Is It Worth The Change?

[Skyline]

14 hours ago, John said:

The price is rising !

We started with a circa £1K scope 

I have a Skywatcher ED120 and it is a fine scope. Compares well with my much, much more expensive Takahashi 100 fluorite doublet and TMB/LZOS 130 triplet.

You can get the ED120's in nice pre-owned condition for £600-£700.

 

 

Or buy a SW100ED, much cheaper with good colour correction. Often come up s/h.

[johnturley]

3 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

blooming heck that's a beastie for a 127, never realised they were quite that big. I am so glad I resisted the temptation to got for one a while back. 

I think it partly depends on the angle from which the photograph was taken, in this photo my ES  127 on an AZ-EQ5 does not appear quite so large.

Edited June 29, 2020 by johnturley

[steveex2003]

19 hours ago, John said:

If my main field of interest was the deep sky I would go for a reflector every time. I can't afford, house or handle the sort of aperture in refractors that I can in reflectors.

12" in reflector:

 

12 inch refractor:

The team of Sherpa's, Logistics and Mechanical Departments and Catering all graciously out of shot here?

[John]

3 hours ago, Skyline said:

Or buy a SW100ED, much cheaper with good colour correction. Often come up s/h.

I was thinking of the OP's interest in the deep sky. The light grasp of the 100mm might leave him feeling short changed on DSO's compared with his current ST120.

Put an ED120 and a 127 Triplet side by side and the latter seems a lot larger and heavier. The ED120 often manages to show less CA than the lower cost triplets as well. This comparison is worth a read - the Astro Tech 127 is the same as the Meade and ES 127 triplets I believe:

https://astromart.com/reviews-and-articles/reviews/telescopes/refractors/show/orion-120ed-vs-astro-tech-127edt

 

 

[Dippy]

1 hour ago, John said:

I was thinking of the OP's interest in the deep sky. The light grasp of the 100mm might leave him feeling short changed on DSO's compared with his current ST120.

Put an ED120 and a 127 Triplet side by side and the latter seems a lot larger and heavier. The ED120 often manages to show less CA than the lower cost triplets as well. This comparison is worth a read - the Astro Tech 127 is the same as the Meade and ES 127 triplets I believe:

https://astromart.com/reviews-and-articles/reviews/telescopes/refractors/show/orion-120ed-vs-astro-tech-127edt

 

 

John, is that a kitchen knife magnet at the bottom of your 12” Dobsonian telescope ? What kind of weights and what size you add to it to balance the tube?

[John]

2 minutes ago, Dippy said:

John, is that a kitchen knife magnet at the bottom of your 12” Dobsonian telescope ? What kind of weights and what size you add to it to balance the tube?

Yes it is. I use two old iron counterweights of around 1kg and 2kg.

[Dippy]

5 minutes ago, John said:

Yes it is. I use two old iron counterweights of around 1kg and 2kg.

Thanks John, would you mind if I ask to see a photo of the counterweights you mentioned on the magnet? 

[John]

6 minutes ago, Dippy said:

Thanks John, would you mind if I ask to see a photo of the counterweights you mentioned on the magnet? 

I'll send a photo via PM when I get a chance - I don't want to sidetrack this thread.

 

[Dippy]

1 hour ago, John said:

I'll send a photo via PM when I get a chance - I don't want to sidetrack this thread.

 

Thanks John, will be waiting for it.

[steveex2003]

On 28/06/2020 at 14:54, John said:

If my main field of interest was the deep sky I would go for a reflector every time. I can't afford, house or handle the sort of aperture in refractors that I can in reflectors.

12" in reflector:

 

12 inch refractor:

Can I ask? Is that frac a very long FL? Having looked through it is it, for want of a better phrase, worth it over a reflector with twice the aperture and considerably less in stature? (if the FR's are roughly similar)
Or, Is my question directly scalable to the more modest fracs & dobs many here have? 

Edited June 29, 2020 by steveex2003

[John]

28 minutes ago, steveex2003 said:

Can I ask? Is that frac a very long FL? Having looked through it is it, for want of a better phrase, worth it over a reflector with twice the aperture and considerably less in stature? (if the FR's are roughly similar)
Or, Is my question directly scalable to the more modest fracs & dobs many here have? 

It is not my scope  it was just photo of a 12 inch refractor that I found to illustrate my point about the difference in practicality between a 12 inch dobsonian (which is my scope) and a refractor of the same aperture.

There are not many 12 inch refractors around outside of observatories.

The 12 inch refractor is F/12.2 and was for sale a while back (might still be available ?) in the USA. Here is a movie all about it: