Skywatcher 102/500?

[robs.mark]

Hey everyone,

I'm Mark, I tried to begin watching the night sky a few years back, but the arrival of twins and a renovation put a sharp halt to it! I sold the 10" dob I purchased and kept very busy. Things are settling down a bit now and I feel it's time to get my interest in space back on track!

I think a refractor would be better suited to my mainly due to ease of transport. I initially want to view our solar system, but also want a scope that is capable of looking into deep space and astrophotography as my skills develop. I have found this scope. http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Skywatcher-102x500-with-AZ-Goto-sw1025AZGT-T35-Unreal-Deal-Mates-/261877901776?nav=SEARCH and wondered what your opinion on it is? Cheers Mark

[dannat]

not really suitable for planetary or astrophotography -you will get lots of blue violet halos around object due to the short focal length..if you want a refactor you really need either an ED glass one or longer focal length [f10+]
with that scope you are paying a lot for the computerized mount.

a better small scope option would be a 130mm f5 reflector -can be used for photography & viewing planets but also widefield.

[raymo]

Hi Mark, This scope would suit in some ways, but not others.
It is Go To, and lightweight, and will accept 2" eyepieces.
It will give pleasing views of the bright planets, the moon,
bright nebulae, and a very few galaxies.

Not much good for many nebulae, most galaxies, and is only
suitable for short [ up to 30 secs max.] exposure photography
due to a phenomenon called field rotation.
It will also suffer from chromatic aberration, which will give
violet/ blue halos around brighter stars, and to some extent
around the edge of the moon.
I'm sure others will offer suggestions that you can digest, and
act upon as you see fit.
raymo

[robs.mark]

Danial and Raymo, thanks for your responses. Could you possible recommend a reasonable deep space scope for under a grand? I don't mind if it's used or not. Or even if you could give me some specs so I can research a little further into exactly I would need.

[MattT]

Hi Mark,
Have twin girls, now aged 14, and know what your going through and have renovated 2 houses doing most of the work myself....now.... the 4" f5 is good for one thing only...wide field visual. It gets the thumbs up from me for that with a sutiable WF eyepiece, in my case the ES 30mm 82º.

Your asking a lot for under $1K so a second hand HEQ5 pro with a 6-8" Skywatcher/GSO reflector might do it for you????? If you can find one.

Matt

[robs.mark]

Thanks Matt, twins are defiantly not for the faint hearted! I'm also on my second Reno, this one is almost finished, just a balcony to build and laundry to finish, good times!

I know I'm asking for a lot, maybe I can stretch my budget a bit. Is the difference between a good and average scope really that great of a difference to the experience? How about this one I have found locally.. http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/rivervale/other-electronics-computers/skywatcher-250mm-reflector-telescope/1081583228

[Retrograde]

Hi Mark - although that might be a good scope with plenty of aperture I doubt that is going to be very easy to transport if that's still a requirement. Also if you get it equatorially mounted the eyepiece position on a Newtonian can be challenging.

What about something like this: http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=136649 ?

Although that one is already sold, they come up on the forum from time to time.
It's small enough to be portable (especially if mounted on a simple alt-az mount) yet still has some aperture for decent views. It's probably not ideal for deep-sky astrophotography at f10 but still might allow that option with a focal-reducer (& eq mount of course).

[robs.mark]

I now realise just how large that skywatcher actually is, I think it would make a great permanent scope on my balcony. What is everyone's opinion on that scope on an eq5 goto mount? And how would I find it to use now and as my experience increases? Would it be good for photography? Realistically I probably won't have the time to be out in the bush every week, more like every couple of months atm! Maybe if this really takes my interest I could invest in a smaller scope later on..

[raymo]

O.k. a good scope for imaging, but an EQ5 couldn't handle it, [about 15kgs with the dovetail plate.] It's over an HEQ5's max. [13.7kgs], so you'd need an NEQ6. Starting to get pricey, and heavy. Scope and mount
around 50-55kgs.I don't worry about eyepiece position, as I have done a
mod so that I can rotate the scope. You'd probably scrape in under $2000
used, but would need extras such as a power source, and various accessories such as a coma corrector.
A good immediate choice might be a 130 or 150mm Newt on an EQ5 Go To.
raymo