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Just Before I order


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Hi all

Going to throw my telescope choices out there.

My criteria short and long term.

1.MUST be easy to carry and setup.

2.Will use for planets and maybe DSOs later.

3.Imaging will happen at some point.

As I definately intend to develop this as a long term interest, I don't want to buy the cheapest scope.

I've had a bad experience with buying off a well known auction site a few years back and ended up with a 5" Newtonian that was ...well ....rubbish! A list of problems too long to bore you with.

I'm going to spread my budget quite high. £300 - £600

I do a lot of photography at the moment and I know I'll want to at some point do some imaging.

There will be some trade offs but I hope I can get a telescope that will cover a high percentage of each area that I've mentioned above.

To that end, my closer to £300 choice is

Skywatcher SKYMAX-127 SynScan

My probably £600 (or just over:)) choice is

Celestron Nexstar 5 SE

Perhaps someone can steer me in a direction I've not thought of or have a view on these choices ??

Anyway, not ordered anything yet as I'd like to get it right.

Thanks for any input

Regards

Neil

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welcome to the site the problem with imaging is that it requires a rock solid and accurate mount which is only just about within your budget. Skywatcher - Skywatcher HEQ5 but of the 2 choices you have there the nexstar is the better choice the mount is a little better and with a few bits of eqipment limited guiding is possible. neither are ideal imaging scopes but the nexstar comes closest to meeting some of your criteria

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Hello Smudge,

I agree that neither of these is going to be great for imaging, the mount is alt/az which is super for visual and good for planets but would not work with Deep sky imaging.

you will struggle to find something that can image and be portable so i would advice that you buy someone small to be portable or something to be visual only and forget about DSO imaging for now as it will require a whole new set up.

I would say something like the skywatcher MAK 102 on goto alt az, (or similer) to keep the costs down or go for more light gathering with something like an 8" dob. Neither of which are going to be good for imaging.

The other option is to get a quality scope like a Skywatcher ED 80 pro and a AZ4, then when funds permit get a HEQ5 or EQ6 and use the same scope for imaging. The Scope will be limited for visual as its only 80mm but will be able to be used for both

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Hate to say it but really advice the EQ5 mount you will defo need at least this mount to do imaging, the skymax 127 will do you a pretty good service, i would suggest getting the skymax 150 but it puts you a fair bit over max budget

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Thanks

I know this is going to be a headache.

I'm just concerned that if I go for around £350 on the Skywatcher Skymax 127 or perhaps a

Celestron Nexstar 127 SLT ?, I may be left thinking "should I have gone for a ............???"

mmmmm don't know.

If I plump for one of those, I can't see me changing for a long time, so I may have to rethink what I'm going to do?

Anyway, thanks for the input.

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I have a nexstar 5 its an older version but an excellent portable scope the optics are very good and it keeps objects in the eyepiece for ages, its pretty decent tracking for visual work and works quite well with a webcam when imaging planets

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Hello,

If you are buying new then why not go for the 6SE, the price difference isn't much but you get an upgraded mount which can handle more weight if needed and you get than bit more light gathering, if the money isnt there for that upgrade then why go for the 5" SCT over the 4" Mak?

£376.85 For the Mak

£632.17 for the 5" SCT

£765.00 for the 6" SCT (comes with the larger mount)

If this was my Cash i would buy either the Mak or the 6SE.

Last night i tested a ETX125 (5"Mak) vs a C6XLT (6" SCT) and felt that the mak was producing better views than the SCT despite the larger gathering ability.

The mak has a smaller central obstruction and is better optically (generally) so i doubt your eye will notice the difference as much as your wallet

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Thanks for all the valuable input.

My only problem is I know I definately want a "Goto" style telescope and I don't want a newtonian or dob.

I could get the 6SE as I won't be changing the telescope for a long time.

So the purchase has to be right for me.

Please don't reply telling me..well the 8SE is slightly better :) or I'll start crying.

Cheers

Neil

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Hi Neil :evil6:

..... as I won't be changing the telescope for a long time....

If I had £1 every time I've read that on here .... :)

As there is no scope that "does it all" and your interests will change as you get into the hobby and your knowledge grows, I think it's very likely that you will change your scope so maybe it's best to assume that from the outset.

For imaging (but I'm not an imager) I believe that the mount is more important than the scope - the GOTO alt-azimuth ones have very limited capabilities for imaging.

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Hi all

Going to throw my telescope choices out there.

My criteria short and long term.

1.MUST be easy to carry and setup.

2.Will use for planets and maybe DSOs later.

3.Imaging will happen at some point.

From this rather terse summary, I'd lean towards a 150mm f/5 Newt on an EQ5-class mount (a Vixen GP if you can find one).

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