The next step of the telescope ladder

[DPF]

For the past 3 years I have been enjoying learning about astronomy, mainly due to receiving a Travel Scope 70 from my wife. With this small scope and upgrades to tripod, eyepieces and RDF, I have been able to find my away around the night sky and enjoy the sights.

I feel it’s time to upgrade to a new scope and ‘power-up’, especially as I’m into lunar observing and want to get closer to the craters and landscape that exist the moon - I still want to enjoy looking around the night skies and explore what is out there, so the new scope needs to be an all rounder.

My criteria, is as follows:

- Grab and Go

- Alt/Az mount

- Good all rounder for observing

- Budget £450

Over my time being on SGL, members have been amazing and nows your turn to continue being amazing.

Over to you…….

[Elp]

The issue with wanting to see the moon up close is it'll need to be a long focal length. No issue with this, but if you want to then browse the skies that long focal length may be a hindrance and youre better off using the scope you already have. I have a C6 which is 1500mm FL, and I don't like using it for anything other than solar system observation, for browsing the skies I much prefer my short FL refractor.

[Gfamily]

Elp makes a good point, that a long focal length generally gives a narrow field of view, so not so good for browsing the sky.

You might consider the SkyMax Go2 127, and swapping the telescope over in the mount depending on whether you want to look at the Moon or browsing the sky generally.

I can't remember whether the Travel Scope comes with a dovetail (which will allow it to be clamped to the Go2 mount) but it should be able to fit one if not.

It'll be worth making a DIY dew shield for the 127, but it's a good step up scope. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-go2-wifi-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html

Edited February 13 by Gfamily
Add link to FLO

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

You don't necessarily need a long focal length for lunar, I use my 6"F/5 Schmidt-Newton happily on the moon, I just use short focal length EPs (like a 5mm). It can also handle wide field. Schmidt-Newtons are few and far between, but something like a 6" Dobson fits the bill as an all-round observing scope that will not break the bank. Even an 8" Dobson would fit the bill.

[DirkSteele]

One point of clarification would be your definition of “grab and go” as one astronomer’s view on this can be quite different from another. Do you mean pick up in one go for example, or a couple of pieces handled individually (such as an 8” dobsonian base and OTA) still being ok?

 

[DPF]

23 minutes ago, DirkSteele said:

One point of clarification would be your definition of “grab and go” as one astronomer’s view on this can be quite different from another. Do you mean pick up in one go for example, or a couple of pieces handled individually (such as an 8” dobsonian base and OTA) still being ok?

 

Pick up in one piece would be easier for me. Happy to have a two piece setup if necessary 

[Elp]

If you can find one, I'd likely look for a 4 inch refractor. It has a medium focal length so makes for a good all rounder barring seeing those those larger star clusters in one FOV like M45 Pleiades. It needs a good tripod though with a solid mount.

Edited February 13 by Elp

[rl]

The 6" Newtonian has always been the value-for-money entry into "serious" telescope territory for visual.  It's available in several flavours; f/8 is more bulky but best on solar system due to small obstruction, f/5 better for wide-field and a bit more compact, f/6 in the middle. But you can do it all with any of the options. Just match your eyepieces accordingly...with a top whack of *150 you would want a 8mm on the f/8 and a 5mm on the F/5 option. Bottom end *30 maybe, you're looking at 40mm at F/8 and 25mm at f/5. I'd get one with a 2" focuser just to optimize the wide-field views and finding objects, but if your main interest is planets then the smaller 1.25" will serve just as well.

The other standard choice is an 80mm ED refractor but that might not be a big enough step up on your 70mm (is it an ED?)

[DirkSteele]

22 minutes ago, DPF said:

Pick up in one piece would be easier for me. Happy to have a two piece setup if necessary 

Honestly I would say a 6" or better yet an 8" Dobsonian.  Still manageable pieces, fits the budget and desire for Alt Az and will be a big step up on the moon and deep sky. 

 

Only thing I would say is that you need to be ok crouching or sitting when using these scopes at most if not all elevations as the eyepiece will be lower than scope mounted on tripod / mount system.  The link below is the 8" model from Skywatcher and has a very helpful diagram which shows the relative sizes compared to an average human.

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

 

 

[GasGiant]

1 hour ago, Gfamily said:

Elp makes a good point, that a long focal length generally gives a narrow field of view, so not so good for browsing the sky.

You might consider the SkyMax Go2 127, and swapping the telescope over in the mount depending on whether you want to look at the Moon or browsing the sky generally.

I can't remember whether the Travel Scope comes with a dovetail (which will allow it to be clamped to the Go2 mount) but it should be able to fit one if not.

It'll be worth making a DIY dew shield for the 127, but it's a good step up scope. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-go2-wifi-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html

Lol. The only review of that scope. 

The guys having a bad day 🤣

 

Awful! "input your coordinates and follow the SIMPLE alignment process" - great if you're already into star gazing and know about things like coordinates and you know how to point your telescope at a star that say, may or may not be Mars.

For me though, a complete beginner this is the worst thing I have ever wasted money on. Go through the alignment process and at no point does it ask me for my coordinates. I have to manually point the scope at say Mars, I have no idea where Mars is in the sky! I have to use this ridiculous app to point the telescope anywhere and all I am getting is black! I probably do point at Mars but Mars is so far away that one tap of the scope movement and I've probably gone from one side to the other of Mars, I have no idea but hours put into this stupid thing and I've seen nothing but blackness. I'd love to return it but I'm outside of the 30 days return so probably going to have to take a knock by selling to some other poor sap that thinks this thing will work

[Beardy30]

Go for a Bresser 127 it’s a notch or two above the skymax and it’s a full 127 apature 

[Beardy30]

39 minutes ago, Elp said:

If you can find one, I'd likely look for a 4 inch refractor. It has a medium focal length so makes for a good all rounder barring seeing those those larger star clusters in one FOV like M45 Pleiades. It needs a good tripod though with a solid mount.

Very good advice - a 4” refractor is without doubt my personal favourite 

[Jim L]

Pretty much any Dob 6” or larger will be most easily moved in two pieces; the mount and the scope. Given that there’s less of a size/weight penalty between a 6” and an 8” Dob, but the 8” Dob will gather almost 80% more light and therefore provide better views of, and resolution for, observing globular clusters, the planets, and the moon, the 8” Dob seems the better choice if it can be made to fit your budget.

I’ll echo what Michael wrote about not needing a long focal length, and the utility of short focal length eyepieces and Barlows for achieving high magnification in short focal length (fast) scopes. An additional advantage of fast scopes is that they provide wider fields of view than slower scopes in their native configuration.

Edit: With my poor attention to the op’s post I missed the grab-and-go criteria, despite it leading the list. But still, get the 8” Dob and use the 70mm refractor as your grab-and-go instrument. A small and light refractor and a medium size Dob make an excellent combination that covers a lot of celestial territory.

Edited February 13 by Jim L

[jjohnson3803]

A lot depends on personal preferences...

Anyway, my all-rounder is a 72ED on a ScopeTech Zero alt-az mount (similar mount made by Sightron now) on a carbon fiber tripod, but that would be over your budget unless you buy used.

My next choice would be my SkyWatcher ST102.  Big enough to gather a fair bit of light, relatively lightweight and reasonable cost.  Mine does a respectable job on the moon although there is noticeable chromatic aberration.  (I should try a light yellow filter sometime to see how much difference that makes.)

Dobs are fine scopes, but I like to store my kit in a wall unit.  Not sure that would work with anything but a small Dob.

Good luck!