Starsense Explorer DX 6 inch

[Steve Reed]

I am in the market for a first scope and I am going round in circles in making my first purchase. I guess I am after the holy grail in a scope that allows some good observing of planets, the moon and a few DSOs. Some basic astrophotography potential would be good. I keep changing my mind between buying the mount and scope separately or going all in one. Also flip flopping about whether to go refractor or reflector. Budget is probably about £1K - not keen to spend more in case I don't take to the new hobby. I guess whatever I get will be a compromise. This scope caught my eye today Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 6" | First Light Optics. Seems to tick many of my boxes. Does anyone have experience of this relatively new scope and would you recommend it to a starter like me?

Thanks in advance.

Steve

 

[russ]

I have the Celestron C6S, which is basically an identical scope on a different mount. I can safely say the 6" SCT is an amazing little scope. First class optics. Truly great views of moon and planets. Surprisingly good on DSO's as well. It also images well, both DSO and planets. But I have to move the scope onto a different mount to get the best out of it. The SE mount that mine is on, isn't a first choice for imaging. So I have an EQ5 with dual drives as well. 

The downsides to the 6" SCT is cool down and dew. Sometimes it can be out there for hours and never seem to clear the warm currents. And the dew is an absolute nightmare without active dew heater (the dew shields are 110% useless). What this means is I will tend to reach for the ED100, despite the smaller aperture. It just gets up speed so much faster. And for some reason only the worst dew conditions affect it.  But we have owned the C6 for 11 years now and wouldn't part with it. Lots of scopes have come and gone but not the C6.

[Cosmic Geoff]

Trying to buy one scope and mount that does everything is a really bad idea. The requirements for various tasks differ widely, so if you want to cover all tasks effectively you need more than one scope and maybe more than one mount.

The 6" SCT OTA is a fine scope for general observing, and for planetary imaging, but unless you are an expert with astrophotograpy experience you should get a small short focal length ED or APO refractor for deep space imaging, as it will give a wider field and be much easier to use.  (and the SCT is not good if you want a wide field of view for visual).

Likewise the mount - for visual use an alt-azimuth GoTo will be adequate and will be quicker and easier to set up than an equatorial.  The SE mount would be adequate but there is IIRC the option of an Evolution mount which is of better quality.  You can also get lighter (and cheaper) GoTo mounts bundled with this OTA, bur unless you are particularly tolerant of wobble-mounts you may come to regret this choice.

You only need an equatorial mount for deep space imaging with long exposures, where it is needed to avoid field rotation.  If your primary interest is in general visual observing, you might find that having to polar align the mount and have the scope get into odd positions when aimed at some objects is a bit annoying.  I have found that my EQ5 GoTo can work fine on one side of the sky, but when it does a 'meridian flip'  to the other side of the sky, the accuracy declines to the point where I can't find stuff.

You may note that Russ above has two scopes and two mounts, and other enthusiasts have even more.

In contrast to Russ I found that a dew shield works fine 99% of the time - different local micro-climate?

Edited July 15, 2021 by Cosmic Geoff

[Steve Reed]

Many thanks for the responses. Lots of food for thought! I think it is probably best to forget astrophotography for now and concentrate on general observing. I guess this means an alt-azimuth goto should suffice. Having done a bit more reading, the Skywatcher Alt-azimuth GTI WiFi looks good for mounting a number of different scopes on to facilitate general viewing. Just a case of deciding which one to go for to get me started.

Steve

[banjaxed]

A few months ago I picked up a Celestron 130 SLT and was amazed at how clear the images are and the go to system is the easiest I have ever used. It is light enough to carry the complete set up and since I built a motor for the focuser it is virtually vibration free. These can be picked up for £200/300 and imo are great value for money.

[Starslayer]

I am a complete novice but after much research I bought exactly what you are looking at. I am not into astro imaging etc but I have actually taken some great pics with this using my iPhone and the Celestron Phone mount.  I love the Starsense set up and find it works almost brilliantly.  It gets me there let's put it that way. Not always spot on but that may be me not having it aligned properly sometimes. VERY user friendly for a novice though. The database is great an easy to use. Move it around and it finds itself again no problem.  I have added Baader zoom EP and barlow to the set up but find that the stock 40mm is a great start point for most things.  Found Jupiter last night for the fist time ( angle of dangle in my garden is rubbish ) and copped a quick shot of the moon before sunset using the 40mm as shown below. Loved it so much made it avatar.   PM if you need anything else. 

Edited July 17, 2021 by Starslayer