undecided on which one

[Nick R]

Iam looking at a Sky-Watcher EXPLORER-300P (NEQ6) Pro.or a 10 inch dob, really want something that can be brought out with ease, needs to be user friendly for the kids to use as well, How much extra will i be able to see than using my etx 90 ,or do you suggest i look at different scopes.

Regards

Nick

[Matthew.Blake]

Taking an NEQ6 out and mounting a 300p on it is something which is not done with ease or particularly child friendly. Go for a big fat dob with a kiddy step.

[tooth_dr]

Having just bought a 10" to go on my EQ6, I can also second that it is definitely not child friendly, and a 12" would be mad!!

A dob would be perfect, minimal setting up, and a lot cheaper.

[Nick R]

Sorry should of said i will be mounting the scope for them

[tooth_dr]

Have you seen a 300p in person? I just got my 250px and it is a really big heavy scope, close to 4ft long, I certainly wouldn't recommend it if you were taking it out and in at night. You would get fed up, or even drop it by accident. Also your two choices are a bit strange given that one is the guts of £1500, and the other is less than £400! If you can get a 12" dob, that would be a cracking scope for seeing lots of stuff.

[Nick R]

The dob was my first thought really , It is a joint b/day xma

s pr

e

ssy fo

r the Children ( !5) twins ,and for my self , Which ever scope i have will only be moved a short distance No more than 15 ft .

Dob is my choice but i made the mistake of taking them into the shop ,

Regards

Nick

Edit. it is the 200 i meant sorry for the confusion

[tooth_dr]

Ah right, well the kids are old enough then to really get the most out of it at fifteen.

The best advice I can give regarding telescopes is get the one you will use most. The EQ6 is a great mount, very sturdy, but very expensive. It might do more than you really need it to do at this stage, as it is partcularly suited to astro photography. A Dob on the other hand is a great way to see the sky as well as learn about it at the same time, but it isn't motorised so it won't track the sky and will require constant adjustments to keep the image in the eyepiece.

My own personal opinion, from having carted an EQ6 from the dining room to garden for the past two years, and probably less than 15ft each way, is that it's just too much to do each and every night, and eventually you get fed up. The EQ6 also requires power to make it work. Also if you are not there then the kids may well not be able to take it out themselves, and miss out on a nights observing, or break something trying!

Hopefully some others will come along too and give opinions to help you out, but a dob def seems like the logical choice. Also by being cheaper to buy, it'll give you room to buy some accessories that may be needed as time goes on, such as another eyepiece, dew heater, etc, not dear in themselves but costs can add up.

Hope that helps you,

All the best

Adam

[Nick R]

Will take that advice on board ,Thanks alot .

Dont know what happened to my post? Strange spelling ?

[stev74]

Edit. it is the 200 i meant sorry for the confusion

Just thought I'd add if it was the 200p you were looking at you could mount it on the cheaper EQ5 or HEQ5 which isn't as big and heavy or as costly as the NEQ6 pro. It's a good all round scope and mount combo -

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P HEQ5 Syntrek.

I carry mine out from the shed in 3 parts - mount first which I polar align, add the weights, then add the scope and balance it. All done in 10mins with a bit of practise.

[Matthew.Blake]

I've got the 200p on an EQ6. I leave the mount set up in the garde n with the tube just by the back door to take out as needed otherwise it takes so long to setup it's not worth doing a short session. With the mount left set up I can be observing within 5 minutes. If you can get a similar arrangement then it would be OK, if you were going to have to take the mount out and set it up every time I don't think a 15 year olds attention span would be sufficient, I know mine isn't!

[Nick R]

Thanks for your reply Mathew

I can not leave the mount outside on a perm basis as i live only 30 yards from the sea defence wall and it would rust in no time ,

If i went for a dob , what are the advantages / disadvantages of a flexi over a solid tube apart from weight

[jimhaleysscomet]

The flex tube REALLY removes a lot of the "bulkiness" factor while retaining a long focal ratio. When you need to "dolly" or carry the scope through a door way or store it in the corner they really are much smaller. I have the tiny Heritage 130P flex tube but it is more portable than my slightly smaller short focal ratio Starblast 114.

If I buy another scope it will have digital setting circles/computer and flex tube (when that is available).

Truss tubes on the other hand are not worth it unless you really need to reduce weight. My 12.5" f6 truss tube dob is just too much of a pain to set up every time I use it. Plus I am uncomfortable carrying just the optical tube outside because it is so much more flimsy than a solid tube dob would be plus I feel I need to carry it vertically.

Actually I am uncomfortable carrying almost any optical tube horizontally. I had a mirror fall forward once and that is not an experience I want to repeat! That is what makes the flex tubes really shine. You can carry them through any door way without worrying about knocking the upper cage assembly on the top door jam or a low hanging tree branch. Plus the finder and focus are close to your eyes so you can really watch them while clearing the sides of the door.

In time I expect most new 6" - 12" dobs will come as flextubes. The design is just so much better!

[Matthew.Blake]

Thanks for your reply Mathew

I can not leave the mount outside on a perm basis as i live only 30 yards from the sea defence wall and it would rust in no time ,

If i went for a dob , what are the advantages / disadvantages of a flexi over a solid tube apart from weight

If I remember correctly from another thread on this forum the flex tube is actually heavier by a little bit! The main advantage is size, you can retract them down so the tube is half the length or less. This means they are much easier to store and transport. Setting one up should consist of you picking it up by the side handles (probably with one other person), plonking it down where you want to observe and extending the trusses. There might be collimation issues, but I have read a number of users of the flextube design comment on how surprised they were on how well it held collimation even when retracted and later extended again.

Unless you have already, I'd by a small pair of binos first, to just browse the sky and get used to finding objects star hopping. It's much easier with a 4.4 degree field of view!

[Nick R]

we already have bins and a scope ,meade etx 90.but both the children and myself want to see more .

looks like the dob is the one , just have to decide on which size ,,

How big are the base,s ?Had a look on a few sites but can not find the base size

[John]

I have a 12" dobsonian - a Meade Lightbridge. The base is about 63cm in diameter. I move the scope from my dining room to my garden (about 15 feet) in 2 parts - the scope tube weighs around 23 kg and the base a further 20 kg approx. Getting the whole scope outside takes about 3 mins. 30-60 mins of cooling (depending on the season) then it's ready to use. Having owned plenty of smaller aperture scopes I can say that a 12" scope really offers serious observing potential - really showcasing the popular deep sky objects and making accessible a vast number of fainter, less familliar ones.

That said, an 8" dob is more easily managed and will also have a great "wow" factor if what you are used to is a 90mm scope.

John

[Nick R]

Thaks for that input

63 cm should go through my doors ok

Cm . what ever happened to old money.

Edit are they stable enogh to push along a pathway erected

[John]

Edit are they stable enogh to push along a pathway erected

They have rubber feet rather than wheels as standard so won't push easily - I lift and place mine.

Lots of folk do either fit wheels to the base or add "wheelbarrow" type handles / wheels to them to make movement around the observing site easier.

I think it's generally accepted that you do need to fine tune the collimation each time you move a F/5 or shorter ratio dob - solid tubes scopes are a bit more stable in this respect I guess but you will need to adjust the collimation reasonably frequently even with those.

John

[jimhaleysscomet]

With solid tube scopes you usually only need to collimate the primary mirror. Takes about 20 seconds tops.

An 8" dob (or even 10") is real easy to move down sidewalks with a two wheel hand dolly. Get one with large pneumatic tires for a soft ride.

[Nick R]

Thought about this some more and i think a dob would be a bad choice .

I live about 80 yds from the beach and think that the salt / sand in the atmosphere will effect one , so need plan B:)

[Matthew.Blake]

Thought about this some more and i think a dob would be a bad choice .

I live about 80 yds from the beach and think that the salt / sand in the atmosphere will effect one , so need plan B:)

Whatever you buy the atmosphere where you live is going to affect it. A dob will fare no worse than any other scope, whether it's the coating on the mirror or the corrector plate or the object lens being eroded.

[Brinders]

Ah right, well the kids are old enough then to really get the most out of it at fifteen.

The best advice I can give regarding telescopes is get the one you will use most. The EQ6 is a great mount, very sturdy, but very expensive. It might do more than you really need it to do at this stage, as it is partcularly suited to astro photography. A Dob on the other hand is a great way to see the sky as well as learn about it at the same time, but it isn't motorised so it won't track the sky and will require constant adjustments to keep the image in the eyepiece.

My own personal opinion, from having carted an EQ6 from the dining room to garden for the past two years, and probably less than 15ft each way, is that it's just too much to do each and every night, and eventually you get fed up. The EQ6 also requires power to make it work. Also if you are not there then the kids may well not be able to take it out themselves, and miss out on a nights observing, or break something trying!

Hopefully some others will come along too and give opinions to help you out, but a dob def seems like the logical choice. Also by being cheaper to buy, it'll give you room to buy some accessories that may be needed as time goes on, such as another eyepiece, dew heater, etc, not dear in themselves but costs can add up.

Hope that helps you,

All the best

Adam

Having recently sold my EQ6 Pro, I can vouch for Adam's comments - it really is a heavy beast that takes time to set up and take down, which is why I have replaced it with a CPC925 GPS (still heavy, but as it's in two parts, and lot quicker to set up).

All in all I think the dob is probably the best option for you.

Brinders

[Nick R]

Whatever you buy the atmosphere where you live is going to affect it. A dob will fare no worse than any other scope, whether it's the coating on the mirror or the corrector plate or the object lens being eroded.

So looks like a dob is a option then .

I thought that the amount of sand would of caused problems to a dob more than any

[Nick R]

Whatever you buy the atmosphere where you live is going to affect it. A dob will fare no worse than any other scope, whether it's the coating on the mirror or the corrector plate or the object lens being eroded.

So looks like a flex dob is a option then .

I thought that the amount of sand would of caused problems to a dob more than any other scope..

[Helen]

If you buy a shroud to go around it it will protect the mirrors. Other designs have optical elements at the front so would be more prone to attach by sand etc

Helen

[Nick R]

Thanks for that advice ,

Thats what i like about this forum , so many people with advice Thanks every one