 130p will not only provide you with good views of the planets, it will also show you a variety of deep sky objects due to its larger aperture than the 90mm refractor. Additionally, while the 90mm refractor excels for planet viewing, that would be the end of its advantages. The 130p may require an Barlow lens(which I think is included) to get to the higher magnifications, although you can still see Jupiter and Saturn clearly even without it. Above all, the 130p is extremely portable,  more so than the 90mm which means you can easily transport it to a dark-sky site if and when needed. Hope this helps!

is the 130p can provide higher magnification than the 90mm? the 130p has 650mm focal length while 90mm has 900mm focal length. 

Edited March 31, 2020 by MrGuGuZai

[MrGuGuZai]

7 minutes ago, Stu said:

John, that is a completely different proposition from a budget and size perspective so not really helpful to the OP.

@MrGuGuZai I would tend to agree with @Nerf_Cachingthat the Heritage 130p is a great little scope for the money, and is very compact and easy to use. Great optics too given the price, I have split tight double stars with mine down to 1.4”, quite impressive for something that cost me £50 secondhand!

What sort of budget do you have and where would you observe from?

budget is around 300, ill only use the telescope in city. im from Singapore 

[Stu]

1 hour ago, MrGuGuZai said:

is the 130p can provide higher magnification than the 90mm? the 130p has 650mm focal length while 90mm has 90mm focal length. 

The 90mm has a 900mm focal length. Yes you could reach the same magnifications, you just need shorter focal length eyepieces.

The 90mm on the EQ2 Mount would be fiddly and not so stable, if you did opt for this then an alt az Mount would be better.

How portable do you need the scope to be, would you need to carry or transport it anywhere? A 102mm or 127mm Mak may be a good option for you, something like this.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-pronto/sky-watcher-skymax-102-az-pronto.html
 

Maks are great on the Moon and Planets and good for small star clusters too.

[Nerf_Caching]

2 hours ago, MrGuGuZai said:

is the 130p can provide higher magnification than the 90mm? the 130p has 650mm focal length while 90mm has 90mm focal length. 

Well, that is a slightly more complex question to answer. For starters, magnification = focal length of telescope / focal length of eyepiece. So yes, the magnification for the 90mm will be higher than the 130 for a given focal length of eyepiece. For instance, a 32mm eyepiece will provide more magnification in the 90mm refractor than the 130p, because the 90mm has a longer focal length. However, keep in mind that magnification is not necessarily indicative of the power of the telescope. In fact, there are three indicators of the 'power' of a telescope, namely aperture, resolution and magnification. Arguably the least important of the three of them is magnification. Magnification is nothing without good aperture and therefore resolution as all magnifying does is dim the view and blur it if you push the magnification too high. Hence, I highly suggest you to buy the most aperture you can afford; the 130p is a good starting point as I have said.

By the way, an eq mount would be a pain to use for visual astronomy anyway if you are a beginner. Alt-az mounts such as on the 130p are easier to find objects with. Ideally, eq mounts would be used for astrophotography (and not a flimsy eq2 mind you).

Edited March 31, 2020 by Nerf_Caching

[MrGuGuZai]

5 hours ago, Stu said:

The 90mm has a 900mm focal length. Yes you could reach the same magnifications, you just need shorter focal length eyepieces.

The 90mm on the EQ2 Mount would be fiddly and not so stable, if you did opt for this then an alt az Mount would be better.

How portable do you need the scope to be, would you need to carry or transport it anywhere? A 102mm or 127mm Mak may be a good option for you, something like this.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-pronto/sky-watcher-skymax-102-az-pronto.html
 

Maks are great on the Moon and Planets and good for small star clusters too.

thats mean i just need to just shorter focal length eyepiece for 130p  to achieve same magnification of 90mm? 

[MrGuGuZai]

4 hours ago, Nerf_Caching said:

Well, that is a slightly more complex question to answer. For starters, magnification = focal length of telescope / focal length of eyepiece. So yes, the magnification for the 90mm will be higher than the 130 for a given focal length of eyepiece. For instance, a 32mm eyepiece will provide more magnification in the 90mm refractor than the 130p, because the 90mm has a longer focal length. However, keep in mind that magnification is not necessarily indicative of the power of the telescope. In fact, there are three indicators of the 'power' of a telescope, namely aperture, resolution and magnification. Arguably the least important of the three of them is magnification. Magnification is nothing without good aperture and therefore resolution as all magnifying does is dim the view and blur it if you push the magnification too high. Hence, I highly suggest you to buy the most aperture you can afford; the 130p is a good starting point as I have said.

By the way, an eq mount would be a pain to use for visual astronomy anyway if you are a beginner. Alt-az mounts such as on the 130p are easier to find objects with. Ideally, eq mounts would be used for astrophotography (and not a flimsy eq2 mind you).

i tend to do some imaging, is the dobsonian mount hard to do imaging? 

[Louis D]

54 minutes ago, MrGuGuZai said:

i tend to do some imaging, is the dobsonian mount hard to do imaging? 

You can hold a smartphone camera up to the eyepiece and get snapshots of brighter objects like the moon and planets and, with a proper solar filter, the sun.  If you build or buy an equatorial platform for it, you can extend the imaging opportunities somewhat.

[Nerf_Caching]

1 hour ago, MrGuGuZai said:

i tend to do some imaging, is the dobsonian mount hard to do imaging? 

If it is not a motorized dobsonian, then forget about imaging; at least for deep-sky objects. For planetary imaging or lunar, I would recommend a smartphone adapter like the Celestron NeXYZ.

[joe aguiar]

heres my thoughts

I think I rather go with the 90mm refractor, im assuming its f/10?

if so colour correction will be good and images will be also good with no central mirror. The 130 sw heritage if not collimated wont get the best views. lately I read most new people just love to touch the collimation of a scope. I think it best un touched.

The reflector will give you bit brighter views BUT it wont be huge as its only a 5.1" vs a 3.5". The reflector will lose at least a full inch or bit more compared to a refrector anyway.

so really its a 3.5 vs a 4" which wont be that much more light grasp.

The reflector mini dob also has some issue ( I did a video  on my you tube channel) here is where I think it fals short abit

-SW mini dob needs a shroud to block stray light and need a dew cap as the 2nd mirror is out in the open. In the winter like now its not dewy BUT in the summer it will be and will 99% dew up in most countrys, of course I cant say 100% cause it depends on the climate you live in.

The mini dob also need a small table which adds to the cost of the whole package or stool, and it need to be solid steady or theres no point and it will have too much vibrations. That base is made of pressure board/ some called it chip board or MDF board, and after few years the elements will start to rot it out, its not real ply wood. Also the cost to me is too much for that scope as I say on my vodeo it costs $299 cdn then plus the shourd + dew cap+ stool or table and its a lot more then the eq  version.

OK so meade has the Polaris 130mm on eq2 its the same ota less its not as compact BUT its on a eq2 mount which I think should cost more as the steel , alumumium gears, slow motion controls and cog wheels is MUCH harder to make and costs more. Ok sure it may take a brand new person a tad more to learn a eq mount but its not as bad as people think.

All I did put the mount down ( I cant see Polaris as I only have a south view from balacony) but I kinda know where it is so just put it in that direction and that it use the slow motion controls vs no controls on the mini dob. The tripod version is also the perfect height for really any teen or adult. and this model cost the same is the SW heritage.

BUT OK this thread is not really about the meade vs the sw reflectors BUT I was just letting you know about the costs of the mini dob plus the extras u need to buy then compare to something similar.

The refractor will never need collimation a HUGE plus for a brand new person, ypou can also use it for daytime views . Sure this is the best scope for that BUT if that's not really your thing and will only do it few times and you have this scope just try it and use it for that.Again everything applies here with the eq mount being being height, having slow motion controls and you can add a clock drive later. It may not be rock solid on a eq2 but u can still see detail very good. Just put the planet in the outer edge let it drift slowly to the center and let it settle down and just look at the image.

So bascially I would get the 90mm refractor over the SW heritage BUT altho  theres what I call short falls in the heritage its still a good scope BUT it should have been cheaper like $249 cdn not $299 or they should add a shroud and dewcap for the $299 price.

Joejaguar

[Louis D]

11 hours ago, Nerf_Caching said:

If it is not a motorized dobsonian, then forget about imaging; at least for deep-sky objects. For planetary imaging or lunar, I would recommend a smartphone adapter like the Celestron NeXYZ.

It's certainly doable with an equatorial platform under a non-motorized Dob as I said above.