First telescope for Mrs

[Sam270]

Good afternoon all, looking for a bit of advice on a first scope. Wifey bought herself a cheap eBay telescope a few years ago, as expected a complete disappointment and good for nothing but lunar viewing.

She's been banging on about a decent telescope since and with her birthday coming up I thought why not.  We're both absolute beginners so I've spent a bit of time online reading and learning.

First things first, budget! I'm looking ideally to spend around £400 but am very aware that I'll probably need to upgrade eyepiece, add filters etc so maybe £500 in total.

My first choice would have been the Celestron Starsense Explorer 130DX mainly for the app and the ease at which we'd be able to locate targets as we are both completely new to all this.

However, the more I read, watch and learn, the more interested I am becoming and have realised that I would really love to observe Saturn and it's rings in as much detail as possible. To be able to see the Cassini division under optimum viewing conditions would be amazing.

It's this realisation that's lead me to think twice about the 130DX, is it up to the job? I see many people recommending 8" dobs...

We are fortunate enough to live near hillsides and farm land and can easily walk 10 minutes or so to nice dark spots from which to view so size and weight have to be a consideration as well.

Can anybody chip in with and advice or specific reccomendations to fit the above criteria?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any help and advice offered.

 

Cheers,

Sam. 👍

[banjaxed]

Hi Sam,

A lot of members here (including me) would recommend either the 150mm or 200mm dobsonian as they are a proven scope with stunning views and without being difficult to use. I still have mine and use it frequently. IMO I think it would be better to wait until you have more experience before buying a go to scope as they can be a bit frustrating. Best of luck with your choice.

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

You're lucky to be in a rural area, so you will be blessed with darker skies and half the battle is won.

You will get several different opinions in your replies, but personally I wouldnt want to walk ten minutes with for instance, an 8" Newtonian and Dobson mount. It's not so much the weight between you if you're reasonably fit, just awkward.

You stated your preference for goto.The Skymax 127 and AZGTI is slightly above your budget, but the whole setup will be easy to carry in a rucksack/backpack/bergen or large sports bag.

After a couple of sessions it should only take maybe ten minutes to set up and align the mount ready to go. However that depends how confident you are with tech.

The mount requires batteries or a power supply. I use the Talentcell 6000mah battery and a £2 cable from Amazon.

If the budget is really tight then the 102mm Skymax is no slouch. I have one and it's a very capable instrument in a small package. The view through these small Maksutovs are narrower than a Newtonian or refractor, but their compact profile makes up for that and long their focal length is ideal for observing solar system objects.

Saving a few bob, the table top Heritage 150p comes highly recommended. Really simple to set up and get going, but ideally you will need a picnic table to put it on. I have a different version of the 150p and had a great time viewing Mars with it late summer and Autumn.

Turn Left at Orion is a great book to start you off. Phone apps like Stellarium or Sky Safari are great aids too.

 

[wulfrun]

There's a review of the Celestron here:

https://telescopicwatch.com/celestron-starsense-explorer-dx-102-130-reviewed/

Just one opinion of course and I have no connection to the reviewer.

[SteveNickolls]

Maybe watch this video from Martin to aid in decision making?

Cheers,

Steve

[Cosmic Geoff]

Lots of people will suggest you get a big Dobsonian, but once you have mastered it, a proper GoTo mount (not the Starsense phone app)  is a major asset that will enable you to do more with your scope and find more faint and non-obvious objects.  With your budget you could get a smallish scope on a Goto mount, making a portable package you can take out to a dark spot.  A smallish scope of good quality should show you the Cassini division under the right conditions (and eyepiece upgrade).

I still regularly use the 127mm Mak and SLT mount I bought several years ago (clouds permitting) despite now having other instruments.

Edited January 21, 2021 by Cosmic Geoff

[Sam270]

Food for thought, thanks so far.

I already read the linked review for the starsense dx130, from that it seems very middle of the road. I'm starting to see very mixed reviews and don't know what to make of it.  My worry is that I'm putting money into a gimmick rather than quality optics with that one? Does anyone have this scope who can comment?

At the end of the article the Celestron astro-fi 130 is suggested as an alternative, however on paper the specs seem virtually identical? - more confusion!

Scousespacecadet, you suggest the  Sky-Watcher SkyMax-127 AZ GTi,  if that is going to be significantly better then I would be willing to spend the extra, I'll look more into this option. Any further info on this would be greatly appreciated. 

If anyone has any further suggestions I'd be most interested to hear them, specifically what level of detail a particular scope would be able to offer; bands and red spot of Jupiter,  rings and Cassini division of saturn, level of detail of the moon. Any captured images would be fantastic (more to give me an idea of what to expect, astrophotography is not an aspiration at this stage, purely observation).

Thanks again. 😎

[Cosmic Geoff]

I suggest you look at the thread 'What can I expect to see'? in the Beginners Observing section here.

What you can see with a given telescope depends on a number of factors asides from the quality of the main components.  The starter eyepieces supplied with many of the outfits are not very good, particularly the 9 or 10mm.  Some skill and experience in observing is also required.  With my 127mm Mak I managed to glimpse the Great Red Spot only once or twice, but in a processed image I took with the same scope, the GRS is as obvious as the nose on your face. 

To see the ultimate of planetary detail, it helps a lot to use a binoviewer so you can employ both eyes, but these are a significant expense and it can be difficult to get them to focus with scopes other than Maksutovs or Schmidt-Cassegrains.

18 minutes ago, Sam270 said:

At the end of the article the Celestron astro-fi 130 is suggested as an alternative, however on paper the specs seem virtually identical? - more confusion!

If they are both 130mm Newtonians, the specs are likely to be much the same, and they might even have come from the same Chinese factory.

[Sam270]

Thanks so far, my head is still spinning!

I've looked into the skymax 127, these do seem impressive, I'd be willing to pay the extra I think. Anyone care to offer any more info on these as a first 'serious' purchase? or any alternative suggestions in the same price range?

I also looked at the Celestron nextstar 4se but from my understanding that wouldn't be as capable for deep sky targets?

 

Thanks.