8" Dob with GoTo

[seafurymike]

Ok, ive been reading and reading and reading ..... I've decided i will go down an 8" Dob with GoTo. I see they're around $1400 new.

I have a couple of questions someone may be able to clarify or help me with.

Q1. Skywatcher - Is this a better option over the other manufacturers.

Q2. Any recommendations on a retailer i should support? Looking for one that stands behind their products.

Q3. Can i mount a camera eventually and get reasonable results? I'm wondering if the tracking unit is any good.

Q4. Does the tracker unit also allow connection to a PC? Am thinking eventual remote control option via teamviewer.

Cheers
Michael

[croweater]

G,day Michael. This one is on special $350 off. Bintel excellent retailer and much liked by this forum. http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/Dobsonian/Orion-SkyQuest-XT10G/1472/productview.aspx. Nearly your budget 10". Comes with good accessories too. Can do short exposure AP but really need EQ mount and millions of dollars worth of other stuff :lol: Excellent visual scope though. Cheers, Richard

[raymo]

Mike, most dobs[Newtonians] do not have enough back focus to allow the
attachment of a camera. All Skywatcher models do allow it. If you decide
on the Orion or any brand other than Skywatcher, check with the retailer
whether their brand allows it.
With any alt/azimuth mounted scope you can only do exposures up to 15-20 secs due to a thing called field rotation. With a bit of effort though, you
can get some nice results.
Regarding quality, there is not a lot to choose between models of similar
price, but Skywatcher has, I believe , the longest warranty.
I'll leave someone else to recommend some retailers.
raymo

[Allan_L]

Good Choice! :thumbsup:
Raymo's reply has pretty much nailed it, as usual.
But as to supplier, it may improve relevance of replies if you disclose where you are located?

[seafurymike]

Thanks for the great feedback. So, in short, it looks like i should just go manual for a while, get my sky eyes sorted. I can then look at a better unit for doing astrophotography.

Sorry, im in wattle glen, melbourne.

[seafurymike]

Thanks richard for the link. Mmmm 10", as the yanks say, bigger is better?

[croweater]

Yes Michael, That is usually the case. Plus a lot of 8" reflectors have f6 focal ratio which gives a focal length 1200mm (like mine) and a 10" as in the link I posted also has fl of 1200mm so will not really take up any more room in your car etc. Slightly harder to collimate because of faster focal ratio but really no big deal. Cheers Richard.

[AEAJR]

Have you selected anything yet?

Manual Dob - :thumbsup:

Computer Assisted Dob like the Orion XT8i :thumbsup:

GoTo Dob - :thumbsup:

All good choices depending on how much computer assit you want. I have the Orion XT8i.

I am not into "serious" astrophotography. From what I read, this is an expensive proposition. Serious AP which calls for good mounts, typically equatorial, with sharp tracking and is less about the aperture of the telescope. Visual astronomy is more about the aperture of the scope and less about the mount.

However one can take pictures without going that deep into it.

First you can take snaps or short exposures with your smart phone or any digital camera using an eyepiece frame. For this your Goto Dob will do just fine. You can even do this on manual scopes with no tracking. I am just starting to dabble in this.

Example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz63FnLnswE


Then there is webcam for planets. I plan to give this a try.

Introductory astrophotography using a Webcam for planetary imaging -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeHj6qT5JSE


Then there is video for deep space using stacking. Similar to Webcam but different type of sensor, apparently.

A Revolution in Affordable Video Imaging
http://uncle-rods.blogspot.com/


So, from what I read, if you want to put your digital SLR on the scope and take those long exposures then you need that nice equatorial mount and tracking. But for these other levels of imaging, you can do fine with an Alt/Az Goto scope like the GoTo Dobs or even a manual scope for video or shorter exposures.