Hi everyone, I'm just trying to decide on my next upgrade.
I am primarily interested in visual observation ( mainly planetary ) and already have a 12" bintel dob ( manual).
I am going around in circles between a few options and was hoping I could get some guidance regarding the best way to go forward equipment wise.
I'm happy with the dobs visual performance although it is a bit of work .
My main upgrade was going to focus on having tracking and Goto abilities.
My budget is around 2k AUD and I was considering a
1: 100 or 120mm ed refractor with skyscan on an eq5
Refractor will compliment the dob, sharper focus, easy grab and go .
2: upgrade dob to a Goto mount ( not sure if bintel ota is compatible with skywatcher Goto mount)
Can use existing eyepieces etc
3: nexstar 8se used.
My biggest dilemma is that if I upgrade my dob to a Goto mount I will still only have one scope ( although optically it will outperform the other two options)
If I go the refractor I'm afraid that optically it will be a let down compared to the 12" dob .
Although I would enjoy its fast setup , resilience to atmospheric conditions and sharp views that the reflectors and scts can't reproduce.
If I go the nexstar 8se I. Worried that optically it will be a let down due to the mount being poor , central obstruction and vulnerable to atmospheric conditions like cooling time and dew issues. collimation looks like a hassle .
So for visual observation ( mainly planetary) it seems to me that a good refractor is a solid choice .
But the convenience of Goto on the 12" dob would be really nice too. But for the price to upgrade the mound I could have a whole other scope... Maybe I should wait for a used Goto dob and buy the refractor or SCT so I have a second scope for now... Arghhhhaha here I go again.
Cheers
I'll try and add a poor picture of Saturn taken with my phone up to eyepiece of the dob. Would the refractor or nexstar be a huge letdown compared to this?
Any assistance to help me decide on the best choice would be much appreciated.
Here a some examples of views through the eyepiece of the dob taken with the phone. Sorry about the quality. looks like the pics of Saturn are cropped out.
I certainly am no expert, but considering you're buying your second telescope, I think that having a mount that is designed for any type of telescopes within a payload could be a good idea as it gives you flexibility down the road. Within your budget I'd consider a Celestron AVX which is rated highly for visual (and which I like with my 100mm refractor) or a Skywatcher eq-35 pro which I don't know too much about.
You can then decide on a refractor, a C8 OTA or even a so-called planet killer mak depending on how much budget is left.
By the way, my C5 when properly collimated is optically great so I wouldn't shortchange the C8. That said the AVX mount above would be overkill for a C5 as it's a tiny lightweight telescope so you'd probably want something a bit bigger than a C5 on it.
As for the dob, I would only add Goto if it's something that bothers you right now. I quite enjoy my dob manually as it's by far my fastest telescope to direct to new targets.
Finally, I do like the planets in my 100ED but I've read before that the sweet spot for detail on the planets is in the 5-6" range.
Thanks Matt , yeah I think money will be wasted updating the dob. There is a used Saxon ed100 with an eq5 with skyscan for 1200 that might be a good option. Im guessing the 100mm refractor might compliment the dob better than the nexstar 8?...
The nexstar 8 is only 400 AUD more than the Saxon ed100 eq5 skyscan I'm looking at. Both have Goto . Tough call. Even though the refractor will compliment the dob better ( fast to set up, stable ,no collimation, cooling , sharpness,, the SCT has more aperture and will see more objects...
