Scope Recomendations and General Help

[greenninja]

Hi

Second post and it's one of those help me choose a scope ones! Apologies - this is a bit wordy!

I'm not new to telescopes having had a couple of starter scopes over the years. However having been out of the market for so long I'm totally amazed by the choice and value to be had these days.

From experience I know there's no one scope that will do every job well, so if I outline a bit of what I want to achieve and my ideas so far I would be grateful for any thoughts and guidance members may have.

I would descibe myself very much a night sky tourist - I like to look at the things make you say things like "wow that's amazing" - to date this has really been the planets and the moon. Having had not particularly dark skies and not so great telescopes DSOs have always been a bit elusive to me. So I think in terms of object choice I think I'm pretty much going to go along the planetary/luna route (although if I can locate a scope that would provide reasonable images of bright Deep Sky Fuzzies, then that would be a bonus).

In addition to observational work I'd like to try some basic astrophotography. Initially I think I'd be hooking a DSLR up and doing some prime focus snapshots, before progressing to some web cam work and seeing how much further I can progress it.

Space is also a bit of an issue and ideally a scope should be easy to store and move.

In doing some initial research I've kind of hit a bit of brick wall as to scope choice. My initial choice was the Skywatcher Skymax 127 AZ GOTO - this seems to get pretty good reviews and consistently comes up on web searches. Subsequent research has led me to the Meade ETX125 PE. Both these telescopes initially fit my criteria - I also like the idea of the GOTO system (as I'm lazy!). I'm not sure how sturdy their mounts are or how good they are at tracking.

At this point however the serious astronomer in me takes over and says "Don't spend money on gadgetary - spend it on optics and mounts" . So I've started looking at Refractors - with the Bresser Messier R127L refractor creeping in.

I've set a budget of around £800 for the initial scope purchase - I'd like to come in under if possible.

So currently my shortlist looks like this

Bresser Messier R127L

Skywatcher Skymax 127 Goto thingy

Meade ETX127PE

The other thought that is occuring to me is possible the Skymax, but on an equatorial mount rather than the standard mount.

Any thoughts or ideas would be most welcome as I fear confusion is knocking at my door!

Thanks

Paul

[johnnyp]

Im no expert but how about these two to add to the confusion lol

Celestron nexstar 127 slt(basically same as skymax 127 but some nicer touches i think)

Celestron nexstar 6se.(sturdier mount and bigger aperture)

The 6se would be just in your budget i think. The SLT is significantly cheaper though and leaves room for a few eyepieces/dewshield.

Also figure a powertank into this, batteries last about 30 minutes in my 102slt,, then it goes haywire.

If i had the choice again id go for the 6se, seems to be a good all rounder. Probably my next scope in fact, unless i save enough pennies for the 8se:)

HTH

John

[John]

Welcome to Stargazers Lounge !

You can get an equatorially mounted 8" newtonian with GOTO for your budget:

Reflectors - Skywatcher Explorer 200P EQ5 GOTO

No more bulky than a Bresser 127L (a bit less actually) with loads more viewing and imaging potential. And some change left over !.

Just my suggestion - others will follow soon no doubt !.

[greenninja]

Interesting points - I've looked at the Nexstars and I think the 6se looks interesting - particularly as it seems to have some nice photo friendly features and a smart mount.

I must confess to have fallen into the mindset of Newtonian = Deep Sky, however I was looking at some of big dobs and I'm forming the opinion that the distinction between refractor/reflector that comes from some of my older books isn't necessarily the case. I'll take a look at the skywatcher tonight.

[Doc]

I recommend giving First Light Optics a call, they are our sponsers and Steve and James are the nicest people you will meet and they know their stuff, I'm sure you will walk away very happy indeed with the correct telescope for your needs.

[step_hen]

The Skywatcher/ Celestron 127 Maks are a popular choice, and not as pronoe to dodgy mechanicals/ electrics as the meade alternative. The Alt Az mount isnt great for long exposure work, but fine for webcam imaging of lunar or planets i believe.

Is there a long focal length version of the 200P available? That would be better on planetary, and a much better all rounder than the Maks

Stephen

[John]

Is there a long focal length version of the 200P available? That would be better on planetary, and a much better all rounder than the Maks

The dobsonian version (the Skyliner 200P) is an F/6. With some tube rings and a dovetail bar it would go onto a sturdy EQ mount. The F/6 version is a great all rounder IMHO.

[greenninja]

Just been looking at some images captured on the Explorer 130 - which look pretty impressive. Just noticed that a lot of the skywatcher newts talk about direct DSLR connection - I assume this means that you can hook a (t-ring?) equiped DSLR directly onto it for Prime Focus work? This doesn't seem to be specified on the specs I've seen for the 200P DS (which I have to say look a tremendous scope).

Two other newtonian questions - firstly I've read that DSLR connection can be tricky with the lack of focus travel on them - is this still the case or have manufacturers overcome this now? Also can some one give me a brief idea as to what's involved with collimation - sort of how hard it is and how often you need to do it.

Thanks for the help with this - I'm really having fun weighing up the options!

[PaulG]

Hi

I also like the idea of the GOTO system (as I'm lazy!).

Thanks

Paul

I considered "goto" but then I thought when I get there would I be impressed or not ?.

So I decided to put my money into mirrors and mounts without the fancy electronics (more satisfying to find an object by learning the sky).

Paul

[ollypenrice]

The catadiaptrics have long focal lengths which suit webcamming but are a disaster for deep sky, as are fork mounts or one legged variants thereof. Very poor tracking in imaging terms and hard to balance. I really think that on your budget the Newt would out-see the others easily. Small long focus instruments are lunar and planetary devices. The deep sky looks very thin in them.

Collimation is tickety-boo. I use a laser so I can do it single handed on our twenty inch. The laser gets it pretty good and if you want to image or go for planetary fine detail visually then a quick star test polishes up the result. Three minutes at the laser, another two or three for the star test. Maybe less.

Your thoughts on glass over gadgets would be exactly my own.

Olly

[Moonshane]

hi there

I have said this to others (albeit note my 'signature' for suitable comments on my experience to date - almost none!) but with £800, I'd get a 10" dob Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian AND a 4.7" refractor Omni XLT Series - Celestron Omni XLT 120 (they are about £250). This leaves about £150 to get a couple of decent eyepieces and maybe a collimating tool. don't forget about buying used though. there are a lot of bargains come up on this forum if you bide your time.

then you can have the best of both worlds (assuming you have an understanding wife? - thinking of 'space' - the cupboard kind not the sky kind - although maybe she could use the one you are not?).

good luck!

Shane

[greenninja]

Today I've been looking specifically at mounts - and inadvertantly stumbled on a plan. Initially when I was looking at the MAKs I figured it would be great to go for a straight out of the box solution. But I reckon there's a smater way of doing it.

The way I'm going to do this is to buy each bit separately, over a period of months - that way I have the option of picking up used gear as it becomes available and only ending up with the stuff I really need, rather than bells and whistles I don't (yet).

So I'm planning picking up an mount with upgrade potential first - kind of thinking of a Skywatcher EQ-5. Then picking up the OTA (more on that shortly) - this will get me visual and short exposure capability. Finally add motors to the mount to drive it. Long term I can add goto if necessary. This also means I could start the ball rolling a little sooner, rather than wiping out my savings pot in one go!

From what I've been reading I'm getting a good feeling on the Skywatcher Explorer 200P DS - although at f5 it seems to thought of as pretty capable on planets as well as DSOs (if anyone has one be keen to hear what you have to say on this).

I must also confess to a fondness of refractors and the celestron omni shane mentions looks interesting (as does the Evostar 150). Of course with the ability to use the same mount it opens the options to using 2 tubes at some point in the future.

Watch this space! (no pun intended, well maybe half intended)

[ollypenrice]

Buying bits as spare parts is very expensive. I can't help thinking you'd do better to look for an EQ5 pro second hand and all ready to go. Skywatcher pricing of bits is shameless. £150 for a handset costing a few dolllars at the factory gate... You risk having to pay silly spares prices for one fiddly little bit that you are missing.

Olly