Really that much of a difference?

[Catallus]

Hello gents and ladies.

Ive been toying for a while now with the idea of getting a scope and taking the plunge into amateur astronomy as a (fairly serious)hobby, and Id like to ask a question about the likely scopes.

My budget as a student is pretty low, probably an all-up cost of about £200 max. As Im sure everyone is going to start screaming at me, this means pretty much the 130mm Skywatcher reflector, with or without motor drive (admittedly Im pondering whether to go with or without since if without that lets me spend a little more on accessories like additional eyepieces, which seems to be the going advice to the newcomers).

And this is the thing. Is there really that much of a difference between the Skywatcher 130mm and the Celestron 130mm equivalent model? Most of the time I see the Skywatcher has a slightly higher price, but the cynic in me says that a chunk of that is due to the endorsement by Sir Patrick. I fail to see just what magical foibles that Skywatcher could bolt onto this thing to make it worth that extra twenty quid.

Any advice/opinions appreciated. Thanks!

[John]

There are a few features that the Skywatcher (presumably the Skywatcher Explorer 130P ?) has that I think are better than the equivilent Celestron ( the Astromaster 130 eq presumably ?).

- The Skywatchers mount is more stable.

- The SW's finder scope is better - I've seen a number of complaints about the Celestrons.

- The secondary mirror vanes on the SW are much thinner than the Celestrons.

- The Celestron uses more plastic in it's construction that the SW does.

- Personally, I think the Celestron looks a bit "flashy" - more of an executive toy - but that is a personal view.

Others will chip in with their thoughts soon no doubt

BTW - I doubt Sir Patrick has ever seen either scope let alone used one !.

John

[TheThing]

SPM does indeed endorse SW telescopes and that would suggest, to me, that he has indeed seen something from their range. I doubt SPM would put his name to something lightly!

The 130 is an excellen starter scope. Many people on this board (me included) cut their astronomy teeth with this scope in its various guises. In fact, I rue the day I traded my in and am always hoping that a 2nd hand OTA will come up cheaply in the future.

The scope has won many awards and accolades from the Astronomy press and, my own experieince of it backs this up.

Forget the Celestron. Go for the SW everytime!

[acharris77]

Another vote for the 130p by SW. I have owned this scope for just over 3 months (though I got the goto version) and the scope have given some lovely views. This is my 1st scope as well and was and still is a beginner learning.

Also I have managed to do some astrophotgraphy with this scope of jupiter using a toucam pro webcam, and the images have been good and impressive. Some can be seen in the planetary imaging section. I have seen the following:

The moon, Jupiter, saturn, though it was down low, M13, M81, and quite a view double stars and have always been impressed. You wont regret the scope.

[The Warthog]

I have a Celestron C6N, and it is excellent, but it is older, and has fewer plastic parts. The reasons John gives for preferring the SW scope are all extremely valid, and that is the way I would go. However, if your budgeet can extend to the 150mm scope, I would suggest you spend a little more money for that. You can always save up for better eps later. I hear the ones that come with SW scopes are not Rubbish. And add the motors later, they're great.