evostar 120 or explorer 150 pl

[stafford_stargazer]

Looking to buy a scope suitable to mount on my celestron cg-4 mount for planetary use.

Would i be better off with 120mm refractor of 6inch skywatcher explorer PL.

What would give me better views?

Thanks Gary

[russ]

I'll give my vote to the 150PL. Owned both scopes but the 150PL has the edge on the whole. It has no abberations to speak of, tiny secondary obstruction, holds collimation well, quite lightweight and at f8, is easy on the eyepieces. Oh and the planetary views are stunningly good. It is after all a classic planetary scope design.

The 120 is very nice but does suffer a little with chromatic abberation on brighter targets, is heavier than the 150, requires a tall tripod to get the eyepiece to a sensible position and in my personal opinion, is a little too much for the CG4. I know Celestron sell the CG4 with this tube but then they sell the C11 with a CG5 and thats just plain silly. If you do go with one of these, I would highly recommend the Skywatcher Autofocus or Orion Accufocus for both scopes to avoid the jiggles. They are both long scopes and will push the CG4 to the limit. I found i needed the electric focus with the 150 when using it with a CG5.

[stafford_stargazer]

Russ

Great advice as usuall,i was thinkin the pl might be better for my mount,how about light gathering between the two,any difference?

Thanks gaz

[step_hen]

I have had both and Russ has said everything i would say- ditto on the 150PL, ditto on the need for the autofocus unit! Both are about the same length and will therefore have the same damping issues due to the angle of moment on the mount. The reflector is a little lighter of the two. The 150PL has a bigger apperature so better planetary resolution and the secondary is small enough to haver a minimal effect. The 120 will suffer from purple fringing due to chromatic abberation.

Whichever you buy, try hanging on to it for a while this time!

Stephen

[MarkF]

Gary,

Just a thought, is the 200p skyliner too heavy for that mount? If not buy some tube rings and mount it save you having to sell it after all your efforts of flocking.

[russ]

Or how about selling the CG4 and buying a CG5 plus rings for the 200P. The CG5 is the minimum for the 200P and even that is jiggly.

[stafford_stargazer]

Yeh did think of that but every comment i have had is its too.... heavy.

Thats why im selling it,i want to track the planets,i hate the nudging.

Steve,hey man i will try,but when you are new to it,you need to find your feet and decide what your main interest are,i have decided planets first,deep sky second.

I love it all,but i want to have good planetary views and be able to track them.

I know the 200p is a good performer,i had one:D but wasnt convenient for me and i have to look at the whole picture.

What you got new then:D

Cheers Gary

[MarkF]

Or how about selling the CG4 and buying a CG5 plus rings for the 200P. The CG5 is the minimum for the 200P and even that is jiggly.

That thought was going through my mind too, but looks like the 200 is sold so its all academic.

I think he should buy a nice 120 Equinox then I can buy it cheap off him next month :evil6::evil6:

Sorry Gary, couldn't resist that one I am a P taker but to add some comment relevant to your question the Evostar may give you false colour even visual whereas a reflector won't. Its up to you whether that's acceptable.

[stafford_stargazer]

Nice pun:D:D:D:D

I dont always do things like this,but,i havent got any spare dosh at the moment so mount upgrade wont happen,and like russ says,the cg5 is still a bit jiggly.

Now who wants jiggle? not me.

So my plans are slowly coming together.

MarkF,tell me what you want to purchase next and i'll buy it today,then you can have it in 4 weeks:D

Gaz

[russ]

Yeh did think of that but every comment i have had is its too.... heavy.

Thats why im selling it,i want to track the planets,i hate the nudging.

Steve,hey man i will try,but when you are new to it,you need to find your feet and decide what your main interest are,i have decided planets first,deep sky second.

I love it all,but i want to have good planetary views and be able to track them.

I know the 200p is a good performer,i had one:D but wasnt convenient for me and i have to look at the whole picture.

What you got new then:D

Cheers Gary

Get the 150PL, you won't be disappointed.

[russ]

Nice pun:D:D:D:D

I dont always do things like this,but,i havent got any spare dosh at the moment so mount upgrade wont happen,and like russ says,the cg5 is still a bit jiggly.

Now who wants jiggle? not me.

So my plans are slowly coming together.

MarkF,tell me what you want to purchase next and i'll buy it today,then you can have it in 4 weeks:D

Gaz

Some things are okay if they jiggle but not the scope.

150PL should be good with the Autofocus. Plus you get to do the whole flocking thing again......

[MarkF]

MarkF,tell me what you want to purchase next and i'll buy it today,then you can have it in 4 weeks:D

Gaz

EQ6 Pro

Equinox ED80

Atik Cameras - Atik Imaging System

I'll have the 500 quid ready to help you out and take that lot off your hands next month and I would be cutting me own throat at that price.

[stafford_stargazer]

jeez you make me laugh

[step_hen]

i want first dibs on EQ6 Pro gary!

[stafford_stargazer]

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[russ]

Gary, how does the Vixen 110L perform? Looks a nice little scope.

[stafford_stargazer]

150pl it is,literally,went to get it today,tell you what,seems pretty nice,and nice to have better collimation knobs at the base:D

Also while i was there,i picked up a celestron 80ed f7.5.

Dont know anything about it,but it was rand new noever opened and a good deal.

Hope its ok

G

[MarkF]

Nice one, the 80ED will be cracking for imaging, let me know how much you want for it next month its the equivalent of the equinox ED80 but with a different focuser and slightly longer FL I think.

[Astro_Baby]

YOu'll find planetary is a lot easier without the nudging required - thats why I prefer EQ mounts overall (though I could be swung to the Dob side with one of the GoTo dobs with tracking).

The TAL on the HEQ5 is a revelation because the mount is so steady carrying the tube its worh an extra inch of aperture and zero wobble.

My 200 is now so overweight the HEQ5 struggles to keep it all under control.

[stafford_stargazer]

hehe getting clearer by the minute,if this carrys on i will of had clear skies every new scope purchase,not that theres been many

[brianb]

I'll give my vote to the 150PL.

Me too, same reasons.

[Moonshane]

I posted this on the other similar thread :

this is really interesting as I have been thinking about whether I should get (or even make!) a planetary newt.

I thought about the Orion Optics UK 6" f11 dob which looks awesome and with 1/10 PV optics probably would be - but at about £700 new.

the SW 150PL looks to be a great scope and might be the answer. I have a Vixen GP which would handle it but I think I'd need to make (or buy) a shorter tripod that the 5 foot one I have for my refractor!

[russ]

Shane, i had the Orion Optics 150 f8 1/8PV with Hilux and curved spider, bought it from an SGL member. Was a cracking scope but needed some money, so sold it and replaced it with the 150PL (when the 150PL was £80 new). I was hard pushed to see where the OO was better. I wasn't the only one, when Ade Ashford tested the PL, he had the OO 150 f11 at hand. He too said the PL pushed OO's best really hard.

[Moonshane]

cheers Russ

That's good enough for me. I think I'll be saving up and getting one in the future (or watching out for a used OTA!).

I might try and get hold of a OO UK dob mount though - love 'em. otherwise it's on the GP. I am hoping to meet Gaz at some point and compare my 120 refractor with his newly acquired 150pl will be interesting to see how they compare. the level of difference will make the final decision for me.

[stafford_stargazer]

Ok first light with both scopes(i cant believe my luck when buying)

150pl,i am truly amazed,this scope was just as good if no slightly better on saturn tonight,star test showed perfect out of focus stars.

Well well pleased.great planetary scope and glad i listened to the advice on here.

Oh one thing i did notice on the 150pl is saturn stayed in focus right to the edge of the field,never did with 200p,is this due to focal lengh?

c80ed,well well well,i have got to say the detail on saturn was at least equal if not slightly better than 150pl,it is razor sharp.

star test shown it was beautifully collimated,perfect defraction patterns and disc like star points,i have honestly got to say,personally i have never looked through a better refractor.

This is a keeper for sure,i can see alot of use with this as its easy to take out.

I took magnification up to,well 9mm eyepiece and 2x barlow,thats all i had,and stunning it was.133x.

I reckon i could of pushed it more if i had the eyepieces,it was slighty dimmer than the 150pl but it sort of made it easier to see detail.

thanks all G