£200 Budget for Beginner

[Orange Smartie]

There are a lot of choices!  As you can see, Peter's experiences with an equatorial mount are very different to mine.  Ultimately, what you use most is best and that can be very personal.  I would recommend that before buying anything you check out neutral reviews.  This site:

https://telescopicwatch.com/ 

is quite informative.

[DMH]

7 minutes ago, happy-kat said:

Unless stuck on decking the one thing a dob mounted telescope doesn't do is wobble

That is actually super useful to know, because decking is probably my primary viewing spot

[DMH]

4 minutes ago, Orange Smartie said:

There are a lot of choices!  As you can see, Peter's experiences with an equatorial mount are very different to mine.  Ultimately, what you use most is best and that can be very personal.  I would recommend that before buying anything you check out neutral reviews.  This site:

https://telescopicwatch.com/ 

is quite informative.

Thank you, that's super useful. I'll check them out!

[PeterStudz]

3 hours ago, DMH said:

What a wonderful insight @PeterStudz!!  Thanks for sharing. I've got lots to think about. I had to really considered anything tripod mounted, but now I'm starting to. Now I need to read up about mounts!

If I had the time again I’d still go for a Dob. What I was trying to say is that there’s no “best” solution that fits everyone. There’s also good and not so good features. And some of it is what you get use to. I’m also quite handy with DIY and was able to improve/tighten-up the mount somewhat. 

Using a smartphone and a Dob you’ll still be able to get nice pictures of brighter objects like the moon, star clusters, even the Orion Nebula. You can also play around with video.

[Alan64]

6 hours ago, DMH said:

Thanks @Alan64- Your scopes look amazing! I've started to lean towards a tripod mounted scope if I can get one within budget. Are they SW150P's?

That's just my one 150mm f/5 on an equatorial mount, and an alt-azimuth mount.  The telescope is from an Orion "StarBlast 6" Newtonian-Dobson kit...

I despised that one-arm Dobson mount, and still do.  It's up in the attic, and until it rots.  The Z130 kit's Newtonian comes with tube-rings and a dovetail-bar, ready to mount on a tripod-type mount in seconds, and something to consider in future if you get that kit.  Understand that the lion's share of the outlay is for the telescope.  That's what you're really after anyway.

The Sky-Watcher "Explorer" 130P comes with an EQ-2 mount that just supports the telescope, but not ideally.  That kit's 130mm f/5 Newtonian is essentially the same as that of the Z130.   

This is a Sky-Watcher 150P... https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ota.html

But when considering that one, this one is actually the one to get...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ds-ota.html

[DMH]

Thank you everyone for your input and valuable feedback it's been amazing! This evening I put an order into FLO for the StellaLyra 6" f/8 Dobsonian. I had a last minute budget change so went for that instead! 

 

Looking forward to getting out there and seeing some beautiful sights!

[Tiny Clanger]

5 minutes ago, DMH said:

Thank you everyone for your input and valuable feedback it's been amazing! This evening I put an order into FLO for the StellaLyra 6" f/8 Dobsonian. I had a last minute budget change so went for that instead! 

 

Looking forward to getting out there and seeing some beautiful sights!

Seconds after I messaged you about the heritage 150 which Jeremy just put up  for sale ! 🙂

I'm sure you'll love that dob. look  forward to reading about your first views with it

Heather

[Orange Smartie]

Good luck with the new telescope!  I'm sure you'll see some excellent sights with it.  Like Tiny Clanger, I look forward to hearing how you get on.

Pete