Advice on new scope purchase:Skywatcher SW 252 Newtonian

[batema (Mark)]

Hi,
I have been in the fortunate position of using then schools telescope that we purchased a year ago for our Physics course. We managed to get a Skywatcher ED 80 on HEQ5 Pro mount with Williams Optics petzvall 66 as a guide scope. I am now in the position of purchasing my own scope as well as have use of the school scope. I would like advice on the following combination. It is to be used for both astrophotography as well as viewing. I am looking at a Skywatcher sw 252(10") newtonian on an EQ6 Pro white mount (Andrews have them for $2499). I am also thinking of purchasing a Skywatcher Ed 80 for the guide scope come imaging scope as well. Both the 10' and the 80 would be used for imaging which is the main focus of the scope. I have $3000 to spend. Gone are the savings. Any advice on this combination for the above mentioned purposes.
Thanks Mark B

[renormalised (Carl)]

Are you in the position to put up a pier and observatory?? If you can, do so, as that 10" and the EQ6 mount will be damn heavy to move about, especially on your own. Plus you need a decent car to move it around in. Then you'll probably have to collimate it every time you want to observe, once it's moved about and then pull it all down to come back home again. You'd be better off buying either the ED80 or an ED100 and sticking that on the EQ6 for both pics and visuals. It won't be near as heavy, though you'll still have 25kg of mount to lug around. The refrac's will give you great views of the moon, planets and many DSO's. Plus it may leave you enough money to grab a DMK/DBK or GSTAR-EX camera.

Anyway, if you buy the SW252 and ED80 OTA, that will just about blow your $3000. LLV/CCD cameras will have to be a future purchase. If you have a DSLR then you're halfway there, but you may want to mod it.

Your prefered combo, though, will make a good imaging and visual scope. If it's what you want, then go and get it. But weigh up all the pro's and cons of having such a large setup to lug about.

[batema (Mark)]

Photo attached that I forgot for the above post

[DaveO (David)]

Batema

I have that scope and love it. You'll read lots of suggestions for making it better, but I found it great. Note however I don't image with it, so can't comment on that. It is heavy, but the stability makes it worth while.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Mark, if you ask kindly, Dave might let you in on that scope his building in his backyard....the one in his avatar. It's an OWL. 100m F/2.5. You'll be able to image the entire Universe in one wide field shot!!!!

[netwolf]

Mark, the SW-252 is overpriced in my opinion you are paying way to much for this scope combination with a EQ6. The EQ6 on its own is abtut 1400, and a GSO 10" F5 (in dob configuration) could be had for much less. But I would recommend going for a 8" F4 or F5 scope. An Ideal one would be the Vixen R200SS.

There is no reason why one should have to pay 1000$ for a Synta 10" F4.7 scope. The same scope in the US sells for under 500$USD.
http://www.telescope.com/control/pro...oduct_id=09959

Eric's ezystyles uses this scope and you might ask him where he got his from. I really like the results he has got with his scope but i think its just to high a price given similar optics dont cost as much.

Just think for that money you could get premium optics from Mark at http://deepsky.cia.com.au/optics/. Mark is a member here and makes very fine optics. I would rather spend the money on his optics then pay as much for Synta.
For comparison also look at the prices from Royce premium mirrors.
http://www.rfroyce.com/stand_mirrors.htm
CM 10.45 - SM 10.45 wold cost you 875USD.

As your stated objective is Astrophotography, I would spent as much money as possible on the Mount. If you are a little paitent you could get a nice used Losmandy G-11 or a Vixen . And put a GSO 8" F4 plus a 80mm gudie scope on it. A good starting setup. Then you could save and buy better optics later.

Just my 2cents.


Regards
Fahim

[batema (Mark)]

Thank you all for the suggestions. Still lots to think about.
Mark

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Batema,

I agree with Fahim (Netwolf) regarding the packaging of the EQ6 and something else.

EQ6 Pro from Andrews = $1499 or $1495 from Star Optics.
SKywatcher 10" Dob = $549 from Star Optics http://www.staroptics.com.au/catalog...3e25379e5e3eae
or BT252 10" Dob = $599 (comes with 10:1 crayford) - Bintel

Subtotal is then around $2100 which leaves $900 for a quality refractor to bolt onto the EQ6 as well as the tube of the 10" DOB either for guiding or astrophotography or BOTH at the same time.

Add a Skywatcher Pro ED80 refractor for $599 also from Star Optics and you have $300 left from your $3000 to spend on other bits and pieces to mount tubes or astrocam etc.

The advantage here?

By having a quality dob like the SW 10" solid tube, you get a very good platform that is a TELESCOPE in its own right and can be used by itself when the EQ6 is just holding the Pro ED80. OR both can be used on the EQ6 together with the appropriate mounting hardware.

Also, (you may need to check with Star Optical to be sure) the Skywatcher gear all comes with a SIX year warranty. Thats where I would be spending my three grand if it were me. You cant get 6yr warranty on anything else as far as I know.

Tell Star Optics you have 3 large to spend on a mount, and two telescopes as well as some other bits. Tell them you want to buy them all NOW from them and them only and what is your best price delivered. This way you should get even more of a bargain if they are sensible. If they wont budge, buy it all from somewhere where they will. After all, Three Thousand Dollars is exactly what it is, a fair bit of money to spend in one place. Dont let anyone put you off by crapping on about already discounted prices, blah blah blah. Its 3K, IF they want it, make em earn it. After all, they are Queenslanders like you and would probably prefer that you spend your money with them rather than us cockroaches or Mexicans. You could probably go for a drive to Mermaid Beach on the GC and pick it up to save even more!

See how you go. I am not affiliated with anyone, just offering some free advice.

Cheers

Chris

edit: funnily enough, Star Optics has the SW252 - EQ6 mount combo listed for $2999???? Go Figure!
http://www.staroptics.com.au/catalog...products_id=69

[batema (Mark)]

Chris Thank you for the advice. I have also thought about buying all the components seperately. Do you know what the difference between the DOB 10 inch is and the 10" skywatcher sw252. Is the quality exactly the same and do the dobs have someattachment zones that might interfere with mount rings. I really need to get to a shop so I can see these things. Thanks
Mark B

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Batema,

I assume that both the tubes attach is pretty much the same place due to their similar size, the SW880 Skywatcher has a different attachment system to the BT252 (Bintel) or GS880 (Guan Sheng) Dobs as the Skywatcher has the funky tension handles. Mike Salway has a GS 12 inch DOB tune attached to his EQ6 and I know that AlexN has an 8 inch Skywatcher Dob that he is going to stick on his EQ6 once he gets the tube rings delivered so I dont think there will be any problems for you in the 10 inch zone.

In my opinion, from reading reviews, the Skywatcher 10 inch and 12 inch have better optics and pyrex primary mirrors compared to the Bintel version which does come with a 10:1 micro focuser however. I prefer the 6yr warranty and the look / feel of the Skywatcher dob to the GS/Bintel versions which look a bit agricultural to me.

Either way, you should be able to get this combo (EQ6, SW880 and ED80 pro) with rings and perhaps some extra fruit like eyepieces or barlow etc. for $3000 if you haggle. Certainly the list prices from Star Optics bring them in for only $2700 so its a very good start! Check here on IIS on what else you may need like dovetail bars for the piggyback of the ED80 etc. A webcam like the Philips SPC900NC modded for long exposure will cost you about $285 modded also, and this is a good start to astrophotography as well.

Cheers

Chris

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Hi Batema,

Zane has just posted an ED80 Pro on Ice Trades here http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=33738

Almost brand new for $480 inc postage!

Bargain!

Hope it doesnt disappear soon!

Cheers

Chris

[DaveO (David)]

Batema

You should also try Sirius Optics (even if its on the way to the GC). I agree with Chris - there are advantages of being up front with the suppliers and saying what you want and how much you have to spend. All the local suppliers are reasonable people who support the local market. And you will always get a better rpice as a package deal than buying bits individually. That of course only applies to the retail market - second hand is a different matter.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Warning Will Robinson!!! The tube of the 10" Dob is NOT the same size as the Skywatcher. The rings that fit a skywatcher will not fit the dob. The Skywatcher rings are around 185 mm internal diameter. You will need something closer to 300mm for the 10"dob. The dob is also heavier than the skywatcher. The mount will carry it np just be aware of the difference. I went through this same process a while ago and spent a fair bit of time talking to Steve Massey from My Astroshop about the logistics.

[vash (Ashley)]

I have a Skywatcher 10 inch Dob OTA set up on my eq6 pro with and ED80, I get along fine with balance, even with the bits that the tension handle screw into. I'm not sure about the tube rings, the ones I have fit so there is no problem there, But I'm not sure Which ones I have, I bought them a long time ago, but it does go to show you that there are tube rings that fit the Dob OTA.

[AlexN]

I'll attest to Paul's comments, I had to get 235mm tube rings for my 200mm (8").. Keep that in mind.

Ashley: You left the dob Alt bearings on the tube hey? Im considering it, I'd still like to retain the ability of just taking the dob out for casual observing from time to time...

[vash (Ashley)]

yeah, Leave them on, If you want to rotate the tube all the way around take them off otherwise leave them on, I set them up so I have them rotated around as far as It can turn till it hits the dove tail this makes balancing a tad easier as you haven't got as much weight sticking out the side. Also I have the advantage when packing up I just plop the OTA on the dob and it's stored away, plus there would be 4 holes left in the OTA that would need plugging up or taped over.

[bluescope]

The SW 254mm Newt is a nice scope for imaging ... I have one mounted on an EQ6 Pro .... pic attached ... you can search my images to see what it is capable of. The only difference is that I use an SBIG ST2000XCM camera ... so no need for guide scope. It was a bit of a chore setting up and breaking down before I built my observatory but it is doable without too much effort really. The trick with the mount is to remove the weights before carrying it ... only takes a minute to put them back on again. Alignment can be a problem for imaging so I embedded three paving bricks into my lawn and marked correct orientation via solar method for easy setting up ... now I have a permanent setup in my observatory. Note in my pic that I bought an extra counter balance weight to cope with the 14.6kg load of the scope to enable correct balancing. It's worth getting the 10inch for extra light gathering power for imaging and the visuals are very nice as well.

Enjoy whichever way you go ! That's what it's all about !

[batema (Mark)]

I have just got back from four days away from my computer. Thank you for all the responses and the effort people put in to these. This web site is an amazing resource. Mark