Newbie questions, which scope, help!

[Trooper1978]

Hi all, I'm new to all of this but I have been reading heaps and have learnt the basics of buying a telescope. I want to be able to view planets in decent detail look at galaxies and nebulae etc. I would also like to do some basic photography as well.
I have narrowed my choices down to these two scopes and wanted some feedback on these as they are quite different.
NEXSTAR 8SE COMPUTERIZED TELESCOPE or Skywatcher 10" GoTo Dobsonian Telescope.
Biggest comparison I see is Nexstar is f/10 and Skywatcher is f/5.

I have shopped around and can get either at about $1500. Yes! nexstar from US is $1500 to my door in 1 week.

Yours thoughts, experiences, technical info etc appreciated.

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

I use the Nexstar 8SE and it is a wonderful 'all-round' scope. It is not really suited for astrophotography without changing the mount, but I've nevertheless had some success with AP on the alt-az mount, so it is possible to at least start with this setup to get your feet wet, see: http://www.astrobin.com/users/Amaranthus/

An 8" SCT with GOTO is terrific as a general scope for planetary, DSOs etc. Not perfect at anything, but good at everything! I use a FR/flattener, for both AP and visual, to bring it down to f/6.3 when I want wider FOVs.

A slight note of caution from buying a telescope from overseas - it won't be covered by the US warranty.

[Trooper1978]

Ok, but with photography you need a system that tracks the object, right? They advertise both these scopes as tracking. Or am I missing something?

[Amaranthus (Barry)]

The 8SE tracks, but only in alt-az, not equatorial. So although it will stay centred on your target, everything around it will rotate like a clock (called 'field rotation') because it is tracking along two axes (altitude and azimuth) instead of one (RA). So you can only take short (20-30 sec) exposures before this becomes bothersome.

This is absolutely fine for visual - just an issue for longer-exposure AP.

The Dobsonion also moves in alt-az only.

[raymo]

You've chosen two candidate scopes, which although quite different, are in several ways very similar, making the choice almost a matter of
personal preference, rather than suitability for your needs.
Pros and cons. Aperture-- 10" Dob wins hands down if your interest is
mainly visual, which I presume it will be, as neither scope is really suited
for any serious AP.
Portability---- both are easily portable in a small car, with
the 8SE having a slight edge on convenience, having a much shorter
tube, and a folding tripod.
Ease of use---- nothing to choose, but Dob can be moved from target to target by hand if required.
Image---10" Dob will have brighter image, and
usually slightly better contrast. With any given eyepiece the field
of view will be much wider, and the magnification much lower, enabling
larger targets to be framed. The 8SE is good for planets and other small targets such as planetary nebulae, as Amaranthus has said. Also as A
has said, you can use a reducer, but a good one is not cheap.
Maintenance---The 10" Dob will need it's collimation
tweaking more frequently than the 8" SCT, but the SW Flex dobs hold
their collimation very well. Once you've done it a couple of times, it
only takes a couple of minutes. Being an open tube, the Dob will
eventually need it's mirror cleaned, but that's a long way down the
track.
The Dob equalises to the ambient temperature quicker.
The 8SE package is lighter, but the 10" Dob is easy to
carry when lifted off it's base. Your choice. I would go for the extra
aperture and wider field, but that may not be your preference,
raymo

[Misplaced (Craig)]

Just one thing to remember is that if you are using a scope with Go To it will need a power source. It's the one of the things I overlooked when I ordered my scope and bits on Saturday. I now have a battery with charger and a mains adapter ordered with it.

Mis