Telescope advice for a newbie

[stev74]

Hi everyone

I am looking for some advice on which telescope to purchase next – I was given an entry level 3” Newtonian for Christmas and after viewing Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons for the first time, I’ve definitely caught the bug!

Before I became a member on Stargazer Lounge I found db-astro.org which is the forum for an astronomy club in Dalgety Bay, Fife, Scotland. I got a lot of advice from here on which websites to visit to view telescopes, second hand sites and also found out about Stellarium through one of the posts which has been an amazing help. I would recommend the site to anyone in that local area. Since viewing Stargazer Lounge, I’ve also found even more great information.

After weeks of searching, viewing and reading, I’ve narrowed it down to 6 telescopes (not a very short short-list I know) and would appreciate any comments on my selections, or help me to shorten the list. I have set myself a limit of £300 but for the right scope, I think I could persuade my girlfriend to let me part with a little more cash!

I have been looking through the second hand sites but unfortunately no one seems to be selling in Scotland – so here goes:

1. EXPLORER-150P (EQ3-2) 150mm (6") f/750 Parabolic Newtonian Reflector – best price I’ve found is £229.99 from pulsar-optical.co.uk – this has really great reviews and would love to be able to afford the 8” Explorer 200P but a bit out my range

2. SKYLINER-200 203mm (8") f/1200 Parabolic Dobsonian – best price £269.99 again from pulsar-optical.co.uk – my garden isn’t that flat; don’t know if that would be a problem for this type of scope?

3. SkyMax-127 SupaTrak AUTO (f/1500) 5 inch (127mm) Motorised Maksutov–Cassegrain with Auto–tracking, best price £269.99 from Viking Optical Centre

4. Digimax-90 is a Maksutov-Cassegrain with a 90mm diameter and f/1250mm, also has GoTo tracking system, launch offer of £289, RRP £349 from UK-telescopes.co.uk - this does seem to be a great price although a bit smaller – perhaps paying extra for the GoTo?

5. Celestron Omni XLT 150 on CG-4 mount, price £229 from telescopesplus.co.uk – spec seems similar to 150-P Skywatcher but not found any reviews for this scope.

6. Celestron 200mm C8-N Newtonian Reflector Telescope, CG-5 Equatorial Mount, £375 from obm.co.uk – dream telescope, slightly out price range but does anyone feel it’s worth the extra?

I’ve also read many posts about Steve at FLO and what a great service he provides so if anyone thinks he would match or even beat any of these prices, then I would be happy to give him the business.

Any advice or comments really are appreciated.

Look forward to reading your replies soon.

Cheers

Steve

[red dwalf]

Steve,

i have a skywatcher 130p autotrak for sale in the for sale section, A1 condition as new if you are interesed ? i`ve had great views of Saturn, moon, and nebulas with it.

[Whippy]

Welcome to SGL Steve .

There's an adage that 'aperture is king' because the simple fact is that the bigger the scope, the more you will be able to see. So out of your selection, the two 8" reflectors would be the ones. I'm not a huge fan of dobsonians myself, I find them a bif a faff to use but others think they're great and find the EQ mount (such as the one with the C8N) a pain so it's horses for courses. I'd go for the C8N, in fact I did and it's a nice all rounder of a scope.

Tony..

[stev74]

Steve,

i have a skywatcher 130p autotrak for sale in the for sale section, A1 condition as new if you are interesed ? i`ve had great views of Saturn, moon, and nebulas with it.

Thanks for letting me know about your Skywatcher 130p Red Dwalf.

Think i'm looking for a bigger scope also i'm in Scotland so would be difficult to collect.

[stev74]

Welcome to SGL Steve .

There's an adage that 'aperture is king' because the simple fact is that the bigger the scope, the more you will be able to see. So out of your selection, the two 8" reflectors would be the ones. I'm not a huge fan of dobsonians myself, I find them a bif a faff to use but others think they're great and find the EQ mount (such as the one with the C8N) a pain so it's horses for courses. I'd go for the C8N, in fact I did and it's a nice all rounder of a scope.

Tony..

Thanks for the welcome Tony and the advice!

Think i'm definitely more drawn to the EQ mounts and the Newtonian OTA's rather than the dob's or Maksutov-Cassegrain's. Got maybe a couple of more question though so if you or anyone else on the forum could help that would be great.

First, is the Clestron C8N mount customizable, can you add Goto at a later date like the Skywatcher mounts?

Second, if I was to get the 6" 150p Skywatcher, I could afford accessories like extra lense, moon filter etc and could get all that for cheaper than the C8N - is there much of a difference in viewing between the two? Is the extra cash worth it I suppose is what I am trying to establish.

Cheers

Steve

[ashenlight]

Hi Steve warm welcome to SGL

For what it's worth, I have a (5") Skywatcher and I am so pleased with it - very impressed with the SW brand so far. The Skywatcher 150 looks like a good step up from your 3" scope now - perhaps jumping from 3 to 8" would be a bit too much? Just thinking about ease of use, portability etc. What do you think?

[stev74]

Hi Amanda thanks for the welcome.

Yes I see what you mean it is a bit of jump.

One of my concerns is if i go for the smaller scope i'll want to upgrade again sooner rather than later and spend more money in the long run. Portability not so much of an issue, I'll mostly be in the garden and I live in quite a small village so I have a dark site close by. Ease of use could be an issue but probably wouldn't know until I bought either of the scopes. They're both on EQ mounts so I'll be learning as I go, only read how they work. So I think it's probably still down to what I can see for my money. Your right though the SW brand has such a great rep!!