Ideas on a set-up @ £900 (max)

[Hipolito]

Howdy

Thinking of upgrading and want to spend no more than £900 for something that will keep me satisfied for some time. Space is limited so ideally I want something compact, although I'm open to ideas.

Some of the key things I am looking for:

• Widefield/DSO usage
  
• Astrophotography usage
  
• Compact
  
• Good value???
  

I'm giving my Evostar 90 (EQ2) away as a gift, so would be looking to replace over the next month or so.

I was thinking of the C6-SGT (XLT) Advanced Series GOTO - Advanced Series C6-SGT (XLT). What are people's opinons? GOTO isn't necessary, although I'm sure it will come in useful. Is there a better way to spend the money, or is that a reasonable option?

Cheers.

[Doc]

How about:

HEQ5 non goto mount about £600

with a

Celestron 80ED APO Premium Refractor for £214

or a

William Optics Megrez 72 FD APO at £319

[hal2000]

The C6-SGT is a superb scope, I love mine. But, if I had to do it all again, I would get a Nexstar 6SE for convenience. Same scope, different mount.

[Psychobilly]

If astro photography is going to become more important then is the possibly the wrong way go...

The GEM mount will be much better and you can easily mount up a short tube refractor on it giving you more choice of FOV... The C-ED 80 is amazing value for money if there are any left and the Megrez 72 is a really nice scope use mine a lot for wide-ish field astrophotography..

Peter...

[RobH]

GoTo is pretty handy for astrophotography too.

A lot of targets are simply too faint to see visually, even with a big scope.

I'd aim for an 80mm apo refractor, and see about getting a secondhand HEQ5 goto type of mount.

Cheers

Rob

[Jarndyce]

It really depends what you want to do.

If you want something compact, portable and easy to use, with good optics, then the Nexstar 6SE takes some beating.

You can easily carry the whole setup, including OTA and a large dew shield whilst still on the tripod.

It's very rapid to setup, tracking's not bad, and the views are great, although mine's recently got a lot better after upgrading the diagonal and getting a better eyepiece.

However, as Peter says, if you're interested in astrophotography, it's not the way to go. The mount is too lightweight and it's just not setup for imaging. Even with a wedge, I wouldn't think it would be great.

I also have a C80ED on a CG5 mount, which works well for short, unguided imaging.

Which do I use the most? 6SE. Keep it somewhere cool, and you can be up and running in minutes.

The best telescope is the one you use the most. Someone on SGL once told me that.

[beetlejuice]

My most used scope combination is.....my C6XLT either mounted on my EQ5 Synscan if I want to use goto or my alt-az Giro III if I just want to gently cruise the sky. Lightweight, compact, portable, beautiful optics, a breeze to use. This is my favourite all-round scope. I'd recommend going for the goto CG5 mount. It just makes life so much easier.

[Hipolito]

Hi there - thanks for all your suggestions. I'll check those options out and see what I think.

Just a quick question: would the Celestron 80ED fit on a CG-5 mount? I guess one option might be to get the C6-SGT and then, in a couple of months, a Celestron 80ED ... assuming they're still at their current price!

If I could use the same mount, with it being a GOTO, with two different OTAs, I would save in the long run. At least, that is the idea.

The 6SE is also tempting purely because it is so compact and easy to set-up.

[Reggie]

The 6SE is only suited to lunar/solar/planetary imaging. If you want to do DSO then the 6SE is really not the way forward, the mount simply isn't suited to it.

It requires a wedge to get it into an EQ mode, which is a £200 expenditure on top of the cash you will pay for the scope in the first place.

You will then require some kind of guiding as teh mount has a tendency to wobble back and forth across the target, the mount really can't take the extra weight without some kind of balancing system which also puts a lot more strain on the mount.

[beetlejuice]

Hi there - thanks for all your suggestions. I'll check those options out and see what I think.

Just a quick questions: would the fit on a CG-5 mount? I guess one option might be to get the C6-SGT and then, in a couple of months, a Celestron 80ED ... assuming they're still at their current price!

If I could use the same mount, with it being a GOTO, with two different OTAs, I would save in the long run. At least, that is the idea.

The 6SE is also tempting purely because it is so compact and easy to set-up.

The CG5/EQ5 (or 4 in some cases) are all basically identical and all use the standard Vixen dovetail, so you'll have no problem fitting any scope that uses that standard, such as the C6. Bear in mind though the CG5/EQ5 is comfortable with a 'scope up to 200mm. I occasionally mount my C9.25 on my EQ5 and while it works, I'd say that it's approaching the limit for visual use (forget long exposure photography). With my C6 and WO90, it's just fine and dandy. Forget the SE mount - it's a casual observer's tool. EQ mounts, while taking a little bit more of set-up time are more rewarding to use, if you intend to do DSO photography and even for lunar and planetary as there is no field rotation. The C6 works just fine on the brighter DSO's. SCT's are a compromise between long-focus slow 'scopes and short-focus fast 'scopes. They do not display the same level of contrast, or indeed sharpness, as a good refractor will but the big advantage is compactness.

[arad85]

Just a quick question: would the Celestron 80ED fit on a CG-5 mount? I guess one option might be to get the C6-SGT and then, in a couple of months, a Celestron 80ED ... assuming they're still at their current price!

Hi,

Yes the 80ED fits, but it is being discontinued, hence the low price... I'm still very tempted to get one myself though. From what I've been told, you will probably want to upgrade the dovetail attachment to make it more stable on the mount.

From experience (I have both 6SE (as you know )) and CG-5GT, the SE is easier to setup and store (manhandling the CG-5 mount is a tad more difficult) with the same scope on it.

[Hipolito]

OK - I've made a decision. Sort of ...

I will go for the 80ED whilst it is still available and use it on my current EQ2 mount (until I give it away). I am still mostly veering towards the C6 SGT although I wont make a decision for a couple of weeks just yet.

Now, anyone know where I can still get hold of a Celestron 80ED OTA ??

[beetlejuice]

OK - I've made a decision. Sort of ...

I will go for the 80ED whilst it is still available and use it on my current EQ2 mount (until I give it away). I am still mostly veering towards the C6 SGT although I wont make a decision for a couple of weeks just yet.

Now, anyone know where I can still get hold of a Celestron 80ED OTA ??

FLO are doing it for £342 inc. a non-goto CG5 Advanced Series You can add the Skywatcher Goto kit later or now even for around £300. This what I did with my EQ. Or sell the mount if you don't need it. That's what I did with the CG5 that came with my C6, resulting in a bargain price C6