Hi Guys, just joined....I Need help finding a new scope....

[Andy P]

Hi Guys.!

Just joined your site yesterday after trying to find information as i've only just started with my first set up. I'm already after finding somewhere to buy just a telescope on its own without the mount.

Does anyone know where i can.?.... as i have an A-Z mount and need or just want to upgrade my 114mm x1000mm to something like a 150mm x 12000mm.

I hope someone can help me.?

[brianb]

Welcome to the forum!

Lots of places sell "optical tube assemblies" (that's what you say you want).

Just be careful when upgrading a scope on an existing mount, it will be less stable & could be at risk of blowing over in a breeze (ouch!) or vibrating too much to be useful. The weight of a tube is, other things being equal, proportional to the cube of the aperture, so you'd expect a 150mm scope to weigh 2.27 times as much as a 114mm scope, and to have 1.7 times the "sail area".

I take it the scope you have at the moment is a refractor. You might find a SCT or Maksutov tube a better upgrade than an upsized 'frac (on the same mount) as they're shorter & lighter for their aperture.

[Andy P]

Hi

Thanks for the info...Yes i have a refractor scope on this mount pictured below...

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd126/lowcostgadgets/Synscan-AZ-GOTO-Mount--Trip.jpg

I'm wondering how much bigger i can go on this mount.?

[brianb]

I'm wondering how much bigger i can go on this mount.?

Not sure but if they sell a scope with that mount it's probably ok even if marginal, if they don't it's not big enough.

[KevG]

Maximum recommended OTA for your mount would be- D102/F500 Refractor (Startravel-102), D130/F650 Reflector (Explorer-130P), D127/F1500 Maksutov (Skymax-127)

The Skymax-127 would be a nice scope for your mount. Can highly recommend http://www.opticstar.com I have received excellent service from these guys in the past.

Cheers

Kev

[Andy P]

Thanks for everyones help..... I might take a look at the Skymax-127.

Do you think this would be the better choice for viewing Sarturn etc...?

[Andy P]

Yeah the SKYMAX 127 looks good...see i've already got my mount and i dont think at this stage i wll change it, it may not be the best mount out there but i would like to get the best i could fit onto it to get the best view of saturn etc.. If this new hobby kicks off for me i will in the future upgrade my kit. So the best scope is what i'm looking for at the moment.

[KevG]

The 127 is a very good planetary scope, used the smaller 4'inch version and had some really nice crisp views of Saturn, Jupiter etc.

Cheers

Kev

[Andy P]

Thanks kev.... would this be ok for some deep sky stuff to.?

My main thing is to be able to view saturn , mars and all the others first...without putting to much strain on my new AZ to-go mount.

[KevG]

Well you will be resticted to a certain extent with regard DSO with a 5" inch aperture, but that said the Skymax optics are very good, I took the little 4" Skymax to a few dark sky sites and was able to resolve popular Messier objects e.g. M31, 81, 45 etc to a good enough degree to keep me interested. I do not think you would be dissapointed with the 127, the site sponsor (FLO) retails the OTA on its own.

Cheers

Kev