Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b83b14cd4142fe10848741bb2a14c66b.jpg

another "what telescope" question....

kevineaton77

Recommended Posts

acey

acey

Posted
Posted

Actually I find both reviews very positive. But you can't have lots of aperture without a lot of weight, and you need a lot of mount to support it. That's why people love dobs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 44
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

Posted
Posted

Kevin,

If your around the Dorking area your more than welcome to come have a look at my 200 on an HEQ5 or even have a look through it. I use a few local sites as dark sky sites round the Dorking area.

I find the HEQ5/200 combo gives a pretty good balanmce between having a scope with GoTo and tracking and also having a scope that can pick up fainter objects. A bigger dob may find more of them but I hate manually pushing a scope about - its gets on my nerves after a while. The down side is an HEQ5/200 with GoTo starts to turn into a big pile of gear quite quick to transport.

You have the scope (heavy and bulky)

HEQ5 mount head (heavy and awkward)

HEQ5 mount tripod - not heavy but awkward

2x 5.1kg weights (just plain heavy)

On top of that you'll need a powertank (basically a big battery)

eventually an eyepiece case (light but bulky)

Bag for leads, 12v hair dryer and other accessories.

For me to go out the the 200 is quite a logistics exercise. Its something to think about if you have to be portable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kevineaton77

kevineaton77

Posted
  • Author
Posted

well thankyou for the offer, thats much appreciated and i do appreciate the advice as well.

aargh - i still dont know what to do.

do you have a scope that you travel with and if so how does it compare to the heq5/200?

i agree with you about manually moving scopes....i want a motorised one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

Posted
Posted

I do have others copes. I have a Nexstar 4SE as a grab and go but its seldom used these days as its been aupplanted by my TAL 100RS refractor. The 100RS cant really be considered a grab and go really but it is a lot lighter than the 200 and for planetary is actually a better scope I find.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pvaz

pvaz

Posted
Posted
Incidentally - some of the Auto Dobs are upgradeable to goto and one manufacturer is even selling a new goto dob complete - can't remember which one though - there's a thread somewhere round here about it :)

Orion (USA) : Orion XTg GoTo Dobsonians - SCS Astro

I'm waiting for a 14" to come out and taking the time to make up a solid excuse to tell my wife... ;)

Still need to see a review to find about quality and if I can use it manually when I want to do a short session before I make up my mind.

i agree with you about manually moving scopes....i want a motorised one.

An EQ with Motors can be a plus for sure. They allow:

- tracking

- possibly goto

- photography (if the mount is sturdy enough, such as an HEQ5 or EQ6)

But they also have their flaws:

- more things to go wrong

- power supplie is needed

- setup time is a lot higher (alignments, in some cases calibrations and so on)

A begginer sets a dob in 1 min. He grabs it puts it down and observes. A seasoned observer takes about 15min to set an EQ mount...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
acey

acey

Posted
Posted

Why settle for something so small?:D

http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/102191-what-can-56-000-buy-you.html

I have a couple of grab and go scopes: Celestron 80mm f5 refractor (like Skywatcher Startravel), 100mm Yukon spotting scope. Also various binos. The 80mm has had most use: I viewed a number of Messier and Caldwell objects with it during holidays in Canaries etc. I'm trying to convert my 8" dob to an "ultracompact" travel scope but I'm no DIY-er and that project is moving at a snail's pace.

The future of dobs looks to be in the direction of large-aperture ultracompacts, judging by the offerings from Obsession and Orion.

Obsession Telescopes / Telescopes / 18" UC (Ultra Compact)

UltraPortable Truss Dobsonians | Orion Telescopes & Binoculars

Prices start around £5000 so start saving.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
pvaz

pvaz

Posted
Posted

Depends on light pollution. If it's too bad you will find it hard cause the idea is to use the visible starts to starhop to the right location. Without many visible stars that can be hard.

With a decent sky, a telrad and an atlas (i.e.: Pocket sky atlas) it's easy. You do need to learn to find the major constellations. For that using a pair of binos and a starwheel for a month or so will be the easiest way. I started in september and seen plenty of stuff (counters in sig.).

However goto is a time saver and having it available may avoid frustrations. I have a pushto (same as goto, without motors, tells you where to point). I usually prefer to hunt so most of the time I leave it off, but when my time is limited or when the conditions are excellent I turn it on to save time. My backyard is dark, I see over 1000 starts, naked eye so star hoping is easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
acey

acey

Posted
Posted

I still advise you to stick with an 8" for starters, maybe 10". A 12" is no easier or harder when it comes to finding things but it's an awful lot heavier. If you get seriously into deep-sky observing then you'll realise that what counts is not the scope you use but the darkness of the sky. The important thing is to have a scope that feels "just right" in size, not too big and not too small. Go too far in either direction and you just won't want to use it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kevineaton77

kevineaton77

Posted
  • Author
Posted

thing is, im not sure how much im going to get out of bracknell. most of my initial "re-firing" is going to be in my back garden in bracknell. hence my thinking on getting a big 12 " dobs....not far to travel to my backyard, ...i can keep it in my shed, relatively cheap - big bang for buck, and the fact that i will have to learn the sky thrown in.

my car is a BMW Z4....not much boot room....could get the 8" 10" or 12" SCT and mount in there but not a dobs, no chance....could put it in the passenger seat with the roof down maybe...my woman has got a saab 900 convertible, with a bit more room and at least it has backseats...a dobs might fit in there.

is there really that much difference between a 8"/ 10" / 12" SCT scope in weight? i wouldnt go stargazing on my own i dont think, so would always have someone to help.

hmmm....still confused!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
acey

acey

Posted
Posted

is there really that much difference between a 8"/ 10" / 12" SCT scope in weight?

YES!!! The big mistake is to think "it's only another 2 inches, and another 2...". Think of it this way: a 12" pizza has 4 times as much topping as a 6-inch one. A 12-foot circular paddling pool full of water weighs 8 times as much as a 6-foot one filled to the same depth. "Mass scales as the cube of linear dimension" (Galileo).

I could lift my complete 8" dob, base and tube, with one hand. Just the tube of my 12" is about as much as I care to carry on a regular basis. (And the base is a pain in the neck because as well as being heavy it's also big - it goes in the back seat while the scope goes in the boot). But I love deep sky, so I don't mind.

A 12" goes about 1 magnitude fainter than an 8". It really does make a difference. But if I drive from my home to a dark site I'm gaining 1.5 magnitudes, and that counts for far more: equivalent to doubling my aperture.

With an 8-inch at a dark site you can see literally hundreds if not thousands of DSOs. I think I logged about 600 before upgrading to the 12".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kevineaton77

kevineaton77

Posted
  • Author
Posted

hey acey,

ok. so an 8" then.

newtonian or SCT/MCT?

whats the difference between them - clearly a newtonian is physically longer giving less portability but whats the trade off for the SCT - more portable but not as good optically as the newtonian?

am i now tending toward the original solution suggested at the shop...skywatcer 200P on heq5pro....

Link to comment
Share on other sites
GuillermoBarrancos

GuillermoBarrancos

Posted
Posted
hey acey,

ok. so an 8" then.

newtonian or SCT/MCT?

whats the difference between them - clearly a newtonian is physically longer giving less portability but whats the trade off for the SCT - more portable but not as good optically as the newtonian?

am i now tending toward the original solution suggested at the shop...skywatcer 200P on heq5pro....

I bought the Celestron C8 (8") SCT on the Advanced CG-5 GT mount and I am very happy with it.

The difference with a Newt is that a SCT has a longer cooldown and is F/10. But can be reduced to F/6.3 or so with a focal reducer/flattener, for DSO photography work.

I almost went for the C8 Newt instead myself, but went for the SCT in the end for portability. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.