Best motorised telescope on a budget?

[christiandransfield]

Hey guys,

Sorry if this has already been asked, but just wondered what your suggestions for the best motorised telescope in a budget are. I don’t mind buying 2nd hand to keep the price down etc, but the recent release of the new moon maps has made me want to finally buy a telescope and also explore other areas of the universe, too! 
 

Any advice would be much-appreciated :)

[Philip.]

Hi, knowing what your budget is will help, but if you look at someone like First Light Optics [click the banner at the top of the page] that should give you an idea. As for what's best you won't go far wrong with the Skywatcher brand. Very happy with mine, but I'm sure others will give their thoughts. Happy hunting

Edited April 28, 2020 by Philip.

[Geoff Lister]

3 hours ago, Philip. said:

As for what's best you won't go far wrong with the Skywatcher brand. Very happy with mine, but I'm sure others will give their thoughts.

I have a range of mounts and telescope tubes at my disposal, but the Skywatcher Skymax 127 with Synscan GoTo is the one I use most. It is a good compromise for most targets. I liked it so much that I bought a second one for use in my holiday home in France. If you only want motorised tracking, then the Skywatcher Virtuoso 90 is worth considering. However, the 127 and its Synscan GoTo is more useful to find some of the more challenging "faint fuzzies".

Geoff

[jonathan]

What is a budget though?  There are excellent motorised mounts that cost over £1,000, and others that cost only £100-£200.

One thing to keep in mind when considering a mount is that the mount is the thing that makes viewing the stars and planets possible, you can put the best telescope on a rubbish mount and you won't see a thing because it'll be difficult to move around and wobble like crazy.  Even if you have only a mediocre telescope it will be vastly improved by a steady mount.  When purchasing a telescope that comes with a mount, it's often (but not always) near the weight limit of the mount so you may not get the best views out of the telescope.

Personally I would always recommend buying a telescope and mount separately, then you can buy the 'next mount up' that will give you rock steady views and enable you to really see what the telescope is capable of.  Take a look at the telescope + mount bundles, then look at the 'next bundle up' (e.g. if looking at a scope that comes with a Skywatcher EQ3-2, look at what the next size up telescope comes with and consider buying that mount with the original telescope you looked at earlier).

Be aware that motorised mounts (goto) add expense to a package, it's a nice thing to have but it's not necessary to get started.  Binoculars (10x50 is a popular size) and a planisphere are probably the best equipment for a beginner to have, then look at books that show you things like the top 50 things to see in the night sky, I like the ones by Philips (make sure the book is for the Northern hemisphere).

In terms of budget all-in-one goto telescopes, something like this Skywatcher Explorer 130P SynScan seems to be a popular model (Celestron do a similar product line, they are made by the same factory), the telescope itself is great for it's size however I have seen owners of these pulling their hair out with frustration when the motorised mount doesn't work properly, and without knowing the night sky they can't even use it in manual mode as they don't know where the cool things are.  Budget Goto telescopes are great when they work, but they are prone to problems and can be confusing for the novice.

How about this setup as an option for a beginner motorised kit: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-astromaster-series/celestron-astromaster-130eq-newtonian-telescope-with-smartphone-adapter-barlow-t-adapter.html

Coupled with the motor drive unit for tracking: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-astromaster-series/motor-drive-celestron-astromaster-geq-93514.html

This will give you motorised tracking (not goto) so you'll only need to make occasional and minor manual corrections to keep objects in the eyepiece, depending on how well the mount has been aligned with the pole star (needs to be done at the start of each observing session, takes anything from a few seconds to several minutes depending on how accurate you want to be).  I have no experience with this particular mount but Celestron are a reputable company and the telescope should give you some great starter views.

(Note: notice how that telescope comes with CG-3 mount and a tripod with 1.25" steel legs, personally I would prefer a CG-4 mount with 1.75" steel legs for extra stability for the 130P telescope, however this would come at greater expense.  The CG-4 also requires a more expensive motor drive unit because it is heavier).

Edited April 28, 2020 by jonathan