which one?

[dawntyrant]

hi, everyone , i could do with some advice ive been a casual observer and want to step it up a bit . im interested in 3 scopes the skywatcher 250 px dob , skywatcher evostar 150 refractor and the celestron c6 xlt which has been seriously reduced at some retailers , im at a cross roads here and dont know whch way to go help!

[John]

Personally I'd probably go for the 250PX dob - it's simple and offers the most aperture for you £'s. The other scopes are fine but 10 inches of aperture will show you a lot of stuff !.

The Evostar refractor is a bit of a beast and really needs an HEQ5 or EQ6 mount which pushes the price up.

Nothing wrong with the C6 either but, assuming your interests are visual, the dob will show you quite a bit more.

John

[timetraveller]

hiya dawntyrant

I'm with Jahmanson on this one going by the unwritten rule

that light is king

the 250 will certainly give you much greater viewing ability my only reservation would be the fact its simple base does not lend itself to any serious attempts of Astrophotgraphy with any great ease. you also need to consider size and storage of such a large beast . So Having said that my advice to you would be seriously to make yourself a coffee or a tea whichever you preffer have a sit down and a serious think about just what you want from your Astronomy, then write a list of what you want against any limitations then do the same thing for each of the scopes and then marry the two lists off against each other to arrive at a best fit solution. I believe you live in Reading so you might wish to think about the portability aspects which would allow you perhaps on weekends to take your kit out and away from the city up into the hills for a darker site there are some good darker sites not far away from you if you head west on the M4 either rural parts of oxfordshire or a little further west up onto the ridgeway anyways hope this has gone some way to helping you notice i don't actually metion any of the scopes you have listed that's because maybe there may be other more suitable options out there for you to choose from

regards Pete

[dawntyrant]

no not reading but linconshire and with it being a largely agricultual county dark skys are not a problem , is tracking a problem with the dob and can a motor drive be fitted after market ? as for the evostar i have a mount that i can use while i save for a better one which brings the tube assembly down to around the £330 mark also the celestron has been heavely discounted to around £340

[ZOG]

I find I can hand track for visual use with my dob easily up to about 300x on Saturn. It just takes a little practice. However, if you want to take photos you will need a scope on an EQ mount or Alt Az with a wedge.

[John]

Dobs are generally manually operated - it is possible to fit a drive system but these are not commercially available - the whole concept of a dob is simplicity. In my opinion the Evostar is virtually unusable unless mounted on a very stable mount - an EQ3-2 is totally inadequate and and EQ5 is barely adequate even with the steel tube legs - the long scope tube is prone to shake and therefore high magnifications are very difficult indeed. The C6 is indeed a really good buy at the moment.

John

[Doc]

For me this is a no brainer...

If you have dark skies then a 10" dob will show you loads. With practice very easy to track manually. If you want to image then no dobs are normally just visual.

If I was you I would get....

Dark skies

Dob

Chair

Atlas

Red torch

And have fun.

[MartinB]

Dobs are great for deep sky objects at low power, the tracking isn't really an issue here. As you move onto smaller targets using higher mags you do keep having to move the scope. This almost becomes second nature until you get up to the high powers used for planetary and lunar observing and then dobs are just a pain. Wide angle eye pieces help but these don't come cheap. Switching from a dob to a tracking mount can be a joy. Despite this I have enjoyed some wonderful views of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon with my dob and have sketched the moon at x150 so the lack of tracking isn't the end of the world.

The dob would be a great choice and ultimately, if you wanted, tracking, goto or to image you can get some rings and stick it on a mount

[philsail1]

Hello and welcome to SGL "dawntyrant!"

Yes, choosing a new scope can be daunting. I take it you have owned a telescope(s) in the past?

Did these have "tracking" motors built in, or did you need to move the scope manually to keep objects in the field of view?

As others have said "Aperture is King" but I would take "Pete's" advice and have a sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and have a serious think about what you want from Astronomy - choice of scope can be as much about lifestyle too!

I tend to be a casual observer, who doesn't have a lot of time to spend sitting out looking at the wonders (and yes the night sky can be truly wonderous!) of the night sky, so I have tended to go for a scope which is light, easy to set up and put away - and crucially for me - has a motorised drive which will "track" automatically whatever I'm looking at. If I am called away from the scope, I can return in 20 or 30 minutes, and whatever I was looking at, is still there within the field of view.

Think carefully before you buy, and best wishes on whatever you choose,

Regards,

philsail1

[scotastro]

I would take advantage of your dark skies by buying the 10" dob. It will give to amazing views of so much, far more than a refractor or SCT of the size you are looking at.

If you want to do astrophotography later suitable mounts and scopes can be bought second hand quite cheaply.

Mike

[Astronut]

For your dark sky location (you lucky so-and-so) it's a no-brainer - go for the biggest aperture you can get ie. the 10" dob. You'll get some wonderful views with a 10" against your black Lincolnshire skies. It's a reflector though so you'll end up at some point needing to learn how to collimate it but don't let that put you off.

Don't be too concerned about tracking manually as it's not difficult after a little practice. Tracking is nice and convenient but it's not essential for visual observing.

Tracking motor/goto kits ARE available commercially for dobsonians (eg. StellarCAT/Argo Navis) but they can cost quite a bit more than the 'scope itself.

You could always fit a 10" dob OTA to a suitable EQ mount later with some tube rings (eg. the EQ6) if you want to get into astro-imaging.

[dawntyrant]

thanks guys for the help , looks like the dobs the way to go maybe i can scrape a few more quid together for a foot wide well maybe not now im thinking off a mount , thanks astronut lol

[dawntyrant]

sorry of a mount