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Ok..choice down to 2...but which one??

northernnutter

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northernnutter

northernnutter

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Well, I've gotten the go ahead for an early birthday present, and the purchase of my first scope.

Having searched the reviews/various forum posts, (with excellent advice and info), I'm down to the 200P Dob, or the SW150p...but am torn between the two!...tricky...tricky...

My criteria:- Budget- £300, viewing only, back garden mostly. (Pretty uneven, with moderate LP,) Storage not an issue, but transportable enough to fling in the caravan/car for dark sky sites. Interested in nebula/ star clusters/ DSO's.

Dob appeals due to ease of use/aperture...SW150p appeals due to possible upgrades/smoother tracking(?? i think?), and..well..it looks gorgeous! (Sorry!! Blondeness coming out there!!)

Seriously though....any advice/ opinions greatly appreciated!! Money's burning a hole....so to speak...need to decide!!

Thanks in advance...

Vicky.

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Adamski

Adamski

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personally i'd go for aperture cos you can get the mount and stuff later. i've got the sw150pl, but my budget was £240, i'm happy with it but would want to get a bigger one at some point.

Adam.

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jasperuk

jasperuk

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Personally i had the same dilema as you in the end the 150P won and i am glad i did, having said that i was interested in astro photography and has the cameras ready to go

I love to be able to leave the scope and go to the loo and its still tracking the object and i dont thin the image from last night see abve for a complete novice is all that bad, think what you could do if you knew what you were doing :D

post-25369-133877552916_thumb.jpg

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northernnutter

northernnutter

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Thanks everyone!!:)

Looks like a resounding vote for the dob then!! Duly noted and ordered forthwith!!

(Looks fabulous on that e-q mount!!....maybe in the future!!)

As for second hand?? Well..I'm new to this stuff and wouldn't trust myself not to buy a duffer, so new/ guarantee etc makes me feel a bit safer. Plus, the dealer I'm hoping to purchase from is local to my dad's, so a quick trip up with any problems with the scope would be a nice backup to have. I'm really worried about this 'collimation' issue..have no teccy expertise at all, so I think backup will be required!!:D

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nicnac

nicnac

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Personally i had the same dilema as you in the end the 150P won and i am glad i did, having said that i was interested in astro photography and has the cameras ready to go

I love to be able to leave the scope and go to the loo and its still tracking the object and i dont thin the image from last night see abve for a complete novice is all that bad, think what you could do if you knew what you were doing :D

still liking that pic :)

but im going with the others on the dob route

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AndyH

AndyH

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If at all possible, try and see an 8" dob in real life, to make sure it's of a size that is usable for you. Pictures of scopes often don't convey their size/bulk too well.

Don't get me wrong, I think it'll be fine, but it's best to be sure before parting with the hard earned readies.

Always remember the mantra,

It's better to have a small scope that you use regularly, than a big scope that's used occasionally.

All the best,

Andy.

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mikeknowle

mikeknowle

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Like John said - plus you can always mount the Dob on an Equatorial drive .... here's my "Dob" :-

David. How did you find the difference from alt.az. moving to a GEM ?

Why did you switch? Most Dob. nuts seem to relish/accept the nudging. Did you get tired of that, had a spare mount etc.

Just curious...as part of my Dobby research!

Cheers

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dweller25

dweller25

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David. How did you find the difference from alt.az. moving to a GEM ?

Why did you switch? Most Dob. nuts seem to relish/accept the nudging. Did you get tired of that, had a spare mount etc.

Just curious...as part of my Dobby research!

Cheers

I'm a planetary observer and like drawing at the eyepiece but only had Orthos and Plossls at the time which are very sharp but have a narrow field of view. This combination led to frustration as I was constantly loosing the planet with the Dob setup whilst drawing.

So ... I mounted the Dob on the GEM - great for drawing as i no longer had to knudge BUT I found the viewing angles very awkward and did not enjoy the new setup.

So ... I put the OTA back on the Dob mount and bought 5,6 and 7mm wide angle eyepieces - job done - quick setup, very comfortable and I could keep the planet in the eyepiece.

HTH

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ruiyyanko

ruiyyanko

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+1 for the Dob...That may very well be my next purchase since I already have the 150P. The only reason I didn't get the dob first was due to budget (did not want to go over £300), and also we wanted to do imaging as well as viewing. But like what dweller25 said, you can always mount a dob later on.

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