Decent images from something that's not too large that the boss objects

[Shimrod]

13 minutes ago, Starfazed said:

Thanks that's really encouraging to hear. I actually bought a 130 flextube as a Christmas present for a family member a few years ago and got to see it out the box, having since seen Crayfords I appreciate the limitations but expect I could tolerate it. Is it worth getting a Bahtinov mask (would one fit) to assist focus? What eyepieces, Barlows, other accessories if any have you tried it with?

I must be missing something but what's so good about catadioptic scopes of similar aperture that people pay three times the price of this for something like the C6SE, even the basic Celestron SLT or Astro FI  mentioned above is double the price of the Heritage. I appreciate that they have longer focal length at the expense of field of view, but if the atmosphere limits any 6 inch telescope to around 150x magnification, why would that design (or smaller like the 127) be more sought after for planetary observation if the Heritage can deliver the same view in a compact (at lest, once folded away) form factor and with a wider field of view for DSOs?

Finally, I just spotted a handful of elderly looking Meade LX200s of 8 or 10 inch size for between £1000 and £1500 in a second hand telescope store not a million miles away from where I live, but too far to go just for browsing. At the top of my original budget, and I'm guessing they are both technically more complex for a beginner to master and come with the risk of obsolescence and malfunctioning? Or are they so much more superior that they should be snapped up without questioning?

You won't need a bahtinov mask for visual focussing, but buy one if you ever have more than a passing interest in astrophotography.

I would probably stay away from the LX200 - I have an LX90 (my first 'real' telescope) and the fork mounts are really heavy - although very stable. If you are set on a 8" SCT a Celestron SLT, SE or Evolution model would be lighter and easier to manoeuvre. Generally the OTA in an old telescope would be fine, but I would be worried about the electronics failing. I'm going to guess the store is ENS Optical.

If you're absolutely set on getting a larger telescope, you might want to look at the 8" Celestron Starsense explorer. It uses push to technology (you put your phone in a special cradle and use an app) to guide you to the right location in the sky. Have a look for reviews, it seems to be a well respected system. The total weight of the OTA and mount is around 20 kg.

[Cosmic Geoff]

11 hours ago, Starfazed said:

I must be missing something but what's so good about catadioptic scopes of similar aperture that people pay three times the price of this for something like the C6SE, even the basic Celestron SLT or Astro FI  mentioned above is double the price of the Heritage. I appreciate that they have longer focal length at the expense of field of view, but if the atmosphere limits any 6 inch telescope to around 150x magnification, why would that design (or smaller like the 127) be more sought after for planetary observation if the Heritage can deliver the same view in a compact (at lest, once folded away) form factor and with a wider field of view for DSOs?

You won't appreciate the advantage of the catadioptic scopes just by reading about them.  You might if you actually used one for a while and experienced the advantages of the compact size, lighter weight and greater convenience of use in various roles, and the ease of inserting various accessories that lengthen the light path. 

SCTs are generally bought for their mechanical and physical properties, rather than optical.

In the same vein, what is the advantage of buying a Mercedes-Benz motor car when a Skoda does basically the same job for much less money?

Re. Meade SCTs, the OTA optics have a fine reputation, the electrics and mechanics of the mounts not so much.

Edited April 7, 2023 by Cosmic Geoff

[Starfazed]

On 06/04/2023 at 22:17, Shimrod said:

 

I'm going to guess the store is ENS Optical.

If you're absolutely set on getting a larger telescope, you might want to look at the 8" Celestron Starsense explorer.

Good guess ENS. And some larger Flextubes at tempting prices. I can't see how we'd store a full size Dob larger than 6 inches hence the attraction of the 8 and 10 inches

 

My very sensible wife thinks the 150 Virtuoso is the best compromise, with the promise to consider a bigger upgrade if on using it we find it too limiting. Interestingly my son doesn't like rhe idea of a goto as he thinks we should learn to find things in the sky manually. Though he likes the idea of a scope that tracks. That almost goes full circle again as a motorised EQ without goto would be much cheaper than the HEQ5. But as I struggle to see Pilaris in my Bortle 9 sky I like the sound of the Skywatcher system that if I understand correctly allows you to manually move the scope then it will track what you have found?

Anyway, back to purchasing. If I get the 150p and had another £200 for accessories, what should I get in addition? I'm guessing something to help collimate, maybe a Barlow, or maybe a couple of primes, a filter or two and maybe just for fun and experimenting with, an eyepiece phone cradle? If I said the priority for the first additional lenses would be for getting the clearest views of the main planets what eyepieces would be suitable, given weight limitations of the helical focuser? 4mm and 8mm? 7mm plus Barlow (as stock 25mm plus Barlow woyld give 12 5)? Any lughtweight brands? Oh, and I tend to wear glasses when viewing so eye refmlief might be something to consider.

[happy-kat]

I missed you are in bortle 9, I don't have experience of that and goto, you don't need to see Polaris to setup, scope is horizontal but pointing north, magnetic north with compass would do. 1 star alignment will slew auto to star which helps if can't see anything then hopefully the 25mm will see more then by eye for picking out the alignment star and fine tune. If seeing stars is difficult I don't know but maybe a mount with star sense would be a different option though no experience of that. The mount tracks without goto use and has point and track too, app is on android and ios and windows can't recall if mac as well. Could check out stellarium to see where the main planets are for you now as not as prominent as late last year. If wearing glasses then I don't like less than 16mm eye relief but more is nicer. you might like this thread on the mount

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/383048-skywatcher-heritage-150p-virtuoso-gti-wifi-dobsonian-telescope

[Starfazed]

I tried to buy a Heritage Virtuoso 150 from several retailers, and they were out of stock.

So instead, a slight change of plan and I got myself a Skywatcher Star Discovery p150i. I'd factored in a laser collimator with the Heritage and as the Discovery has a non-collimatable primary (and user reports suggest it's pterry good at staying in trim) I took the risk and cancelled the laser. Overall price therefore not that much more expensive than Plan A plus laser. I'll post separately my initial thoughts.