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Don't Panic Alec!

Mike Godfrey

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Mike Godfrey

Mike Godfrey

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Hi Guys,

I live in Portsmouth -the most densly populated city in Europe-this means loads of light pollution and nice pinky skies.If I'm right the sky used to be a blue colour?

Anyway I have been toying with buying a scope for ages -reading around I have it narrowed down to something that will get me the best results given the situation here in Pompey.Either the biggest light bin I can afford or a scope with a goto .

So my likely candidates are the Skywatcher Explorer 200 & HEQ-5 Mount or a dobsonian.

Does that sound reasonable oh sages of the sky?

cheers,

Mike

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SteelRat

SteelRat

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That HEQ5 is a SOLID mount by all accounts. Will track objects for you which is great for high mag and is available with goto. 200mm reflector will show you LOADS of great stuff up there. Unless you get a HUGE dob you might end up getting the HEQ5 jobbie later anyway if you are considering it now. Going on what I've read it's a GREAT package. Just a thought. Best of luck with it though - let us know what you get :)

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Kaptain Klevtsov

Kaptain Klevtsov

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I went for the 200mm Skywatcher and HEQ5 Skyscan and was chuffed to bits with it, so that would be my choice. I find that I struggle visually due to light pollution so I went the imaging route quite early on. You can get filters which get rid of a lot of light pollution for visual use but for astrophotography you can get rid of more than 90% of it.

You didn't say how big the Dob. would be, if you get the Skywatcher you can modify it to Dob. status later and if you gate a (tube) Dob. you can mount it on a HEQ5 at a later date. Be warned though, buying the mount seperately costs only a little less than the mount and 'scope together, sometimes more.

Captain Chaos

BTW, anybody sell Dobbin kits yet?

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russ

russ

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Same recommendation from me too.

btw I know exactly how bad those Pompey skies are, spent my childhood in Pompey. I used to go upto the Hamsphire AG observatory at Clanfield to use their scopes and get some better skies.

Regards

Russ

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FLO

FLO

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The Skywatcher Explorer 200 & HEQ-5 is a firm SGL favourite so you can't go wrong there.

I guess if you want to image or/and favour planetary/lunar observation, the driven mount is a must! If regular deep-sky observing is more your thing, a larger aperture Dob and some wide-field eyepieces might be preferable and as CC says, you can fit some rings and put it on a mount at a later date.

It is good that you have short-listed copes with apertures of at least 8" as light-pollution-reduction filters reduce brightness so it is best to have plenty to start with.

Personally, I'd go for the 200/HEQ5 Skyscan (you can opt for the standard HEQ5 and add Skyscan later).

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Mike Godfrey

Mike Godfrey

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Hi guys,

thanks for your advice.

What my meager brain failed to fully appreciate is that the Skywatcher 200 came in three flavours,the EQ5,HEQ5 and the HEQ5 Pro.

Can you upgrade from the EQ5 to the pro IE add a goto ?Or do you need the HEQ5 for that?

The driven mount on the HEQ5 this is used to track objects?

The dobsonian I was thinking of was a lightbridge 10" or 12" but they might be a bit too much for me to deal with although they look great,a bit like the ipod for the astro community.

Thanks again,

Mike

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FLO

FLO

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Motors are available for the EQ5-Deluxe and Skywatcher say GOTO will soon be available (but they have been saying that for months):

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=eq5

The HEQ5 has built in motors and the GOTO upgrade kit is already available:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=heq5

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=HEQ5UPGRADEKIT

After saying that, if you already know you will buy GOTO, it is cheaper (nearly £100) to 'bite the bullet' and buy the altogether sexier HEQ5 PRO Skyscan, which already has it:

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=proheq5

Decisions....

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moondog

moondog

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Mike

I'd go for the HEQ5 SkyScan first. I went the HEQ5 upgrade route and it cost more in the end.

The big advantage of the SkyScan is the faster motor slewing rates - they are several times faster than the non SkyScan. This is great for zooming around the sky, never mind the Go To.

Also if you start imaging deep sky objects, the Go To will enable you to image things you can't even see through the eyepiece !

MD

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Mike Godfrey

Mike Godfrey

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Thanks guys for all your advice.

I have 1 more burning,well smarting question.

Whats the difference between a Skywatcher Explorer 200 HEQ5 and SkyScan GOTO Upgrade... and a Skywatcher Explorer 200 HEQ5 Pro Skyscan?

Pricewise they are more or less the same.

cheers,

Mike

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