Choosing One Telescope for Everything!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2024
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I bought a 6 inch reflector last year and I love it. I am very happy to hear that this is your recommendation. :-)
I completely agree, but for personal reasons I very deliberately picked a 5" ED triplet instead of a 4". On an EQ6 (and using a top of the range camping cart soft luggage, and carry case) it is just at the limit of portability and gives a bit more than 50% extra light. Setup (for photography) takes an hour. If visual 45mins and that might mean 15 minutes of settling cooling. I don't regret anything but I DO recognize it is past the sweet spot for convenience and every night use. One day soon I'll retire to the country and have a run-off shed!
Nice! which 5" triplet did you go for? I think retiring to the country is a real dream for many of us :) Maybe along with a 6" triplet in a permanent obsy.
@@Astrolavista I went for the Orion EON 130ED Triplet. Orion throws in a silky dual speed focusser and a hard case at a competitive price and they did delivery within a few days. I'm delighted with what I got from them. I'm using it mainly to do deep sky astrophotography which is something you can easily enjoy from a white zone city roof terrace (whereas the visual experience is compromised and slightly disappointing no matter what equipment you have). That has revitalized my interest. My real love is observing the planets and the moon visually and I'll take the chance whenever they are favourable. I'm just bowled overy by the views in the 2" eyepieces when I go off to a dark site.
For my budget, I WAS planning on buying an 8" newtonian on a dobsonian mount but after watching this video I will instead buy a 6" newtonian on an equatorial mount! And the 6" with the mount is only about $50 more! And you are right, it would be a great all around scope and could still do decent photog as well. Thank you friend from the UK for this very helpful video. - David from Texas
You're very welcome, David. A 6" f/5 Newtonian on an EQ mount is a fantastic setup. A tip would be to position the focuser so it's opposite the counter weight bar so you can easily reach the focuser no matter which way the mount is positioned. I'm sure you'll enjoy this setup, take care : )
@@Astrolavista hey, now I'm thinking of just going ahead and getting the 8 inch newtonian/equatorial instead of the 6". I will be alone sometimes, can one person manage it pretty well? Maybe take the scope off the mount and carry them separately then reassemble at the observation site? This one here: www.telescope.com/mobileProduct/Orion-SkyView-Pro-8-Equatorial-Reflector-Telescope/9738.uts
@@daviddenson3324 I once bought a Skywatcher 200p on an EQ5 mount and for me I found it too bulky and hard to manage so didn't hang onto it for long. As well as the size I found it noticeably more difficult to get to the eyepiece on an EQ mount, even though I found the 150p fine on an EQ mount. For me, anything larger than a 150p needs to have a Dobsonian mount, Everyone is different. You could be taller and stronger than me. For reference I'm 5'11" and around 150lbs.
@@Astrolavista plus after looking into it more, that mount with that 8" on it is only rated for 20lbs. The 8" scope already weighs 16.5 lbs....add on focuser, eye peices, etc and the weight limit is close to maxing out. Not a good experience and not good for astrophotography.
Great Vid Chris, I have taken your sage advice and added a 4" F7 ED refractor to my collection!
Awesome Rob! :) Which one did you go for?
I bought the 6" inch C6-N and decided to have the mirrors recoated at 96% reflectivity and they did a free test of my mirror and long story short refigured the primary to .986 Strehl and zero .01mm knife test, less that .080 wave. Takahashi quality for $500 including the used telescope. Guys with 8" scopes say mine is as good as theirs. I think it is sharper up to 250x which is all I take it too. Mostly where I go, Bortle 2 I find 200 max, but sometimes 250x is good if the stratosphere is calm. I ended up putting a Crayford focuser on it.
That's a keeper right there!
@@Astrolavista I have been told that. Optic Wave Laboratories who did the work were very happy and said they outdid themselves, but the mirror was decent to start except a small anomaly that showed up as center fuzziness above 150x. It was there at lower magnification, but was not as noticeable, but at 125 to 150x you noticed it. I like to split binaries and you need 150x and more to get a good view of the Epsilon Lyrae double doubles..
One telescope is sacrilege a true astronomer has a shed full of unused telescopes.
Oh I've been there! lol :)
Chris, super duper, you've answered my question I posted earlier on one of your other videos, it's a 4" ed f7 for me, it's time to save a bit more me thinks but it's definitely what I want, ta very much :)
Sorry I missed your question, Jacobite I don't always get alerted for some reason? Anyway, excellent choice! I will be joining you with the ED100 f7 after I've sorted out a larger scope for the observatory I'm building. A friend from Stargazers Lounge has just bought the Altair Starwave ED102-R and loves it :)
Hi, I've now found and replied on the other video :)
Hi Chris. Interesting choices you spoke about! For me I'd need fairly portable telescopes that aren't heavy and can be carried to where I go as it's a good quiet area and has good views without buildings or trees getting in way. Only problem is the light pollution.
I forgot to mention last year I bought the Bnise 70mm focal length 400mm telescope and it's pretty small and light weight and comes with phone adaptor to attach telescope and phone for astrophotography with phone. Telescope cost 95 pound in amazon. Telescope comes with a small pair of binoculars which are ok. Finder scope is very good as it's clear and sharp. Telescope itself gives nice views of moon and deep sky objects so I'm going to use it to try photograph the bright deep sky object's since I got the skywatcher star adventurer. This little scope I fear would break easy if put in backpack when I go camping in highlands of Scotland once things get back to normal. I'd like telescope where it's fairly easy to carry and for deep sky objects to photograph. A telescope that I can photograph the horse head nebula and M16 the eagle nebula. Some astronomers have even got shots of M16 showing the famous Hubble image of pillars of creation. Those shots show the pillars a small area. I want to in next few years to photograph them. What scope would you recommend? A telescope for travel and a telescope for local area.
HI John, certainly give your BNIS short 70mm achromat a go on the Sky Adventurer as you have it at hand, but for something compact and built like a tank for DSO imaging then I'd look at the WO zs61. It will have better colour correction with the ED glass, a better 2" dual speed focuser for using a DLSR or mirrorless camera, and it's compact and light enough for both travel and your mount. Did I say it's also built like a tank! :) Not that cheap though, but built to last :)
So knowledgeable, thank you for this info.
You're welcome.
Excellent! Very informative and useful. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
I have a SW Quattro with the 0.85x coma corrector. I really like it, however I wish I had imported to the US the SW 130P DS with the 0.9x reducer. (Why isn't that great scope sold here?!) My favorite scope is my Orion Starblast 4.5.. my most used scope is an Astrotech AT80EDT with 0.8x with a ASI533MM.
If I had to do it over again, I'd get the Skywatcher 130p with the 0.9x CC.
It's a shame you guys don't have the 130pds, I'm not sure why that is?
A 6-inch Maksutov-Newtonian solves the problem of diffraction spikes with basically the same aperture and speed as your budget pick. Yes, it does cost more, but it might be worth it.
Yep, that's a good alternative to the more premium option, I always liked the look of the David Levy Comet Hunter by Explore Scientific, but it's quite a beast at 8kg even though it has a CF tube, so missed out on being picked over the 4" f7 apo on portability setup and cooling.
Yes, I can agree with that. You would also need a dew shield and heater for it to fight the dreaded dew over on the corrector plate. A simple coma corrector solves that with less weight and no dew issues. The 4.5 inch Astrotech is pretty nice too! I'm seriously considering refractor for the first time....but still like my 8" f4.5 newt and my 4.25" f10 newt
@@markn3586 Refractors are a lot more convenient I've found, and there is something special about the views through a refractor too. I once did a side by side between a 4" ED refactor and a 6" Newt and the refractor view was more engaging, sharper and the tiniest of stars were resolved which gave almost a 3D effect, the image had depth! the contrast improvement was noticeable too. Obviously they're al lot more expensive per unit aperture, but if you live with light polluted skies they seem to cut through the murk quite well, maybe that's the extra contrast I don't know? For imaging a 60mm 70mmED frac can be a very handy tool, but for visual just don't quite cut it and prefer an 80-100mm. I've had wonderful views through both ED80's and ED100's. especially the later. I would love a 4" F7 Apo :)
I think this topic is tedious. Depends on many things (e. g. stationary/travel, available space, budget ...) therefore there is no single answer possible, other said: All telescopes have their purpose.
I would suggest a video where you explain the pros and cons of all telescope types
Already done, probably in several of my videos. This is just one of close to 100 videos.,,,but thanks for dropping by :)
hi can you explain what the ED means in your recommendation for a 4 inch refrator telescope.
Hi Jeremy, Yes, ED stands for extra low dispersion glass. Traditional refractor telescopes are achromatic which basically mean they have two elements which are unable to bring all primary wavelengths of light to an exact focus, so you get something called chromatic aberration (purple fringing on bright objects). ED glass is a bit more exotic and expensive but it has a higher refractive index and is much better able to focus all the wavelengths of light. ED (or apochromatic) refractors have much less chromatic aberration therefore they are much sharper and have higher contrast. Hope that helps.
Great video, thanks! Of the budget choice, do you have specific models you could share that you rate please? Thank you
Hi Lisa, we spoke earlier on the FLO help desk :) A 6" Newtonian an on equatorial mount would be a really good affordable all rounder if you wanted to do a bit of everything including planetary/Lunar and deep sky astrophotography. However, we were discussing a telescope to use for observing the planets and Moon with your kid and I'm not sure it would be the best choice in this scenario for the reasons laid out in my last reply, it's not the best choice for just observing. However, if you want to dabble in astrophotography instead then yes something like this with a motor drive would be a foot in the door to every aspect of that as well as observing, but it's a compromise on the later due to the setup time of an EQ mount and the position the eyepiece can end up in. www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-eq3-2/ref/astrolavista/
8" Dob
For me the 130mm is just right especially if ur starting out there not much money and lets be honest there really isn't much between a 130 and a 150mm and by the time uv got a tracking motor and eq mount is getting on to be 100% more expensive and only 1% better, and with the money saved spend it on eyepieces and other bits because the scope is just the beginning 😬🤣 telescopes r like bikes or hifis when u get to a point u need a lot more money to get a very small gains we all get court up in the amazing photos, that get taken from gardens but it looks very different in the eyepiece and no matter how big and powerful ur telescope is its still got to look through the atmosphere 🤷♂️ 👍
I agree the 130p is one of the best telescopes for starting out, no argument there. This video was more to do with if you could only have one telescope for everything, regardless of experience, or application. I've had people say the 200p is the better compromise, but I think the 150p is just so much more manageable and portable. You can't reach focus with a DLSR or Mirrorless camera with a 130p, that rules it out for the imagers. The 150p also has 33% more light grasp compared to the 130p, so 1% better is a bit mean lol :D I could clearly see the whirlpool galaxy with my 8" SCT I had a few years back, I can't see it will 5-6" scopes from Bortle 6 skies, so aperture definitely plays a role in observing despite the atmosphere. Other examples are how much fine detail you can see on the planets. I think the main limiting factor with aperture is manageability and cooling time. Oh and cost lol
@@Astrolavista no I understand it was the one u could live with for ever/ everyday, and only 1 😬 and lumping round a massive telescope in the dark isn't a fun thing to do 🤣 but if u factor in the cost difference do u think the 150pds is worth it over a 130p and is a DSLR camera something u would recommend over a dedicated astro camera? As there's an abundance out there, If u didn't have a camera to begin with that is, I have been lent a 200p dob and yes it's better then my 130p but not by as much as I thought it would be wich is y I'm asking the question 👍and u consider the size of the thing 🤣 and that's not even on an EQ 😬 and that is y the dob has been lent to me too heavy for its owner 🤣 👍
If a 4in is good on planets I would bet a 6 inch apo refractor would be great on planets.
Indeed! Not cheap, nor easy to mount, and the cool down would take a bit longer, but it would be a dream scope for sure! Great in an observatory.
@@Astrolavista My thoughts are the same. Was thinking of Evostar 150ED
@@lornaz1975 Nice! I can definitely see the temptation there, and it's relatively affordable for a 6" ED doublet. The exact same scope crossed my mind a while back but it's just a little bit too long to work with my 5'10" wide obsy. What mount would you opt for?
@@Astrolavista Really I have not got that far to consider the mount. You can't get either the scope or any mount as of now. I've been contemplating getting a quality refractor for about a year now and run into the issue of performance vs hassle of use. Of course price plays a part too. Currently I have an Evostar 100ED on a twilight I mount which works ok I guess. I am letting my use of that scope to help inform my decision.
Do you have any mount recommendations for the 150ED?
@@lornaz1975 Would you want an AZ or EQ mount? You would probably want at least an HEQ5 Pro class mount when it comes to EQ.
Would you recommend an achromatic 4 inch refractor f6?
Only for low power visual observations. High power visual, observing any bright object, or any kind of imaging would show large amounts of chromatic aberration (purple fringing). A 4" ED apo refractors would be pretty good for everything but not cheap of course. It's what I want though :)
You can get filters to reduce the colour aberrations. I even do imaging with my f5 refractor
@Shockwave Bot f10? Doesn't that make its focal length 1000mm? I mean not only is it f10 which seems really slow, I don't think it is suited for wide field either.