Which Explorer 130?

[Skia Optima]

Hello All.  First time poster.  Have just signed up after spending many hours browsing and finding this place a very helpful resource.  I stumbled into astronomy recently, having bought my soon to be 5 year old daughter a telescope.  She has very keen interest in space and the planets, which she inherited from me.  Although despite that interest I've never really looked at astronomy.  Now I've spent more time with it than she has!  It is a Celestron Travelscope 70 DX and came with a handy backpack and everything else to get started.  It presumably is quite a poor telescope, but it was £25 brand new in a clearance sale so seemed worth a punt.  Size-wise it works quite well for her too. 

 

Now that i've had a taste I would like to get something a bit more useable for myself.  I'd planned to spend around £200-250 and after a bit of research, the SkyWatcher Explorer 130 seems a good place to start, but I'm torn between 2 different versions - the 130PS with AZ5 mount and tripod or the 130P Synscan AZ GOTO.  I've seen a few comparisons of both but only in relation to other scopes, not each other.  Haven't seen anything that explains what the 'S' stands for in the first version.  I'm leaning to the AZ5 version as it is £80 cheaper, available now and would seem a better choice if I wanted to pop out for an hour with my daughter.  Even if travelling solo I don't think I'd be planning whole evenings around stargazing (yet) so it's more about portability and being able to easily get setup.  The GOTO system does look intriguing but is it worth the extra money (I assume I'd also need to invest in something like a powertank which is more cost)?  I do like the idea of just tapping a button and being able to see different objects, but is it hard to locate objects with a 'manual' scope such as the AZ5?  One thing I've noticed with the small scope we already have is that once I've acquired something in my eyepiece, if I dare to tighten up the tripod adjustment arm it moves enough to lose it!  I would hope the AZ5 has a more refined method of moving and honing in on objects.  I've linked to the 2 scopes below;

 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az5-deluxe.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/az-goto/skywatcher-explorer-130p-synscan-az-goto.html

 

Appreciate any feedback or suggestions. 

[johninderby]

The AZ5 is a good manual alt-az mount. Learning your way around the sky takes time but just take it slowly.. This is a great book for finding your way around the sky and worth every penny. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

The AZ-GTi is a modern mount and very popular. It has WiFi and you control it with a smartphone. The old Synscan mount has been around for many years and doesn’t have  the features the AZ-GTi mount does. The AZ-GTi can also be used as an EQ mount with a few optional extras. A GOTO mount needs aligning before it can start tracking so that’s a skill to learn. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az-gti.html

The tripod is the weak link with either scope and getting a heavier duty tripod will make it much more stable. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-star-adventurer/sky-watcher-38-stainless-steel-tripod.html

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Skia Optima & daughter and welcome to SGL. 

If you don't mind doing/going manual tracking, then I would recommend one of these...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

Both have larger aperture than 130mm and very popular with newbies. [I am not saying 130mm mm is a bad choice]. For an extra 20 or 70mm, you would be able to view more detail on the Moon, planets and some DSO's. Stars will always be appear as a point of light and will show companion or neighbouring stars.

Manual tracking is not to difficult once you have done it a few times. All my mounts are manual alt-az. Goto mounts often rely on locating two or more objects for the initial alignment and need to be more or less placed on a level surface; whereas as with a manual alt-az or 'Dobsonian' mount it is not so critical. 

With all mounts, balancing the OTA is important to prevent sharp sudden movement in both axis when slewing the 'scope and/or damage. 

[Skia Optima]

Thanks for the suggestions John.  I hadn't looked at the wifi version actually.  It does look better than the Synscan and fairly keenly priced relative to that.  I can feel my wallet starting to creak!

 

Dave

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

John's admirably described the mounts. As for the telescopes, they're both almost the same.

Both are 130mm aperture, 650mm focal length with parabolic silicon dioxide coated mirrors. The main difference is the 130PS primary mirror is fixed in place and collimated at the factory. Only the secondary mirror needs collimating occasionally.

The 130PS focuser is a lighter weight, less sturdy version than the 130P and comes with a red dot finder rather than a 6x30 finderscope.

As for the benefits of GOTO... It's generally easier than manual to find objects, however the gotos aren't always accurate and there is faffing about at the beginning of a session aligning the mount. Then there are power considerations.

I started with a 130PS and AZ5. Now I have GOTO also, but the simplicity of the manual mount keeps it being used.

Philip's dobsonian suggestion is great if you're not sold on GOTO yet. Also surprising, because the dobsonian mounted telescope stands upright, its footprint is smaller than a tripod, if you're worried about storage.

Edited October 13, 2020 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[Skia Optima]

3 minutes ago, Philip R said:

Hi @Skia Optima & daughter and welcome to SGL. 

If you don't mind doing/going manual tracking, then I would recommend one of these...
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-150p-dobsonian.html
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

Both have larger aperture than 130mm and very popular with newbies. [I am not saying 130mm mm is a bad choice]. For an extra 20 or 70mm, you would be able to view more detail on the Moon, planets and some DSO's. Stars will always be appear as a point of light and will show companion or neighbouring stars.

Manual tracking is not to difficult once you have done it a few times. All my mounts are manual alt-az. Goto mounts often rely on locating two or more objects for the initial alignment and need to be more or less placed on a level surface; whereas as with a manual alt-az or 'Dobsonian' mount it is not so critical. 

With all mounts, balancing the OTA is important to prevent sharp sudden movement in both axis when slewing the 'scope and/or damage. 

Thanks, glad to be here.  I'd looked a bit at Dobsonians and was a little confused at how you use them.  Do they just go on the ground?  They do seem to offer a lot for the money compared to Newtonian or refractor scopes.  I think the main thing that would put me off is that they seem quite chunky.  I don't have a shed or garage for storage so I'm not sure I'd even have room for the 150mm version.  We are planning to move within the next 2 years after my youngest starts school, so hopefully then I will have room for something with at least 200mm.

 

Dave

[johninderby]

Bresser has just released a new 6” dob that looks really interesting. Very well specced and proper big bearings as well.

https://www.telescopehouse.com/bresser-messier-6-planetary-dobsonian-telescope.html?utm_source=Telescope+House+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1a0ac02580-Bresser-messier-planetary-dobsonian-6-inch&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2ccd288edb-1a0ac02580-29670257&mc_cid=1a0ac02580&mc_eid=61c9481f7e

[RT65CB-SWL]

12 minutes ago, Skia Optima said:

...Do they just go on the ground? ...

If you find they are a bit short in length, many use a sturdy upturned bucket or water-butt riser to give an extra bit of height. 

It is often better to see them 'in the flesh' to give you an idea of size.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Philip R

[Skia Optima]

15 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Bresser has just released a new 6” dob that looks really interesting. Very well specced and proper big bearings as well.

https://www.telescopehouse.com/bresser-messier-6-planetary-dobsonian-telescope.html?utm_source=Telescope+House+Newsletter&utm_campaign=1a0ac02580-Bresser-messier-planetary-dobsonian-6-inch&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2ccd288edb-1a0ac02580-29670257&mc_cid=1a0ac02580&mc_eid=61c9481f7e

 

7 minutes ago, Philip R said:

If you find they are a bit short in length, many use an upturned sturdy bucket or water-butt riser to give an extra bit of height. 

It is often better to see them 'in the flesh' to give you an idea of size.

I think I might go and take a look at some.  All those suggested seem very good, just don't want to end up with a massive lump living in the corner of the bedroom because it won't fit anywhere else! 

 

Dave

Edited October 13, 2020 by Skia Optima

[happy-kat]

Or as an idea keep the travelscope 70mm but mount it on a new tripod. Whilist it isn't so hot on planets or the Moon as you are limited how far you can push the magnification it gives a wide field view. For example an az-gti mount if goto computerised was high on wish list (tracking is useful if sharing and 'Freedom' find great for versatility).

Or if you have a smartphone you could use it to help 'push to' to locate objects if a manual mount is being used.

How dark are your skies, what is your bortle rating?

[Skia Optima]

40 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Or as an idea keep the travelscope 70mm but mount it on a new tripod. Whilist it isn't so hot on planets or the Moon as you are limited how far you can push the magnification it gives a wide field view. For example an az-gti mount if goto computerised was high on wish list (tracking is useful if sharing and 'Freedom' find great for versatility).

Or if you have a smartphone you could use it to help 'push to' to locate objects if a manual mount is being used.

How dark are your skies, what is your bortle rating?

Could do.  I was already wondering about getting the AZ5 version, upgrading to the SS tripod and then donating the orignal tripod to my daughter to use with the travelscope.  To be honest, I do like the idea of GOTO, but it isn't a deal breaker and I'm reluctant to start throwing serious money around.  I have an app i paid for called Star Walk 2 and that has been really helpful so far.  You can point it at the sky and it very accurately superimposes the various celestial objects onto the screen.  Bortle rating where I live is 5, but there is plenty of open countryside surrounding me where it is 4. 

 

Dave

Edited October 13, 2020 by Skia Optima

[Philstar]

Hi all,

I find myself in a surprisingly similar situation to the OP of this thread.

I bought my daughter who is now almost 7 a very cheap 70mm refractor telescope to see if it would spark an interest in astronomy for her, which it did. In doing so it reignited my own interest in it and now I am looking at buying a better telescope to use.

I was considering the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ until I read reviews on here, then changed to the Skywatcher Explorer 130M, then after further reading changed to the 130P.

I very much like the idea of a goto mount which again made me change my mind and look at the Skywatcher Explorer 130P Synscan AZ GOTO but now have found the 130PS AZ GTi which seems to be the better more modern GOTO but the scope primary mirror is not collimatable.

Can anyone please advise me, is it worth going for the better mount and not be able to adjust the primary mirror? I assume the fact that it is not adjustable means it cannot move so all collimation is done with the secondary mirror?

Also I have never used a red dot finder, how do they compare to the finderscope?

Thanks

Phil