pick your brains re scope advice

[Cat3mechc]

Hi you lot my 1st post (ime Alon) So a Newby Question

Not new to scopes have dabled in the past ,but that was a while ago,

rephrase previous blog ie what scope do i need (impossible question to ask really, Ha)!

so put it like this and try for some input

ive seen perhaps 3 scopes i fancy

Celestron Omni xlt 127 mm Schmidt casssegrain @£460

Same as above but 150 mm ditto @£729

Bushnell Northstar 127 mm Maksutov cassigrain @£749

If you had £750 to play with which one would you favour, any of these or maybe a little gem ive not considered yet ?

any input would be appreciated I assure you

It looks a really nice site And thanks 4 having me

Take care alonso:confused:

[NGC 1502]

Hi, Alonso, welcome to SGL. The Omni XLT 150 ( listed at £369 ) on David Hinds website, would be my choice from your list.

Regards, Ed.

[Astro_Baby]

Do you particularly want an SCT ?

I assume your Omni XLT 150 is actually the 150 R at that price which is the 150mm F5 refractor.

I'd avoid the Bushnell scope because its resale value if you upgrade is likley to be a lot less. I'd stick with a major brnad like Skywatcher, Celestron, Orion etc.

If I were buying at £750 I'd go for something like a Skywatcher 200 on an HEQ5 or maybe the EQ5 depending on some factors. In fact thats what I did go for but its not a choice that will suit everyone. Its big, heavy(ish) and has a large learning curve with it - in fairness alsmot any scope will be a learning curve for you. Very little of this hardware is plug and play in the way that a DVD player is and most equipment requires you to be patient and learn how to make it work to its best.

There are tons of issues though in selecting a scope such as where will you use it ? If it has to be portable and you buy some kind of giant sized scope it may be too musch hassle to lug it around. The 200/HEQ5 comes close to that for some people.

What do you want to see with it ? Keep your expectations realistic but a refelector will get you more bang for the buck than anything else and a DObsonian will get you the biggest scope for the money.

How much time do you have spare ? If you have lots of time and you can use the scope from home then a big Dobsonian style scope might suit. If you have little time a GoTo equippped scope may be a better choice.

Dont forget - as well as the scope you will need extras - if its powered you will need a power tank (a portable battery), you might need a dewshield or anti-dew equipment if its an SCT type scope or a reflector, you'll need a red light torch and eventually you'll want better/more eyepieces than the ones that come with the scope.

So you'd have to know if the £750 is for the complete set-up or whether your seeing that as an initial spend with some more later.

Theres lots of issues there beyond the technical aspects of the particular telescope which you need to think about.

Hope that gives you some food for thought.

[Doc]

If you have no interest in astrophotography I would go for a dobsonian and would buy this

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 300P Dobsonian

A 12" dob with change left over for a good quality wide field eyepiece.

At this aperture you will see loads and loads.

[brantuk]

With £750 to play with I'd aim at a scope around £550-£650 leaving a bit of budget for accessories like collimation tools, power pack, ep's etc.