Advice on Skywatcher Evostar-ED 120 DS-Pro APO Refractor on EQ6 Pro SynScan

[merlinxlm]

Hello every body could some body please give me some advice regarding buying a Skywatcher Evostar-ED 120 DS-Pro APO Refractor, on EQ6 Pro SynScan. I'm after a good all-rounder scope, which would have to last for a very long time. I have been looking a round and the best price I have had up to now is £1879, is this a good price? I have been looking at reviews of this scope and it seem to be a very good one. The other option I would consider is a Celestron C8 on the same mount, but I believe it would be a lot dearer. Any comments on ether scope would be very appreciated.

Thank you.

[John]

I see that you already have a C6 - are you after something that will show you more or is it to compliment that scope rather than replace it ?.

As for the price for the ED120 Pro, the OTA alone is around £1K so your price inclusive of an EQ6 Synscan would be about right. You might get a better deal if you talk direct to the dealers as there are sometimes discounts to be had that are not publicised.

Both the scopes you mention are very capable of course although neither would offer a really significant increase in performance over your current scope. I've owned a C8 and had some wonderful views of Saturn with it - I think a C8 on that mount might end up a little cheaper actually.

John

[CELESCOPE]

Depends on what you need it for , i presume its just for observation ,and not imaging, if its for obs then i would put the extra money towards the C8 , having had most scopes , in the celestron range and a number of others , i now have for the past year or so an Equinox 120, this for me is my fav for imaging , but viewing the C8 one of my other scopes , is by far better to take in the Lunar, Planets and deep sky objects ,no contest really.

Rog:)

[merlinxlm]

Thank you both for your advice, I'll be selling my C6-S to fund this new scope. I'm after a scope that I will see a big improvement with, compared to my C6-S. I'll be using it for imaging and observing, out of the two that I have listed, in you opinion which is the most practical?

Thank you.

[CELESCOPE]

Hi , Ok , we are talking Imaging and observing, as i said for oBs the C8, now for imaging we are going into serious stuff , simple imaging , and i do mean gathering the Data , not Processing ,this is another story . for example ,imaging the Planets and Lunar ,globs , and Planetary , M27 and the likes of M57 and other smaller Planetaries,i would go with the C8 .

If you are looking to do long exposures of Nebula etc and Galaxies,then it does involve getting set up with guiding, and critical set up for a long focal length Scope .

Where as the shorter focal length of the 120 is a less critical beast to image with,this can also be reduced to a faster setup with reducers.

It all depends on your main interest of astro is really ,covering all areas can be expensive.

If i were just starting off , i would concentrate purely on the Moon and Planets ,a whole lot of interest there and great fun, and also a great help in learning the processing skills you will need to progress further.Oh and if you need to bring the cost down,the HEQ5 PRO is excellent as well ,i have both and can recommend them for sure .

Rog

[John]

Thank you both for your advice, I'll be selling my C6-S to fund this new scope. I'm after a scope that I will see a big improvement with, compared to my C6-S. I'll be using it for imaging and observing, out of the two that I have listed, in you opinion which is the most practical?

Thank you.

With regard to imaging, I'm not an imager so I'd take Ron's advice on that score. With regard to visual use then you will need to increase your aperture to get a big improvement. The ED120's are very fine scopes but "aperture rules" with regard to ultimate visual performance. The usual advice is that a step up from 6 to 8 inches will provide some modest improvements but 10" is really needed to achieve significantly more.

John

[adamsp123]

With regard to imaging, I'm not an imager so I'd take Ron's advice on that score. With regard to visual use then you will need to increase your aperture to get a big improvement. The ED120's are very fine scopes but "aperture rules" with regard to ultimate visual performance. The usual advice is that a step up from 6 to 8 inches will provide some modest improvements but 10" is really needed to achieve significantly more.

John

I have to agree with this my 10" SNT looks to my eyes about 2x my 120ED, the maths gives a 4 fold increase but eyes don't work in a linear fashion so to me about 2x, but that is a significant increase.

Having said that I would rather give up the 10" than my 120ED any day. The views are nicer, it is MUCH easier to set up and I believe with an 120ED you could easily use a HEQ5 mount saving a bit of money.

Lets face it if you really want to visually see detail in faint fuzzies you need a serious apeture 16"+.

In a direct side by side comparison my 120ED views looked as good as or better than a 7" Mak-cass.

Let the bricks Fly!!!

Pizza

[Starflyer]

Seeing as imaging and visual demand very different setups how about an 80mm refractor on an HEQ5 Pro for imaging and a 12" dob for visual?

Again it depends on what you want to image as to whether a smallish frac will do the job. It'll give you nice widefield images but you'll need something with a longer focal length to get close enough for small planetary nebs / galaxies.

Ian

[ollypenrice]

How light polluted are you and is transport an issue?

Olly

[merlinxlm]

I'm very lucky as I have very little light pollution in my back garden. I would be using the scope for mostly observing, but I'm enjoying the imaging side. So this scope would have to be a good all rounder that would have to last me a long time, can't upset the wife too often! This purchase is a one off and that's why I'm specifying a very good mount and scope.

Thank you.

[buddyarrows]

See: www.colbanobservatory.co.uk for the 120ED DS OTA review

David