Scope Upgrade from Celestron 70

[St Reatham]

Team.  

About a year ago I took the plunge and bought a Celestron Travel Scope 70, really enjoyed using it in back garden and trips away.  Mainly used it for moon and Jupiter (was and still chuffed to see the four pin pricks of moons).  I am looking to see a bit more now and would really like to see more of Jupiter and Saturn and some deep space stuff (maybe M31, M33, M51...) so I ma looking to buy a more expensive scope with more power.  The caveat is that I live South  London so its not hugely dark sky.  I also have three kids and really have to choose my moments so need minimum set up, still a complete beginner to all of this.

I have been looking into a Meade EXT90, Orion Star Gazer IV150, Celestron 4SE/5SE/6SE or a skywatcher skymax 150 pro.  I like the look of the celestron's as I am really looking for something very easy to set up, lots of power but with some software to help me find objects for the near future till I find my feet.  Just curious to see if anyone had any thoughts, advice etc.  I'm much obliged if you can assist.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

A GoTo would indeed be helpful in not-dark skies.  The Nexstar GoTo system from Celestron, as used in the 4SE etc is easy to use.

The Skymax 150 Pro will be heavier and have a somewhat narrower field of view than a SCT of the same aperture.

What is your budget?

Meade have had some financial difficulties lately.

[Tiny Clanger]

3 hours ago, St Reatham said:

Team.  

About a year ago I took the plunge and bought a Celestron Travel Scope 70, really enjoyed using it in back garden and trips away.  Mainly used it for moon and Jupiter (was and still chuffed to see the four pin pricks of moons).  I am looking to see a bit more now and would really like to see more of Jupiter and Saturn and some deep space stuff (maybe M31, M33, M51...) so I ma looking to buy a more expensive scope with more power.  The caveat is that I live South  London so its not hugely dark sky.  I also have three kids and really have to choose my moments so need minimum set up, still a complete beginner to all of this.

I have been looking into a Meade EXT90, Orion Star Gazer IV150, Celestron 4SE/5SE/6SE or a skywatcher skymax 150 pro.  I like the look of the celestron's as I am really looking for something very easy to set up, lots of power but with some software to help me find objects for the near future till I find my feet.  Just curious to see if anyone had any thoughts, advice etc.  I'm much obliged if you can assist.

 

If minimum set up includes minimum time , be aware that some telescopes, like the 150 maksutov you mention, need to be outside cooling for quite a while before you can use them properly. My considerably smaller 127mak needs a minimum of half an hour.  Go-to setup will not be anything like as speedy as taking your travelscope out and setting it down to look through either .

There  are members on here who observe in the London area, hopefully someone can give you good advice about your best equipment choices given the light pollution , but my guess is you might have to give up on most DSOs and concentrate on brighter things like the Moon and planets.

[oscar_camilleri]

I live in Greater London (pinner). I have a celestron 8se. Setup is roughly 30 minutes and I do it in 2 stages.  I level the mount when it's still light , then leave it out to cool. When its dark I do my star alignment which takes around 10 minutes.   Like others said faint dso are tricky around here. I can barely see m13 and m31 as faint smudges . Travel wise its a bit bulky, but can be taken apart. I use a case for the ota and a separate case for mount,  eyepiece and other bits. Tripod goes under the footwell of the back seats.

[Cosmic Geoff]

I hve a Celestron C8 SE configured for quick setup with  the Starsense (camera and handset) accessory.  I can carry it all outside through a doorway as one lump, set it down on a flat hard surface (levelling not essential) and have it working in a few minutes.  Or I can set it outside half an hour earlier to cool down.

With many outfits the setup time will cover the cooling time.🙂

[doublevodka]

Some good points raised already, personally I'm a big fan of the nexstars too, although I sometimes find the 4SE a bit lacking in aperture, but it's a lot easier to carry out and setup than my 8 inch newt...

Do you have a particular budget or upper limit in mind?

As you are in London light pollution is  certainly a consideration too, are you likely to travel out to dark skies or use it where you are? In the city it may be worth looking into EVAA - https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/287-discussions-eeva-equipment/ I've not had to myself as I live in West wales so light polution is less of an issue

Also worth you having a look at the videos from @rorymultistorey https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxXlxVmarXu3n340ah5xwqA he's london based so will give you a better idea of what can be done

[steviebee]

Just got the Nexstar 6SE. Very easy to set up. l only have a small garden with limited views and Bortle 7 skies. Jupiter was beautiful in the supplied 25mm eyepiece. Tried my 10mm Hyperion and it sat on the tightening knobs of the supplied 1 1/4 diagonal. Going to give it another go tonight with a 2" diagonal and Baader clicklock. Really impressed so far and nice and portable. l have 2 young grandchildren my wife and l look after during the day so l set up a bit at a time. 

[St Reatham]

Team

 

I'm really grateful for all the replies to this.  From what I can see from you all, the Celestron nexstar series seems the most popular.  The goto would be massively useful and i have the time to put it out and get the temperature right.  I live near crystal Palace so the light is not that bad, my folks live down in a small hamlet in the dorset countryside so if its transportable that may be the time to use it for Deep sky material.  Again minimal set up and goto would be good as if I'm transporting and setting it up that may assist.  I was looking to spend about a grand but could go more as it is a long term investment so would consider the Nexstar 6SE or 8SE?

Does this sound like the right option and is there much difference between the 6SE and the 8SE?  I read I may need something called a "focal reducer".

 

Thanks for all your replies, curious to see how Steviebee gets on with the scope tonight.

[Cosmic Geoff]

13 hours ago, St Reatham said:

I was looking to spend about a grand but could go more as it is a long term investment so would consider the Nexstar 6SE or 8SE?

Does this sound like the right option and is there much difference between the 6SE and the 8SE?  I read I may need something called a "focal reducer".

The 6SE and 8SE actually have the same mount, so the 8SE has a larger aperture, is more expensive, and is putting more load on a mount which is better suited to the smaller telescope. (The 8SE is clearly much more popular than the 6SE.)   Note that these setups are intended for visual use only.  Even the 8SE can be picked up as a complete assembly of OTA/mount/tripod and carried through a standard doorway.

As for the focal reducer, these are intended for imaging, and if you think you need one, maybe you should have bought a wider field scope in the first place. 🙂 A visual alternative is to fit the lowest power/widest field eyepiece possible, maybe with a 2" visual back and diagonal. With a 25mm eyepiece, the C8 SE just gets the full moon in field.

Note that if you are interested in the 6" Celestron SCT, it actually comes bundled with a wide range of mounts from the wobbly (SLT), the SE, through to the Evolution (better than the SE) and the AVX (for imagers)  Some of the prices are now rather high, but if you are shopping for a second-hand SCT there are some bargains to be had.  Mine cost about half the price of a new one, and just as good, and even better bargains are possible.

One forum menber recently paid £650 for a 10" Meade LX200 that would have cost thousands of pounds when new.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Cosmic Geoff