£200 to £400 budget ?

[bobflunkit]

I've had the bino's for a couple of months now and can find what i'm looking for as long as it's not to tricky, but that's where my dilemma begins.

I have a budget of up to £400 but i'm not sure if i want to spend that much. So i need to make decisions but they are the decisions that have my brain turning to mush.

Do i:- 1) only spend £200 and regret in the not to distant future that i did not invest wisely in the first place (skywatcher130p or 150p with eq2-3 mount)

2)spend nearly £400 (skywatcher 200P on eq5)which i can upgrade if the need arises

3)spend nearly £400 (skymax 127 goto) and find all the things i can't due to lack of knowledge

4)spend £400 on a 10 or 12" dob (not sure which)

I have a no light pollution view within a 50yard walk from my back door.

Help, i'm doing the wife's head in.

[pvaz]

I would go for a dob 8 or 10".

With an 8" you'll see enough to keep you busy for a long time. It's light enough to carry 50 yards and you'll have some money left for the extras you'll want to get soon enough.

10" is better, but a bit less portable and you'll have less money left for extras.

I would avoid EQ mounts to start with and the GOTO 127 can find a lot of objects but most will be too hard to see. A 8 or 10" dob will show much more.

[bobflunkit]

Any suggestions for dob?

and a small selections of extras

Thanks for the advice

[pvaz]

I would suggest one of these:

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 200PX Dobsonian

Dobsonians - Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX Dobsonian

On extras I would start with a good biginners book, such as "Turn Left at Orion". It explains how you locate a star and jump between them to reach the exact location you wish. Contains detailed info for 100 objects, after doing some of those you should be ready enough to pick any star chart and get where you want.

A red light torch to allow you to keep your eyes dark adaptation when reading charts/books.

And a telrad finder. It's a finder scope that draws a sight vs the sky and allows for easy star hopping. I found it very hard to locate anything before I got one so to me it's an absolutely essential piece of kit with a dob.

I would leave other purchases for later once you used it enough to find if you're missing anything.

PS-> This is an honest personal opinion but you should wait for a few more replies. I like dobs, as you probably guessed , some people preffer other scope/mount designs. If you got the time read this to get a better idea of scopes so you can choose what seams to be more to your liking: http://www.astro-baby.com/articles/beginners%20guide%20to%20buying%20a%20telescope/so%20you%20want%20to%20buy%20a%20telescope.htm

[Bizibilder]

I would advise you to spend your money on a good mount first - Maybe surprisingly it is THE most important piece of your whole kit! Rather than spending your hard earned cash on goto I would suggest something like an EQ5 mount. It is equatorial - and therefore far more adaptable than a Dob, It is upgradeable via simple motor drive through to full goto - if you decide to go that route and it is just about enough for some basic astrophotography - should you choose that route instead.

Then the scope: A 200mm newtonian like the 200P is an exellent all round scope. It has enough aparture for looking at DSO's, It can take the higher magnificatios (200x-250x) needed for planets and the Moon and is "fast" enough (at f/5 focal ratio) for simple photography.

This combination is easy to assemble and take apart if you need to transport it or simply carry it out into the garden - none of the components are unduly heavy or akward to handle.

As to not getting goto? That's the best excuse for learning your way around the sky there is!! You have to learn! It's not that difficult - just takes a little time but you will enjoy your hobby far more when it is YOU and not a computer that has found "the target"!!

[bobflunkit]

Thanks for the reply.

Thats what i wanted to hear (i think)

As for goto i think i'd ruled that out in the back of my mind.

As for a dob i don't think nudging sounds for me, but manual traking with an eq5 sounds just like my cup of tea. And also the ability to upgrade to motor-drive and maybe even goto at a later date for a touch of astrophotography.

one other point,£200 for a 150p on eq 2-3 or £370 for 200p on eq5

[russ]

As you have ruled out the dobs (shame) and also ruled out the small aperture GOTO (wise), i would go with the 200P. Plenty of aperture, sturdy mount, manageable and could add drives or goto later.

No money left for accessories which could be a problem as the supplied eyepieces range from pure junk (10mm) to barely adequate (25mm). This is where the 150P may seem a better deal unless you can find a little extra for some half decent accessories. But the 150P sits on a pretty crappy tripod, a real shame Skywatcher didn't fit the same tripod Celestron use for their CG4.

Still go for the 200P but use the £30 left over to buy a 15mm Paradigm, which is a nice eyepiece for the money. And could be barlowed.

[bobflunkit]

I can't say i've ruled out a dob as yet. Have you any recomendations?

Goto has gone (out of window)

150P or 200P

decisions, decisions.

[MikeWilson]

Hi Bob,

Aperture is important, but so is portability and getting time on target. There are some people who like GOTO and some who don't but generally speaking any money spent on a GOTO system will be money that could be spent on better optics or a bigger mirror. So all things considered, bigger aperture is better.

Regarding finding your way around the sky, a GOTO system won't do all the work for you out of the box. You have to align it, which means that you need to learn some of the major stars and constellations. There's no way around that, I'm afraid! Some free planetarium software like Stellarium is very worthwhile as you can adjust it to match your time and location and see exactly what's overhead. If you're in a severely light polluted location like where I am you can adjust the limiting magnitude to show you only the brightest stars, giving quite an accurate representation of the sky directly above you at any time. You'll need this, or something like it, before you can realistically use any scope, GOTO or not. Having said this, you will see much more in one night with GOTO than without.

It logically follows then that getting rid of the mount entirely, or simplifying it to a Dobsonian style mount is going to allow you to spend most of your budget on the OTA itself. If you're going dob and plan to stay in the hobby, I'd get a 200P. I have the 150P (on a heavy HEQ5 mount) and it gives good views. The 200P would be even better. 8" Newts seem to be the most popular Newts.

200P on EQ5 seems bang on the money for a starting setup. Get SynScan/SynTrek/RA motors too if you don't want to do any nudging at all

[Chris H]

Nudging is not a problem the majority of observing will be done at x200 or much less, at this level of magnification the DSO or planet you are viewing will not speed through your field of view, you have plenty of time to nudge the scope a little to keep up with it.

A Dobsonian telescope is a great way to go, yes it's basic but that's the beauty of it. A simple but rock solid base that can be set up in seconds and 8 or 10 inches of aperture can't be beat for the price IMO.

[pvaz]

You seam to have decided on a reflector telescope and that seams wise as they are excellent all rounders providing good aperture for DSOs and good enough quality for planets.

Regarding the mounts:

Equatorial pros: Tracks if motorized, easier to track manually if not motorized, suitable for astrophotography if sturdy enough

Equatorial cons: Moves in an unintuitive way, needs to be properly setup, aligned with polaris and balanced which takes some time. when used with a newtonian reflector scope (like the 200p) may leave the eyepiece at very akward positions where you'll be forced to realease the scope and rotate it.

Dobson pros: setup in under 1 minute (just put it on the ground), very intuitive to use (just point it), eyepiece always available in a comfortable sitting position

Dobson cons: not suitable for astrophotography , manual tracking (unless you buy a motorized dob like this one or this with tracking and goto, but then setup will take longer when you choose to use tracking)

I often nudge mine at 240x using an Ortho EP and don't find it hard. It bothered me a bit the 1st week till I got the hang of it.

[MikeWilson]

If you can get an extra £89 on top of your budget, might it be worth getting the truss version of the scope (that can be packed away and elongated) for convenient storage and transportation?

[russ]

Also worth noting that the dob tubes can be EQ mounted at a later date. They are basically the same tube. Which means you could keep an eye on the secondhand market for a bargain HEQ5 or EQ6 to mount your Skyliner 200P/250PX tube.

[perrin6]

Save yourself some cash on a red torch. Just find a dark red sweet wrapper and wrap it over the end ! It's what I use.

Alan

[perrin6]

I think a balanced, unprejudiced recommendation is called for :-

Small expensive scopes with whizzy electronical gadgetry, wizardry and nasty (+ prob. smelly) photography - boo !

Big lovely Dobs and 'live' light and peaceful contemplative observing - hooray !

Alan

[bish]

I would go for a 200p on eq5 or 250 dob. It's a fair amount of kit to lug around so be prepared to make a few trips with the 200p and eq5 (ulness you want to risk putting your back out!). Order one and get out under the stars. Both will take a bit of getting used to so don't stress too much about making the right choice as it will become second nature.

[MikeWilson]

If you're not into imaging at all, the 250 dob sounds like the best bet. I'm tempted by one, myself

[Aussie]

Hey, if you are still considering the equatorial mount, get an EQ3 or higher. I own an EQ2 and I wish I had got the EQ3. Polar alignment is easier with a polar scope. And there is an option to upgrade to GOTO on the EQ3 and higher.

[WayBig]

If dob-nudging isn't for you, there is the skywatcher flextube auto range - motorised dobs that track objects

[smulx]

How difficult is the nudging at high mag? Does it move really smoothly?

[russ]

How difficult is the nudging at high mag? Does it move really smoothly?

Some additional work maybe required for really smooth running with the dob. I've not owned a dob (had 7 of them) that was great out of the box. And that's not aimed at any one brand. Had to mod all my Skywatchers, the Revelation and the Meade. Even the Orion Optics dob that i picked up for Shane was disappointing out of the box. None has truly smooth motions, especially in azimuth (left/right).

The good news....the mods are easy and very cheap.

I was happily nudging my Skywatcher 200P at 300-400x looking at Mars last year.

[bobflunkit]

keeping an eye on flea-bay, for something i've seen a dob but it needs a new mirror. How easy or tricky a job is this?

I'm not a total butcher but i'm certainly no brain surgeon.

[brantuk]

I'd get one with a mirror - but if you're a handyman and like tinkering it may be the project for you. Most of the trickery will be in sizing it and working out the focal length, focal ratio, and secondary mirror placement. Once you have that right then it needs to be collimated. Make sure you at least know all that's involved in that before taking the plunge.

[bobflunkit]

Thanks for that. Now that could get very complicated. I think i'll give that a swerve.

I'm now 50/50 between a 200p on eq5 or a 8" 10" 12" dob.

[gedmac]

i,m a relative newcomer myself,i went with the 200p dob.its about as much as i would want to carry in one trip,i take mine in and out of the shed in one piece,mount and all.lovely views and the simplicity of setup does it for me.extras i would get are a raci finder,telrad.and dont forget the all important collimation tool........laser or cheshire(i have a cheshire).then over time you can build up a nice ep collection.good luck on what you choose;)