£1500 to spend on a Telescope and Accessories

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Anser and welcome to SGL. 

+1 for the advice given above by fellow SGL'ers.

If I had the space, (pun not intended), then I would have gone for an 8" 'Dobsonian' as a minimum. My present equipment is a TeleVue Ranger, 're-modded' ETX105, C6/SCT-xlt and two manual alt-az mounts or three if you include a DwarfStar alt-az, (images below). plus eyepieces, filters and few accessories. 

   

   

Should you go down the SCT or Maksutov route, then a dew shield is a must have accessory. You may find a 'Dobsonian' easier to pan and tilt, as SCT's and Maksutov's do have a narrow field of view and can be a tad frustrating, unless it has slo-mo controls or mounted on an EQ/GEM or goto mount. My mounts do not!

 

[Anser]

Thanks would you recommend a Baader 8-24mm zoom for this scope?

 

[Paz]

Something to look out for is the cost of other accessories, in particular eyepieces, and possibly finders if you get a scope that doesn't come with them.

If it's one scope plus accessories  and £1500 all in then I would recommend either ...

Orion Optics VX10L that looks to cost around £1260 if you include a finder, 1/10 wave optics, friction brake and dobsonian base, leaving £240 for eyepieces,

...or a VX8L with the same upgrades would be £1016 leaving about £480 for eyepieces.

Both those scopes are user / eyepiece friendly focal ratios and with small central obstructions  and good mirrors. They would be good on any target, planets included.

Whatever you go for, look out for cost creep, it's possible to end up spending a lot on extra bits and pieces after you've got the scope and mount.

Edited January 28, 2021 by Paz

[johninderby]

1 minute ago, Anser said:

Thanks would you recommend a Baader 8-24mm zoom for this scope?

 

The Baader is a very good zoom but not miles better than the Hyperflex zoom which is a very popular zoom. So yes a bit better if you want to spend more but in an f/12 scope is it worth it? 🤔

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/hyperflex-72mm-215mm-eyepiece.html

[RT65CB-SWL]

Just now, Anser said:

Thanks would you recommend a Baader 8-24mm zoom for this scope?

 

Having borrowed/tried one at the end of Februay 2020 in my ETX105 from a fellow member of my astronomy society/club for an hour, then I would recommend it... but it is no substitute for a fixed focal length eyepiece IMHO.

[bish]

If I had £1500 to spend I would buy a 12" flextube, shroud, dew shield, hair dryer, power source and a nice ep. 

[dweller25]

@Anser

As your primary interest is planetary it is important to cool your scope down fully before use. You need to consider where you will store your scope as it can have a major bearing on cool down. Some designs need less time than others to cool down.

[John]

2 hours ago, Paz said:

...Whatever you go for, look out for cost creep, it's possible to end up spending a lot on extra bits and pieces after you've got the scope and mount.

Too true - the scope can be one of the less expensive purchases

[johninderby]

Came across this review of the CC8” today that might interest you. Matches my experience of using the scope.

https://astronomytechnologytoday.com/2020/01/03/gso-eight-cassegrain/

[Anser]

Thank you for the article.  I am erring towards the StellaLyra 8" f/12 M-LRS with a SkyTee-2 Alt-azimuth mount.  This seems to be the best compromise.  I would like to understand the cooling as one on my concerns is how I will use it due to weather and the onset of summer.  I am debating waiting and saving some more money as it would seem the best viewing time is Oct - Mar.

[johninderby]

Cool down is very quick. I allow about 30 minutes although on the moon find it good with no cool down time at all. Performance will get slightly better with a longer cool down but not needed for good observing.

Edited January 29, 2021 by johninderby

[Spile]

I took a different approach. I spent a 1/5th of what your budget but I then dipped into a reserve for upgrades once I had got used to the telescope and really understood what I wanted to do.

So I spent almost as much again on eyepieces but I am so glad that I used the ones that were supplied with it.

 

[Anser]

My thanks to everyone for the comments and advice.  It has without exception been helpful and constructive.  There are compromises to be made as a number of you have pointed out.  Another day of research and I am erring toward a Sky-Watcher Evostar 120ED DS-Pro with a SkyTee-2 Alt-azimuth mount.  This should come in on my budget and seems to meet my needs as I am unlikely to want to at DS objects but clarity is important to me.

I would welcome peoples thoughts on eyepieces for this scope - I am thinking of a zoom and Barlow x2.  My reading suggests I can get to x350 magnification max but realistically conditions will limit me to x250.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Sounds like a good start!

x200-250max is about the limit for GB/UK. Nice e/p are not cheap, but seeing as SGL'ers are spending your money, I would not scrimp here either. So I am going to suggest a TeleVue 'Nagler', or anything else they do that offer nice wide field views. I have a 'Nagler' 13mm in the type 1 & type 6 format... and you get a generous 82deg AFOV. TeleVue 'Delites' are just as good, though I don't own one and they give 62deg AFOV. I do own a 6mm 'Radian', which has since been discontinued. They occasionally come up for sale here on SGL or other forums and astro-sites. The only difference is two degrees in AFOV.

I do like Baader e/p's, As I mentioned in an earlier comment/reply, the only one I have borrowed/tried was the 8-24mm Mk.IV zoom. The Mk.III is no slouch either, though I think it is a few grams/oz heavier.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Philip R

[Spile]

14 hours ago, Anser said:

I would welcome peoples thoughts on eyepieces for this scope - I am thinking of a zoom and Barlow x2.

The Baader Hyperion IV zoom and Barlow Combination along with a 42mm GSO/revelation WA works for me in terms of optical quality, convenience (having just three EPs is big win for me) at a reasonable cost..

[domstar]

Well, I would love the frac that you mentioned but my advice would be different. I would say, buy an 8 inch dob. Have some fun with that and then you will find out what you really want. Do you want to go bigger? Would you prefer a refractor? You would still have over a grand to play with and the 8 inch would compliment a big dob as a grab and go or a refractor as something to grab a bit more light. Or you might decide the 8 inch is perfect for you and you could buy some lovely accessories. 

I think it's difficult to know where you stand on the balance between minimising size and weight and maximising light grasp. A year with an 8-inch dob would solve that for you.

Good luck. You are going to get a great scope whatever way you decide to go.

[KP82]

15 hours ago, Anser said:

I would welcome peoples thoughts on eyepieces for this scope - I am thinking of a zoom and Barlow x2.  My reading suggests I can get to x350 magnification max but realistically conditions will limit me to x250.

If you're unsure what sort of fov and mag you would be comfortable with, a zoom will be your best bet. With the Baader 8-24mm and a 2x barlow you will be covered between 37.5x - 225x. The only shortcome of the zoom is its narrower fov at the longer end. You may want to add a ES82 30mm or ES68 40mm into the mix for widefield sweeping. The ES eyepieces can provide very good views at affordable prices. However if you've got the budget, then there is nothing to stop you from getting the max performance with Ethos, Nagler, Pentax XW-R or Nikon NAV-HW.

[gmessyhome]

Something I have learned here is, the mount you get is by far the most important thing. Then from there you base everything off from the mount.  A good mount will last you years until you want to progress further. Like someone previously mentioned if you get an eq mount just spend time first setting up and then paint the floor (i actually drilled holes in the concrete where the legs are). I can actually get pole aligned in around 10 minutes based from this.

Welcome to the skies by the way, its very rewarding.