ST120 - or ST102 with few extras ?

[chrisdg1968]

Hi all,

My main scope is a 150p dob, which I have to store in two parts (ota indoors, base outside in shed). Great for dso’s / lunar / planetary, and I’ve also got a Skymax 90 sct for a quicker set up for lunar / planetary.

So, as an addition I’ve decided to get myself a grab and go wide field / dso setup but within my budget not sure whether to go for an ST120 ota or an ST102 and have a little left over for say a decent Barlow as the one I’ve got is rubbish, and maybe another EP. Either will be mounted on an AZ4.  I’m looking forward to the crisp views a frac brings as haven’t owned one for a few years.  

What do you think ?

Cheers

Chris

 

 

 

 

[chrisdg1968]

Or I could go to the Bresser 102S / 600 and still get a few extras, is the slightly higher price genuinely reflective of equivalent increase in quality over the Skywatcher ?

For any of these options I’d of course consider used but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of them about at the moment !

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by chrisdg1968

[cloudsweeper]

6 minutes ago, chrisdg1968 said:

Or I could go to the Bresser 102S / 600 and still get a few extras, is the slightly higher price genuinely reflective of equivalent increase in quality over the Skywatcher ?

Definitely.  The AR102S is a great telescope with a good focuser.  The Startravels are rather basic by comparison, and their focusers are very inferior.

Doug.

Edited November 16, 2021 by cloudsweeper

[johninderby]

Have found the Bresser achros have a bit better optics than the Skywatcher and build quality is better..The hexafoc focusers are excellent focusers and worth also getting the optional dual speed knob. Simple job to fit.

Edited November 17, 2021 by johninderby

[Ian McCallum]

@chrisdg1968 What about the SW Evostar 120 instead?🤔

Edited November 16, 2021 by Ian McCallum

[johninderby]

Or the Bresser 127L?

 

[chrisdg1968]

Thanks all, as per my original post I’m more after a short tube rich field frac (and also the ones I’ve mentioned are within budget).

[Ricochet]

If you want grab and go I think you need to go with a 102 option, or even a smaller ED scope, that can be stored set up on the tripod and carried out in one go. I don't think that a 120 frac will be any more grab and go than your 150 dob. 

Edit: in fact, why are you storing the dob base in the shed and the OTA indoors? If you store the OTA on the base in the shed you can just carry the whole scope out as one piece and there's your grab and go scope. That's what I do with my 8" and set up time is less than a minute. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Ricochet

[chrisdg1968]

4 hours ago, Ricochet said:

If you want grab and go I think you need to go with a 102 option, or even a smaller ED scope, that can be stored set up on the tripod and carried out in one go. I don't think that a 120 frac will be any more grab and go than your 150 dob. 

Edit: in fact, why are you storing the dob base in the shed and the OTA indoors? If you store the OTA on the base in the shed you can just carry the whole scope out as one piece and there's your grab and go scope. That's what I do with my 8" and set up time is less than a minute. 

Well, I traditionally did store them set up in the shed but was finding they were getting a bit mucky in the colder months especially, and with that in mind with the colder weather dewing and fogging the mirrors made me reluctant to keep caps off to disperse it when put back in shed so this year decided to keep it indoors. I suppose I could put some fine mesh material over the open tube (pair of tights I’ve heard people use for this) and make sure I cover over the primary mirror end too which tbh I’ve never done.