Can anyone explain the difference?

[PhilSpo]

Hello Everyone,

So for about 10 years I have had a Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ. The tripod is pretty broken now although the tube and mount is fine. Anyway I have roughly £700 to spend on a new telescope.

I have been looking at the following two telescopes.

Orion SkyQuest XT8i IntelliScope Dobsonian Telescope

https://www.telescope.com/Orion-SkyQuest-XT8i-IntelliScope-Dobsonian-Telescope/p/102012.uts

Sky-Watcher SKYLINER-200P FlexTube SynScan GO-TO Telescope

https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/sky-watcher-skyliner-200p-flextube-synscan-go-to-telescope.html

They are both roughly the same price, one is a 'Push To' and the other a 'Go To' apart from that they both look the same? Is this correct? Usually Go-To is much more expensive? So i am wondering why the Sky-Watcher is so cheap?

Or do any of you guys have any better reccomendations?

I would like Go-To or Push To. I have spent too long with the Astromaster struggling to find the object im looking for.

Cheers

Phil

[johninderby]

Simple. Skywatcher is a very good deal in the UK and cheaper than in the US. Orion is for the American market and not common in the UK. Both brands are part of Synta.

[Cosmic Geoff]

You seem to be comparing a dollar priced scope with a pound priced scope. 

My own research some years ago indicated that push-to and go-to scopes cost about the same.  Even though GOTo have motors and push-to do not, from a manufacturing point of view, they contain the same amount of "stuff".  That said, the XT8i looks like a good price - in the USA anyway...   To import to the UK, you will have to pay shipping and import duties.

The Sky-watcher Dob GoTo costs about the same as a 8' Newtonian on a German equatorial GoTo mount.

I suggest you look at other options/makers.  Is this purely for visual use?

[PhilSpo]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies.

I can get the XT8i from Amazon UK for £712

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orion-SkyQuest-IntelliScope-Dobsonian-Telescope/dp/B000P2ZPB2

 

or its £779 for the Sky watcher.

 

Yes its purely for visual use. I want to get my kids to be ableto look up to see the night sky.

Cheers

 

[johninderby]

The push to Orion doesn’t track at all. It is a manual system. The system on it just shows you where something is then you have to keep nudging it manually to keep whatever it is you want to look at in the field of view.

The Skywatcher having proper GOTO once you have chosen what it is you want to look at then the scope tracks it and keeps it in the field of view without having to touch the scope.

Edited June 29, 2020 by johninderby

[bomberbaz]

I have had goto and pushto. I prefer the pushto if I am honest.

John rightly identifies the key difference between them, both should find the target. However that said i have found the pushto to be a little more accurate at finding objects and a little easier to align.

I shall miss the 10" pushto when i sell it in August. (spoiler) Mrs Bomberbaz can't wait to see it go.

Steve

Edited June 29, 2020 by bomberbaz

[Louis D]

6 hours ago, johninderby said:

Simple. Skywatcher is a very good deal in the UK and cheaper than in the US. Orion is for the American market and not common in the UK. Both brands are part of Synta.

Synta does not own Orion USA, it is an independent astronomy dealer that sources gear from not only Synta, but many other vendors under their Orion house brand.

SkyWatcher is the Synta house brand in Europe and other parts of the world.  It only sells Synta made equipment.

[Louis D]

As for the difference between them, I'm not sure how easy the fully GOTO telescope is to use manually if you just want a quick grab and go to peek at the stars without doing an alignment, especially through gaps in the clouds when alignment stars might be difficult to find.

Does anyone have experience using these FlexTube GOTO scopes in fully manual mode?  How are the motions compared to a push-to?   I assume the motors can be declutched from the axes and the scope can be used as ordinary Dob.  Can it be used as a push to in this mode using just the encoders?

[bomberbaz]

40 minutes ago, Louis D said:

Does anyone have experience using these FlexTube GOTO scopes in fully manual mode?  How are the motions compared to a push-to?   I assume the motors can be declutched from the axes and the scope can be used as ordinary Dob.  Can it be used as a push to in this mode using just the encoders?

When I had one I occasionally swung it around manually, the encoders know where it has been moved to but as far as I know it doesn't actually tell you where it is on the handset, I may stand corrected.

However it is a little bit clumsy and stiff trying to move it. At least the 12" version was that I had. Had some fantastic views in it but I tired of all the setting up (wires, batteries, collimation, shrouds etc) also it was quite heavy and so went for the solid tube pushto. Far easier to use in my own personal experience.

Steve

[Louis D]

1 hour ago, bomberbaz said:

However it is a little bit clumsy and stiff trying to move it. At least the 12" version was that I had. Had some fantastic views in it but I tired of all the setting up (wires, batteries, collimation, shrouds etc) also it was quite heavy and so went for the solid tube pushto. Far easier to use in my own personal experience.

And if you ever want tracking, you can buy or build an equatorial platform for it.

[bomberbaz]

34 minutes ago, Louis D said:

And if you ever want tracking, you can buy or build an equatorial platform for it.

I enjoy the bumping now since I got the pushto Louis, will have to see if the 14" truss is as easy to use when it arrives.