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New OTA dilemma

Davidv

By Davidv
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Davidv

Davidv

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Hello,

I’ve been interested in astronomy for about 40 years since my dad bought a Charles Frank 4” reflector. I’m very much a casual observer rather than a serious enthusiast and I have had an 8.75" F7 Dobsonian for many years.

Unfortunately, I don't use it as often as I should mainly because of the hassle of lugging it about.

Therefore I'm looking for something small and portable that will still give good views of Jupiter, to put on an equatorial mount which I have.

I'm very impressed by the reviews on SGL for the Skywatcher 127 Mak and am sure this would fit the bill, but I would like something which would also give a wider FOV than the 127 mak. With this in mind I was also considering the Antares Sentinel 80mm. Would this give views of Jupiter as detailed as those on the 127 or is it really a scope for imaging enthusiasts?

Any thoughts on this or any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Dave

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Rossco72

Rossco72

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The longer focal length of "folded" designs means they are always likely to be better on planets and the moon. The 80mm may well be better for widefield DSO's

There really isn't a "one scope fits all" telescope out there or we'd all have it :-)

I think if your interest is casual and limited to the major planets and our lovely moon then the Mak is a good choice.

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Davidv

Davidv

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Thanks Stuart,

I’m used to Newtonians with rack and pinion focuser so the other thing I’m wondering about with the Maksutov is how I’d get on with the focussing Knob. When I put in my Barlow the focus position moves by about half an inch so I imagine that would require quite a few twiddles of the focus knob to refocus.

Do mak users find this an issue or am I looking for problems where there aren’t any?

I suppose if I’m after a new OTA I really need to make my mind between wide field or planetary/double stars.

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brianb

brianb

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I'm looking for something small and portable that will still give good views of Jupiter, to put on an equatorial mount which I have.

Celestron 8" SCT OTA (f/10) is very small and light compared with a 8" Newtonian ... will do great on moon & planets and has enough aperture to be usable on deep sky objects, though the restricted field of view means it won't show the very few huge objects well. (M31, M42, M45 won't fit in the field of view)

5" Mak - less aperture so less resolution & a lot less light grasp; Maks also take a long time to cool because of the thick corrector plate. Field of view just as limited as the 8" SCT, perhaps a bit more so (usually working at around f/15).

80mm frac - great rich field scope but only shows well those obejcts that are too big for the 8" SCT. Resolution too limited to show much detail on planets though the Moon will still be impressive. Light grasp not much more than 10x50 binoculars; 2 magnitudes down on the 8" SCT, and half the DSOs visible with any instrument are within 0.5 mag of the threshold.

If you really think the 8" SCT is too heavy for your mount, try a 6" SCT ... lighter than a 5" Mak and will show at least as much ...

All SCTs and Maks really need a dew cap but are very rarely, if ever, supplied with them. A dew heating strap for the corrector plate (as well as the dew cap) is nearly essential in typically damp UK conditions if you want to be able to observe for more than a couple of hours.

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mark7331

mark7331

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Hi Dave and welcome to SGL.

I tend to come down on the side of the 8" SCT choice for casual. They are small, light and robust. I'm a newt man through and through but I started with an SCT and it was the right choice. It showed me many wonderful sights. I still have it.

All the best :icon_salut:

Mark

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markymoo

markymoo

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Hi Dave, and welcome.

I had a similar dilemma to you I think. I've had a pair of 8x56's and a little 3" refractor for a couple of years nearly, and with the nights getting darker again I decided I wanted something a bit bigger.

I live close to London and the light pollution around here is dreadful, so I have to drive to places around the Surrey Hills to get better skies. I don't have a garden either, so portability was important.

I didn't want to be relying on batteries and goto mounts as they're heavy and more hassle, so I decided to get a Mak on a manual alt-az mount.

Maks seem to be heavier than SCTs, but I managed to find a 5.5" carbon fibre one from Orion Optics (the UK one, not the US one) and that weighs only 3.5 KG. Still waiting for it to arrive (only ordered it last week!) but I'm hoping that will meet my requirements for portability.

I've read that the OTA gives fantastic views of the planets (at f/14), which is really my primary interest at the moment (with the aforementioned light pollution!).

Be interested to hear what you decided to get in the end, and how you find it when it arrives.

Cheers,

Mark

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dweller25

dweller25

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Hello David and welcome.

As mentioned earlier a 6/8" SCT would be a good choice.

I would also consider a Skywatcher Equinox 100ED refractor. They are very light in weight and optically excellent. With a 32mm eyepiece you can have widefield views down at x28, on planets you will be up to x200 easily and x250 on good nights.

HTH

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pilkinn

pilkinn

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Hi Dave

I'm in a simialr position to yourself as I am returning back to the hobby after several years. I've had a Meade SCT LX50 for the last 10 years but rarely used it because of it's weight - the LX's OTA and mount come as one and it's not easy to break up for transport and they weight a ton. So I've now got an equatorial mount and am now looking for a suitable OTA. I'm leaning towards a fast refractor because of their percieved portability as they're short and don't mind being lugged about too much. But they're not as suited for planetary work. It's all a bit of a dilema - no wonder so many people seem to have multiple scopes.

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Davidv

Davidv

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I think I lost the post I sent yesterday so here it is again. I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of people who have welcomed me to SGL and suggested further scopes.

I've managed to rule out the 80mm refractor and it's interesting to see how many people are suggesting an 8 or 6" SCT. I'm still thinking of an OTA weighing less than 10lb which is what the Celestron 6" is, so I'm coming round to the idea of SW 127 mak or Celestron C5 spotting scope, though the one costs twice as much as the other? Will the Celestron be twice as good?!!!

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