Quick question: Is it worth it?

[Intergage (Matt)]

Hey all, as the title suggests, is this (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Celestron...1967d92&_uhb=1) worth the price?

I REALLLY want a tracking / Goto mount but I'm young and strapped for cash most of the time. I am aware there are cheaper options but I don't want to get a little 90mm scope just because of the mount and be no closer to what I want to achieve. (Currently running with a 6" dob standard.)

Thanks for any help.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

No.

If your willing to spend that kind of money. Get a Skywatcher 8" goto dob. Its compact. Its got go-to. Its cheaper at $1399 and its 8" mirror reaches deep.

Scroll down to it.

http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

[Intergage (Matt)]

Thanks man. Took a look and read up on it a little, looks perfect for what I want to do.

So a dob will be a better option then any SCT scope?

[Capricorn1(Tom)]

Matt...if you decide to buy ...go to the Links on iceinspace page..then click on ....Equipment where to buy...Andrews is selling the same product for $1399.00 + a free bee....check the other sellers on that link also...Cheers Tom

[Intergage (Matt)]

Originally Posted by Capricorn1(Tom)

Matt...if you decide to buy ...go to the Links on iceinspace page..then click on ....Equipment where to buy...Andrews is selling the same product for $1399.00 + a free bee....check the other sellers on that link also...Cheers Tom

Thanks heaps for the reply Tom - Never checked the Links page out pretty useful haha.
The 8" dob suggested above is $1399 +- $10 at each one and that is in my price range so I might look at getting something like this.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Originally Posted by Intergage

So a dob will be a better option then any SCT scope?

Wow that is such a subjective question. I think for what you want and the money your willing to spend it is the better option. May I suggest with the money you save get a nice laser collimator too.

[traveller (Bo)]

Matt, are you planning for purely visual or AP work later?
If you want AP work, then get a second hand ED80 and EQ6. That should fit into your budget. Great starter AP package and quite good for visual.
The biggest limitation is the single arm fork mount. I have an 8SE, and ditched the mount and got an EQ6 after 3 months. The mount is very easy to use though, any three bright objects and you are set, 3-5 mins max to set up, but visual is all you can get.
Bo

[Intergage (Matt)]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Wow that is such a subjective question. I think for what you want and the money your willing to spend it is the better option. May I suggest with the money you save get a nice laser collimator too.

Haha, sorry about that. I do feel more comfortable getting a dob as I understand them to a degree but I only started looking at SCT's the other day and it seems some of the best amateur pictures are coming from SCT's.

Edit: Bo, mostly AP man. I posted a thread not long ago with some of the pictures I have been able to capture with my current 6" dob. I'm mostly interested in something that will allow for awesome planetary imaging and maybe later on some galaxies and my biggest problem at the moment is not having the tracking option so I can do large photo groups.

Thanks,

[White Rabbit]

this is what I'd be going for withe the sort of money you have. .

http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx

This will get you into photography at some stage as well.

I started out with buying a Meade PST 125 PE, Meades version or similar to what you posted above. Cost me an arm and a leg i think it was about 2.5k and it was a piece of crap. These celestron and meade SCT's or Maks have great optices but the mounts are really crap.

I've had an HEQPRO5 and it's a great little starter. Not the most accurate and the learning curve will be more, a good deal more but you wont out grow it anywhere near as quickly as you will the 6SC.

[MattT]

Just to add to the other comments.See it often enough and it's the type of outrageous price put on these things by some ebay types in hope that someone might be stupid enough to buy it! Good idea to ask here first.
Seriously RRP $3299!!!!!
Matt

[Camelopardalis (Dunk)]

I'll add, from experience, that the Celestron prices only seem to be crazy here... glad I brought mine with me

[Peter.M]

Originally Posted by Intergage

I only started looking at SCT's the other day and it seems some of the best amateur pictures are coming from SCT's.

Obviously "best" is subjective, but I would say that the majority of images that I see that are great are either refractor, newtonian or RC/CDK design. A few people get decent results with large SCT units doing faststar but they suffer from the effect of being very low focal ratio with image tilt and very tight tolerances.