which telescope

[amateur stargazer]

hi there, i currently have a few threads on here asking pretty much the same thing, but i have a celestron firstscope 114 short, having had it 4 about 3yrs and not using it regularly, until know, but im not that happy with the results im getting with it, i no not to expect to see images that you see in a book, but long story short, what telescope would be ideal for planetary and dso viewing, i prob ave a budget of about £300-£400. hope fully someone can help

cheerss amateur

[philsail1]

Hello "Nebula,"

Well, you could do worse than go for a Skywatcher Dobsonian Scope - such as this 8" one that FLO advertise. Although it is unguided, you will easily be able to view all the planets (when they are up in the night sky of course!) and get magnificent views of the Moon, and acceptable views of many "deep sky" objects. The scope is quick to set up and put away too.

Best wishes,

philsail1.

http://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=dobsky200

[amateur stargazer]

had a look at that, looks good, any others, out of interest whats the difference between the Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 and the Sky-Watcher Skyliner-200 8 inch (20cm) Dobsonian Telescope, apart from price

[brianb]

whats the difference between the Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 and the Sky-Watcher Skyliner-200 8 inch (20cm) Dobsonian Telescope,

Same optics, completely different mount.

[amateur stargazer]

so you pay alot more for the mount then

[FLO]

Same optics, completely different mount.

Almost.

The Explorer 200p is f5 whereas the Skyliner 200p is f6 (longer focal length). Otherwise they are near identical.

HTH

[amateur stargazer]

which a better, i dnt really understand focal lengths, should it be big or small

[oceanheadted]

The EQ5 is on an german equatorial mount, good for tracking objects and you could try a spot of imaging with it if it was motorized. If you were serious about imaging there would be better mounts you could choose (for more money of course). Once you align the mount with pole star and find the object you are looking for there is only one knob to twiddle to follow the object.

The dobsonian is a much simpler mount which you push around manually. This is cheaper and much simpler to set up, but isn't much good for imaging.

The set up time for the dob will be a lot shorter because you can just plonk it down and start using it (assuming no cool down time)

I think the optics are much the same quality but the eq5 has a slightly shorter focal length- so it will give you a wider field of view and brighter images for the same magnification.

Because the dob is slightly slower (longer focal length for the same width) it will be less tricky to collimate if you need to do that (from reading on this forum you will probably need to do it at some point).

[amateur stargazer]

thanks, im not really at the moment into imagary, i just want a good scope, that i am able to view good planetary detail, and maybe nubula and other dso, its just difficult for me cus im completely new to all this, and so have no nowledge as to what i need to look for in a scope.

if you had a budget of £300, and wanted a scope that will give good details of planets and dso what scope would you buy.

[twotter]

Feel free to ignore me as I'm very new to all this but I'm looking at buying my first telescope in the next few days and the advice I've been given is to go for a 10" Sky-Watcher Skyliner Dob.

Like you I'm not too fussed about imaging and if I do decide to have a go then that's a good excuse for buying another scope (the wife's suggestion - honest ) at some point in the future.

Costs around the £400 mark at a few different retailers so max end of your budget.

[Helen]

If you're looking at an 8 or 10 inch scope I suggest you see one in the flesh before buying - they are quite large!

Helen

[amateur stargazer]

yea someone else on here sugested the 8", which is a we bit more in range but still not sure, i need somthing easily portable, they look like big scope to move around

[Astro_Baby]

When you say 'easily portable' what does that mean exactly.

The reason I ask and would ask you to question all of this is what to one person isn't too much bother to another is a complete nightmare.

I have a Sky-Watcher 200 on an HEQ5. Its not actually that big when set up but its serious hassle to break it all down and transport it. The counterweights alone are 15kilos, the mount head is very heavy and the scope tube itself is very bulky.

For me its not too bad and I put up with it for the views and the conveniance of a GoTo mount with tracking. For some other people it would be a complete non-starter.

A Dob would to some extent get the weight down (no counterwights or heavy mount) but they are still quite big things. The problem is if you want bang for the buck and good DSO performance it really has to be a reflector of some description and that means weight and/or bulk.

Like others I'd seriously suggest you take a look at one before you buy.

[amateur stargazer]

well the scope i have at the minute i can just lift it and move out side, and im away, i dont know, im seriously considering the skywatcher explorer 200p, which i posted earlier, but i dnt no ders just so many to choose from. and the 8" dob is praticly the same as the skywatcher jus diff focal

[amateur stargazer]

ok so i think iv narrowed my choice down to 2 possibly 3, either the Skywatcher EXPLORER 130 Telescope, the Skywatcher EXPLORER-150P (EQ3-2) Telescope, or the more expensive top end of budget Skywatcher EXPLORER-200P (EQ5) Telescope, does any one have a view on these, please keep replies to these three scopes, cus iv gt a lot of other ppl sugesting scopes, and any more will just confuse me even more

thanks amatuer