Think I found my 1st scope

[Suffolkgazer]

Hi all.

Well after last weeks OASI visit and hopefuly more to come, I started planning my 1st scope purchase. My budget is/will be around the £600 mark. I cannot be 100% on how much I will have until near the end of this year. But working on the theory I will have at least £550 I was looking at this.

Orion SkyQuest XT8 IntelliScope. - SCS Astro

It ticks alot of the boxes from what I should be looking at for a 1st scope that should last the rest of my observing days.

But I would like to know if anyone here has owned/used one and what the plus/minuses are.

Also how much more is the xt10i???. The only site I found selling the 10" model quoted £667 +/-, but this was ex-demo from shop floor. If I could push the wallet a little further I would love to but the xt10i, but would only consider it if it's price is only a smallish jump from the xt8i.

Thank you for your time

[Moonshane]

I am sure either would be great scopes but is there a reason you want a motorised scope of this type?

for around £300-350 used, you could get a 12" skywatcher dobsonian, even less for the 10". Assuming you live in a quite dark site then an 8" will be excellent though and is a really good all round performer, I am just not sure you are getting the best deal at the money you mention. An 8" is a fine first scope but if you feel this will be a lifelong hobby you will 'grow out' of the 8" a lot sooner than the 12" assuming you can handle the physical size of the thing.

This would then leave some funds for the inevitable additional eyepieces and accessories you'll want.

The main disadvantage of dobsonians is that they are not too great for photography, other than lunar and planetary with webcam. You can take the tube and mount on an EQ6 later but this is an expensive exercise.

For visual use, you cannot beat a large dob with decent eyepieces in my opinion. See if you can meet with a few people local to you and see a few options before you buy. I wouldn't worry about a scope being manual. dobs in particular are easy to move around.

there's a for sale section on here if you get past 50 posts.

[Chris H]

I own the XT10i. I went for it because of the Computerised Object Locator (COL) yes the scope cost me more than a Skywatcher Skyliner but I thought that it was worth it. It requires a 9v battery to power the COL and you manually move the scope to the position it tells you when searching for an object. I think the system is very good although I don't use it all that much, tends to be just for when I really can't find something. A minor gripe I have with it is that on frosty winter nights the display on the COL is hard too see.

Give SCSAstro a call and ask them about the 10" I found them very helpful.

[johninderby]

You don't tend to see many of the Orion US dobs in the UK as they tend to be a bit pricey. The SkyWatcher dobs have the same mirror. The Intelliscope version is well regarded though and the push-to digital setting circles seem to work OK.

The Orion US Intelliscope dobs are a bit close in price to the SkyWatcher Auto motorised dobs with tracking and not all that much cheaper than the SkyWatcher GOTO dobs really.

John

[Suffolkgazer]

Hi all.

Cheers for the replys. Agreed the skywatchers are cheaper but I do like the idea of having a guide there if Iam having trouble finding objects:icon_scratch:.

@ Kriss77 Cheers for the info will give them a call and see if the budget can include the 10" model.

@ johninderby If the auto tracking Skywatcher came with a PushTo flavour I would consider it. But tracking objects by hand won't bother me too much, well for now:D

@ Moonshane I am avoiding motorised scopes atm bud, the OO xt8-10Is fill the gap between the two. Has a guide to help you find objects but you do all the horse work. A 12"+ Dob would be nice but Iam working with certain limits on storage so a 8-10" is about the biggest I can go for now.

Another trip to OASI this week and they will be setting up their own 10" and 19" light buckets plus other scopes for people to look through and a which telescope workshop for the newer members.

Cheers Jason.

[Moonshane]

no worries mate

I'm sure you'll love whatever scope within this sort of range - it will be awesome!

[Suffolkgazer]

Give SCSAstro a call and ask them about the 10" I found them very helpful.

Just a quick update. I did give them a quick email to ask about the 10" model. Due to shipping/carrying charges due to its weight, they will not import anything bigger than the 8". So I will have to think a few things over esp now Iam thinking about sitting on my hands for a bit longer and maybe get a set up that allows expansion in the future. Again like many other people its all down to the budget lol.

[coffee_prince]

the shop near me has the intelliscope 8 inch on display for only £399, I bought the skywatcher though. PM me if you want their number