Telescope recommendation for 1000€ (1100USD)

[Puttish]

Hello,

I have been wanting to buy a telescope for some time and have stumbled upon the vast market of different types of telescopes/mounts/brands and have a hard time deciding on what to get, that's why I am turning to you for advice :).
What I am looking for:

• Mainly viewing planets, seeing details of Jupiter and Saturn.
• Viewing galaxies/star clusters.
• Automatic tracking would be preferrable.
• Max price is 1000€ (1100USD).

I have been looking some at skymax 127 maksutov, is that decent or can you recommend me something better given the budget?

/Just a Swedish space engineer 

 

[vlaiv]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

Skymax 127 is a decent scope and it will suit most of listed needs nicely (better for solar system, a bit less on deep sky objects), however, for your budget and stated requirements - I'd be tempted to recommend this:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-flextube-goto.html

It is however very much down to other aspects like storage and transportation as well as managing the scope of that size. 8" dob is large and heavy, so you really need to take that into consideration. It will give you better views of planets and brighter views of deep sky objects.

[Nicola Fletcher]

Funny you should ask - I’ve just been watching an Ed Ting video on this topic: 

 

He recommends an 8” dob which I’m sure is a great piece of advice. My first telescope was a 127 Maksutov (the Celestron 127SLT) and I absolutely loved it. I had it as my only scope for I think about 7 years. Super portable and fun to use as well as being very light which made me more inclined to use it on cold winter nights!

[cajen2]

As above, it all depends on what you want from your scope. I've had an 8" dobsonian and it was excellent but not exactly easily portable. If you have health/mobility issues or small storage space or lots of stairs to negotiate, avoid a dob, but if not, it'll get you excellent views for your money. You also want tracking, so a reflector on a tripod or an EQ platform would be needed.

If you like the option of a 127 Mak, consider the Bresser version: I'm told it's excellent or perhaps a 150 Mak.

Edited July 27, 2023 by cajen2
Typo

[Jules Tohpipi]

To echo some of the comments made already. For your particular brief then the following are generally self-recommending.

1. If it must be easily portable, light-weight, or if compact storage is a must
- Get the Sky-Watcher Skymax 127 on the Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi goto mount

2. If big is OK and you're short on time and want to find objects easily without too much of a set-up process and can get by without tracking
- Get the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8" Dobsonian. The mobile phone StarSense system may feel like a gimmick but everyone is saying it works incredibly well

3. If big and heavy is OK and you must have tracking and can tolerate a longer set-up process (which can be a bit hit or miss)
- Get the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 200P FlexTube GOTO 

You're already heading in the the right direction. It just comes down to what is, and what is not, acceptable for your own personal needs.

I post in the above style on the basis you’ve already done a lot of research and are now asking for opinions

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Jules Tohpipi

[Bivanus]

Hi , welcome to SGL , I am rather new here too. Also in my entry level years , I can only tell you my first hand experience that most Dobs are big , rather bigger that one would expect, so if you go that way it would make a lot of sense to see one with your own eyes and try move it , set it etc. 

Personally , due to space limitations , lazyness ( Dobs are Newts , Newts have mirrors , mirrors need colimation , colimation needs time ) I went the refractor way. The MAK on Alt Az combination you looked at ( probably something like https://www.astroshop.eu/telescopes/skywatcher-maksutov-telescope-mc-127-1500-skymax-127-az-gti-goto-wifi/p,55179 ) is in my personal opinion a better start point than a Dob , however you do you and I'll be the first to admit a good Dob beats a lot of refractors ...once you get it going... 

[Mandy D]

On 27/07/2023 at 22:27, cajen2 said:

As above, it all depends on what you want from your scope. I've had an 8" dobsonian and it was excellent but not exactly easily portable. If you have health/mobility issues or small storage space or lots of stairs to negotiate, avoid a dob, but if not, it'll get you excellent views for your money. You also want tracking, so a reflector on a tripod or an EQ platform would be needed.

If you like the option of a 127 Mak, consider the Bresser version: I'm told it's excellent or perhaps a 150 Mak.

I'm sure it has been mentioned in here before that the Skywatcher 127 Mak does not actually have 127 mm of aperture, whereas the Bresser does.

As an aside, the Skywatcher 150P, 200P and 250PX (pyrex mirror) all have exactly the same size base on the Dob mount, so take up the same floor space. Obviously, as you state, they can be fun to move. I don't really notice the weight difference between my 200P and my 250PX. My new 300PDS, however, is a very different matter. We put it on the scales at RVO today and it weighed 26 kg and that is just the OTA!

[Spile]

My recommendation would be to get an 8” Dobsonian, a copy of Turn Left at Orion, an app on a phone or ideally a tablet, and save some money for an eyepiece upgrade.

[AstralFields]

Planets and Galaxies generally do not mix well together. For planets you may get away with a small 4-5" aperture but for galaxies, they say that they come to life at around 16". I can see many galaxies with my 8" but they all look like a small fuzzy ball. 

If it weren't for your budget a C8 would satisfy all of your requirements.

My recommendation would be to start with a DOB 8". It is the single most recommended telescope in the world (Ed Ting on the video above recommends it as well). Any brand is fine, my vote is with Sky-Watcher because the price/quality ratio is the best where I live. The telescope has a 2" focuser so whatever equipment/eyepieces you buy can easily be transferred to another telescope in the future. You can check it out in my signature. I would go for the Classic version, the Flex tube needs a bit more often collimating and will need a shroud, also it may seem counterintuitive but it is actually heavier. At this size, there is not much benefit of having it.

You can also buy it used (they come on sale quite often), so you won't lose any money if you find you want something else. After a year of using the 8", I am thinking of upgrading to a 12" few years from now but even then I may keep the 8" (that's how great it is).

The size is not that bad. Adding some wheels on the bottom of the base helps a LOT. I just cart the scope on its wheels to my car, pack it up and unpack at the observing location. Easy. 

As for tracking. Finding stuff in the sky with an 8" DOB and tracking it manually is not that difficult with the right tools (30+mm 2" eyepiece, RDF or Laser or both, digital inclinometer). I can find pretty much any Messier object under a minute, usually 10-20 seconds.

Collimation: It is nothing to be afraid of. I collimated my 8" DOB last month, after 3 trips with the car, it is still collimated. This is actually an advantage. A frac, once miscollimated (say you dropped it) it needs to go back to the factory. With a DOB, you can disassemble the whole telescope, wash the mirrors and put it back together in perfect collimation. I have a spotting scope which is miscollimated , I haven't even figured a way to open it up yet, nevermind collimating it. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by AstralFields