Scope advice

Jazza (Jay) · #1 04-01-2008, 05:23 PM

Hullo folks, new here and glad to find a southern site

I've been using a 6" equatorial reflector (the Tal150p or similiar I believe... they seem to have a penchant for not putting a model/brand name anywhere!) for the last 4-5 years or so. I really like it but I'm looking for something ummm bigger

What am I going to use it for? I really like galaxies, and the ones I've found in the 6" while being better than I expected are somewhat disappointing.
Can I expect to be able to see extended structure in say an 11/12"? I'm talking spiral arms... (I'm guessing the dust lanes through centaurus A are not happening visually?)

How well do comets show up through a large(ish) scope? From what I've seen they have a tendency to look better through binoculars than they do through the 6" (even at low power). At least the ones I can find *grin*
(Ulterior motive, dad loves comets so I may be able to convince him to invest a bit in this enterprise

)

Righto usage outta the way *ponders* oh yes mounts... I liketh eqatorials because I find detail a lot easier to make out when the thing you're looking at isn't trying to run away! I suppose however that the newer alt-az mounts track quite well with all their fancy electronics.

Speaking of which *grin* I don't suppose they make largish equatorialy mounted scopes without said electronics nowadays do they? Not that I'd mind a goto system (and I want a drive/drives) but I'm quite happy aligning/pointing the scope where I want it.

Which leads me to astrophotography. I've done some on the 6" with a piggybacked slr and hand guiding the (quite decent but well never intended to be used in this fashion) drive, but I'm mostly visual. At the moment. Oh dear.

SO yes possibility of doing imaging in the future would be good -> stable mount eh?

So then doing some research leads me to firstly the:

Meade lx200r (12"). Solid mount, good ota, wedge can be added for imaging if wanted. Expensive (8k AUD) + Wedge

Celestron C11-SGT XLT. Good ota, mount possibly a bit overburdened? Good enough for visual but astrophotography is out? a good 3k less than the meade without the need for a wedge. Smaller (how much difference is the 1" going to do me?)

Then somewhat suprisingly (I just sorta didn't consider it before)
the
Celestron CPC 1100 GPS XLT Same ota as above (I think?) Solid mount, Same price. would need a wedge for imaging. Do they make wedges for this scope?

Not so intrested in the CGE 1100 XLT cause it's more expensive than the meade and smaller.

Thoughts folks? I realise it's a looooong post with many different questions so thanks a lot for reading and maybe you can slice out the bits you want to answer

Clear Skies.
Jay

goober (Doug) · #2 04-01-2008, 06:50 PM

I'll let the big scope guys reply in detail, but I have seen the dust lane in Centaurus A with an 8" Newtonian from light polluted Melbourne. I can see detail in NGC253 with my current 4" refractor from Melbourne.

Jazza (Jay) · #3 04-01-2008, 06:57 PM

*grin* awesome... I have yet to find 253 being in the middle of nowhere (constellatorialy speaking) but it's currently on the agenda...

iceman (Mike) · #4 04-01-2008, 08:30 PM

Hi Jazza and

to IIS!

What sort of imaging did you want to do? Deep-space or planetary?

And imaging is really a whole other ballgame - in terms of time, cost, equipment etc. For observational astronomy only, then really any of those options would be good.

I prefer EQ mounts, but the simplicity of a fork is great.

Jazza (Jay) · #5 04-01-2008, 08:47 PM

Deep space *grins* I know it's expensive and I wouldn't be able to afford both a scope and the imaging equipment at the same time but if possible it'd be good to have a platform that would let me do it when the time came...

Seing as imaging is mostly about the mount... am I making any sense here?

Alchemy (Clive) · #6 04-01-2008, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazza

Deep space *grins* I know it's expensive and I wouldn't be able to afford both a scope and the imaging equipment at the same time but if possible it'd be good to have a platform that would let me do it when the time came...

Seing as imaging is mostly about the mount... am I making any sense here?

what sort of $$$ are you looking to spend

probably the most common mount here is the eq6 which will easily mount a 8 inch plus guidescope, ezystyles has a 10 inch on his, iceman has a 12 inch but only for planetary as far as i can gather.

eq5 is smaller but can take good pics i think dugnsuz just souped his up and it works remarkably well.

going up in price losmandy make good mounts gm8 and g11, the g11 will take a 12 inch plus guidescope.... only just. have a look at images submitted in the deepsky section and see what equipment they use and judge for yourself.

guys like jase and strongman mike and dietmar are in a leaugue of their own unless you have cash to spare or can rent a scope ....

you could buy a dob and later mount it lots of choices most imagers seem to start with a small refractor like an ed80.

bye for now.

Jazza (Jay) · #7 05-01-2008, 01:53 PM

That's a really good point Alchemy.
I'd be tempted to get an eq6 and a 12" dob just cause of the price.
Should definitely be good enough for visual and if it shakes too much for imaging I can always get a nice refractor. Or mount the 6"...
Hmmmm...

iceman (Mike) · #8 05-01-2008, 02:12 PM

I use the 12" mounted on an EQ6 for planetary/lunar imaging. Equally, it can go in the dob base for visual astronomy.

Also, I use an ED80 mounted on the EQ6 for deep-sky imaging.

vash (Ashley) · #9 05-01-2008, 07:35 PM

I have a 10" Dob that I use for visual and also mount it on to an EQ6 Pro with an ed80mm for guiding and widefeild shots.

Jazza (Jay) · #10 05-01-2008, 09:47 PM

Alright, assuming (for the moment heh) that I'd like to get a 12" dobsonian and mount it on the eq6 for visual use (allowing me to do imaging with a smaller scope if I wish) does anyone have any recommendations?

Looking at the weights of the tubes, the Guan Sheng seems to come in at 24kg or so (hard to find info)
The Bintel one is said to be 20kg
I can't seem to find any info on the skywatcher 300p, does anyone know?
Who else makes nice dobs?

Thanks all by the way for your responses...

vash (Ashley) · #11 05-01-2008, 09:55 PM

From what I can see the 12" Skywatcher is about 25kg's

ballaratdragons (Ken) · #12 05-01-2008, 10:17 PM

I know Mike does it, but I would definately NOT recommend putting a 12" dob on an EQ6.

They are a massive strain on the gears. It's not only the weight factor, it is more a thing called 'flexure'.

But go ahead if you have the cash to keep repairing the gears in the mount

At most, on an EQ6, a 10" would be very good.

But if your interest will be in DSO's, an ED80 is an excellent choice. Not very good visually, but the Bee's Knees Astrophotographically

Jazza (Jay) · #13 05-01-2008, 11:20 PM

Fair enough I was afraid that might be the case.
I'm thinking I will either buy the CPC 1100 GPS XLT and see about getting a wedge for it at some time, or just buy the OTA and stick it on an eq6. It should be able to handle the weight of that + equipment no? Tube is shorter too so less
'flexure' maybe? *hopeful look* Why is this always so hard!