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spartan

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spartan

spartan

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Hi all

ive been stalking the forum for a while and thought i would finaly register, what a great forum it is.

i have done a bit of stargazing many years ago, i only had a poor quality 4.5" reflector which to say the least was not very good. i have just got my interest back, and decided to buy a new scope and could do with a bit of advice. i thought about buying a 8" or 10" skywatcher dobsonian, they seem to be pretty good, what i can see off them. but upon going to a local shop to purchase one, i was told by the salesman in not so many words they where rubbish:eek: he advised me to buy a Celestron Nexstar 4 SE Telescope. with a goto fitted, seems a lot off telescope for the money, he said it was capable off 200 times mag, seemed a lot for a small scope, i actually walked out buying nothing, more confused then before i walked in:eek:

so any advice will be greatly received, should i stick with my own thoughts and buy the skywatcher dobsonian, or go for something like he recomended, or do you think he just had a job lot off them he was trying to get shut off.

atb

shaun

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Shaun and welcome to the forum.

Well I can congratulate you on one thing and that is you're doing some research before you buy. So lets set the stall out.

Celestron 4SE (Aperture 4", Focal length 1325mm ) £370

Skywatcher Dob (Apeture 8", Focal length 1200mm) £300

Skywatcher Dob (Aperture 10", Focal Length 1200mm) £450

The big question is what is it that you want to look at? If you're like me you'll say everything!:eek::D Now the Celestron has the smallest aperture BUT has the longest focal length. I would argue that the aperture is not suitable for Deep Sky Objects (DSO's) because the light grasp is not great and you've got your own experience from the past to reinforce that. However, the extra focal length and the design of this scope (having a lense at the front) makes this a great scope for planets and the moon, where light grasp is not such an issue. It comes with GOTO which is useful for the tracking capabilities BUT as its only 4" aperture, how many of the 1000's of objects listed are you actually going to see? It will certainly need a dew shield as this type of scope is a definite dew magnet and possibly a dew heater for a longer viewing session. Clearly with all these electrical toys you will need a power supply too. (forget using batteries - too expensive)

The Skywatchers on are the other hand are a different beast. The 10" has 56% more light grasp than the 8". They both share the same focal length which is slightly less than the 4Se. You will be able to observe the planets, though the resolution might be slightly softer for those finer details. (Jupiter can be viewed satisfactorily at x120 to x140 magnification as its low in the sky) As both these scopes are dobsonians, they are easier to set up and after the scope has cooled down, you're up and running. However, there is no tracking facility and so finding and maintaining your view of an object requires you to point it and nudge it along. You are unlikely to need a dew shield as it is a Newtonian design but this will depend on how near the secondary is to the top of the tube, somebody else might have a comment on that. Where these scopes come in to their own is their ability to view fainter objects such as galaxies, nebulosity etc. These dobsonians are called light buckets and there is a good reason for that!:):D In the absence of GOTO, you might need to think about a finder of some sort to help you hop around the sky. Generally, any finders that come with this type of kit aren't much good and items such as the Telrad seem to prove more popular.

I hope my notes have been of some help and apologies if I have misse out any other considerations. If I was to make a decision on any of these scopes, I would go for the Dobs as they offer better value for money as most of your cash in going on the optics and their apetures will provide you with more targets to view. Between the two dobs themselves, I would choose the 10" as that extra light grasp would be worth paying the extra. I'm sure other forum members will add their helpful comments as many of them actually own these very scopes.

Clear skies

James

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brantuk

brantuk

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Hi Shaun and welcome to SGL :eek:

Some good points raised there by James. Additionally I would say set a budget for the scope first and explore all the models within that range. Think about what you want to do with it, bearing in mind no one scope will do everything.

Stick with reliable makes like Celestron, Meade, Skywatcher (there are others).

Criteria people often use include: portability, weight (especially big dobs), photography or not, location (e.g. do you live in light polluted skies or will it have to travel a lot to dark sites), does it fit in your car, budget in extra ep's and/or barlow lens (supplied ones are usually average at best), power (e.g. field battery packs or camp site mains), dew systems, padded case, type of mount (alt/az or eq), the extras can be endless and you're best advised to make good predictions of requirements.

And thats all separate to the type of optical tube assembly (ota). The main thing is ask lots of questions and do some reading up. You'll find this a friendly, helpfull forum.

Hope that helps :)

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Rob wright

Rob wright

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from one total newbie here

I am in sort of the same situation here in looking for a scope, having started with a 4.5 inch and this year my daughter got an orion skyblast 6 which is a great little scope.

I am finding great satisfaction from finding my way round the sky manualy and learning where to look etc and the joy of finding what you are looking for is worth the effort.

Now a goto is a great bit of kit but I would rather spend my hard earned on better optics until I can confidently say a goto is an added help rather than relying on it.

I like the look of the skywatcher and if I had the cash now I would get me a 10 + inch dob with a tracker if possible but not essential.

sadly I don't yet

Hope that makes sense

Rob

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Mr Spock

Mr Spock

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Hi and welcome to SGL :eek:

All I can say about your local shop is never go there again! Hang around the forums here and soak up as much knowledge as you can.

No disrespect to a 4 SE, but it's like a toy compared to a 10" Newtonian (either used on a Dobsonian or Equatorial). Having seen the finest of detail on Mars earlier this year I can vouch for the quality of the 10" Skywatcher optics.

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SeedyF

SeedyF

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You have to ask why was this guy working in a telescope shop!! Well done for going away and taking your time. Some good advice up above and a comprehensive account of pros and cons.

I keep seeing some advice which is worth repeating. The best scope is the one you will take outside and use. Portability has to be one consideration so look at the size and weight of the tube and mount. I prefer finding things in the sky myself so have resisted the temptation of goto. But if you might not have the enthusiasm to learn to navigate yourself goto will really keep your enthusiasm going as it will simplify your observing and you will see more in an evening.

And finally - please warn us when you order a new scope so we can make arrangements for all the cloudy nights that will follow. :eek:

A welcome to the forum too :)

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spartan

spartan

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Hi guys

thanks for the warm welcome and all the advice, think i will go with one of the skywatcher reflectors, as you all say they seem to have a good reputation and also good value for money, was considering the skywatcher 200pds on a eq5 mount, or a 10" dobsonion, there dont seem to be a lot off price difference between them. the eq mount seems to look more user friendly than the dobsonion mount, or am i wrong in that thought??, i cant stretch to the price of the 10" on the eq mount. do you think the extra 2" on the dobsonian is worthwhile over the 200pds on the eq5 ??

also does anyone know of any clubs in the west midlands area

ATB

shaun

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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Welcome to the lounge. This might help find a club near you Astronomy Clubs in United Kingdom I have found most in my area do talks more so than observing but Walsal Astronomy club meet every week and they are cheap to join. They do talks but also observing. The only down side is their southern view is straight over the Birmingham city center glow. Bromsgrove have the best skies but only meet once a month so it's rare to get the weather to play ball on that one night so most of the time they have talks.

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spartan

spartan

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Welcome to the lounge. This might help find a club near you Astronomy Clubs in United Kingdom I have found most in my area do talks more so than observing but Walsal Astronomy club meet every week and they are cheap to join. They do talks but also observing. The only down side is their southern view is straight over the Birmingham city center glow. Bromsgrove have the best skies but only meet once a month so it's rare to get the weather to play ball on that one night so most of the time they have talks.

thanks for that, just looked up walsall club website, and found its only about a mile from where i live:D, ive lived here 40 odd years and never knew it existed

atb

shaun

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spaceboy

spaceboy

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Glad to help :eek: They have club scopes at the venue so you need not take one. Im sure if you have binoculars they can point you at some objects while you wait to have a look through the club scopes. It will also give you chance to orient yourself to the constellations.

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