Telescope upgrade advice

[Finski]

I am currently using a Skywatcher 6 Dobsonian and plan to get some use out of it until I can afford an upgrade, but would like to start looking and researching, maybe wait for a good deal on a second hand scope to come up.

At what point is it actually worth an upgrade, where I'll see significant improvement making my money worth it? is there a certain size above 6", 1200mm? like a 12" minimum or something?

Computerised sounds cool but if the price was too high I wouldn't have an issue not having it (don't know much about them) and there's something about trying to find object that makes it fun for me.

I'd rather have a better view for the extra money if possible.

What sort of things should I look for? I really don't know much so any advice will be much appreciated!

[Tropo-Bob (Bob)]

There are lots of good options for upgrading.

While U are still deciding, if possible, visit an Astronomy Club and see and use other people's equipment and see what takes your fancy. Members will be happy to show U their scopes and provide advice.

[m11 (Mel)]

Hi Finski,

I can only go on my own personal experience in regards to what you see with a larger aperture, as I started off with a 16inch dob down to 8 inches. I have found deep sky objects to be brighter and easier to pick out details when it comes to planets in particular.

The limiting factor for me was the weight of the scopes became a issue for me greater than 10 inches.

In terms of computerised it helps with short videos of planets and not having to nudge at higher magnifications. When I had people over to view it helped to keep the objects centred and locating objects is easier if you want to use it I found others do not have the same attention span and patience as yourself hunting for objects, especially in surburbia.
Anything that speeds things up to increase your viewing time I think is a worthwhile investment.

If you are not in a rush I have found grabbing a scope second hand has been cost effective. Eyepieces are a different thing, they tend to hold their values.

Since you have 6 inch dob , I would recommend a 10inch or 12inch if you can manage it or use a trolley. The type of scopes in that range will probably be a dob or sct with varying costs.


Hope it helps,

M11

PS - Only my experience and people's mileage will vary

[gaseous (Patrick)]

I’ve read that you’d need to jump at least 2 sizes in aperture to make a worthwhile difference in your observing, so probably 10-12” as suggested by Mel (who certainly appears to have enough scopes to confirm this theory!) If you’re happy manually finding and tracking, then I commend your dedication, but a larger aperture would allow you to hunt smaller/dimmer objects for which a motorised tracking system would be beneficial. Each to their own though - once I upgraded to a Goto system I couldn’t imagine manually tracking ever again. Obviously cost is an issue for a Goto system, and scopes bigger than about 10” can become cumbersome to move about.

[glend (Glen)]

Above 10" your viewing improvement is very much determined by Seeing conditions. I have had Dobs up to 16", but they get pretty hard to handle at that size. As suggested you could get out to a star party and check out a few different sizes, including the sheer mass of the scopes. Consider if you have to fit it in a car or where you will store it. Good luck and beware of apeture fever ( you quickly get used to any improvement in apeture and seek more, and more,...).

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

No doubt more aperture is often addictive but as Glen mentions do give some thought to size and usability. A 20 inch scope in the shed is not as good as a 10 inch being used...the "best" scope is the one that gets used

[AEAJR (Ed)]

Let's compare 6", 8", 10", 12"

If we use the 6" as 1

8" - 77% more aperture or .77X

10" = 277% more aperture or 2.77X

12" = 400% more aperture or 4X

Now the question is what do you want to do with the extra aperture?

Planets?
bright DSOs?
Dim DSOs?
Nebula
Galaxies

Where are you falling short now?

Certainly 77% more aperture is worthwhile, but if you can swing the cost AND the size and weight, I would suggest you jump to the 10 or 12.

Do you sell the 6" or do you keep it as your smaller grab and go?

Or do you sell the 6" and pick up a 4" refractor as a smaller lighter more portable grab and go to complement the bigger Dob?

I have:

Binoculars - 2 sets
Grab and Go - 3" refractor and 5" mak
Light Bucket - 8" Dob that will someday be upgraded to 12"

I use them all.

[Startrek (Martin)]

Hi Finski,

I’m a newbie with only 9 months experience. I was given the option of a 6” , 8” or 10” dob as my first scope. I chose the 10” and glad I did for the following reasons -

A 10” dob provides excellent views of most of the objects in the night sky

I can handle this scope by myself ( made a flat bed trolley our of plywood and castors ) I just pull it out of the garage to my observing location 8 metres away

The scope can fit in my medium size wagon for remote site observation

It was the best “ bang for the buck” compared to other dobs

I was up at 4.00am this morning observing Jupiter and Mars in close proximity using Televue Delos eye pieces ( also some lunar gazing over the craters )

Even though I’m am relatively new to astronomy , I can’t find any problem with my 10” dob and have no ambition to go bigger ( the right eye pieces make all the difference in this size scope )

Clear skies

Martin

[AEAJR (Ed)]

Martin,

Good point about the cart. I do the same thing with my 8"

[bigjoe (JOSEPH)]

Originally Posted by Finski

I am currently using a Skywatcher 6 Dobsonian and plan to get some use out of it until I can afford an upgrade, but would like to start looking and researching, maybe wait for a good deal on a second hand scope to come up.

At what point is it actually worth an upgrade, where I'll see significant improvement making my money worth it? is there a certain size above 6", 1200mm? like a 12" minimum or something?

Computerised sounds cool but if the price was too high I wouldn't have an issue not having it (don't know much about them) and there's something about trying to find object that makes it fun for me.

I'd rather have a better view for the extra money if possible.

What sort of things should I look for? I really don't know much so any advice will be much appreciated!

Finski..
Ive found that a 10 inch reflector/Dob , and 4 /5inch ED/Apo Refractor is the best combo for a lifetime..a few of Deloi/Nagler , or equivalent , and Barlow, and your set really ..But the bug for more bites!
PS:And double Stars are good to observe ; see my post on Gamma VOLANTIS.
bigjoe.