opinions on these two scopes?

rccaulfield

First one is the 8.75 dtg dobsonian- http://www.astronomy.ie/dtg.html and the second is the Meade lxd75 newtonian( Old lidl stock model)- 6 inch scope- http://www.meade.com/product_pages/lxd75/lxd75nt_6/lxd75nt_6.php
I'm looking at getting them second hand, the meade s goto systems battery isn't working which doesn't bother me as id like to use it manually, as such the meade is 150 euro cheaper second hand then the dobsonian!

Opinions? Seems a bid difference in focal length?

dbran

Hi

I guess it is just about what you want to do.

The Dobsonian has 8.75' aperture which gives it over twice the light gathering power of the 6'. It also has the ease of setup, no aligment required etc. So you can just take it out to the back yard, plonk it down and you are ready to go.

The drawback is that you will have to learn to star hop to find things. this can be great fun bit can be also very frustrating especially when you are viewing from an urban light polluted area. Its hard to star hop when you cant see that many stars. Also the dob will not track the stars so you will have to move it by hand every few mintues. This for me can also be a bit annoying.

The 6' is goto which if you arn't good at star hopping or in a urban area it may ultimately mean that you will get to see more stuff. But it will need to be aligned before you start. You can use it without Goto but as it is designed to be hand controled I dont know how practicle this would be. It can track so it would be possible to do astrophotography later on.

Hope this helps


dbran

rccaulfield

dbran wrote: »

Hi

I guess it is just about what you want to do.

The Dobsonian has 8.75' aperture which gives it over twice the light gathering power of the 6'. It also has the ease of setup, no aligment required etc. So you can just take it out to the back yard, plonk it down and you are ready to go.

The drawback is that you will have to learn to star hop to find things. this can be great fun bit can be also very frustrating especially when you are viewing from an urban light polluted area. Its hard to star hop when you cant see that many stars. Also the dob will not track the stars so you will have to move it by hand every few mintues. This for me can also be a bit annoying.

The 6' is goto which if you arn't good at star hopping or in a urban area it may ultimately mean that you will get to see more stuff. But it will need to be aligned before you start. You can use it without Goto but as it is designed to be hand controled I dont know how practicle this would be. It can track so it would be possible to do astrophotography later on.

Hope this helps


dbran

It does help-Thanks Dbran, i suppose id prefer to starhop myself, the idea of a computer starhopping for you would leave me knowing very little without it if you get me, although it has its advantages with astrophotography etc! So the newtonian isn't really practical without the goto?

Plug

Much cheaper deals to be had off the web, try THIS croud.

rccaulfield

Plug wrote: »

Much cheaper deals to be had off the web, try THIS croud.

Thanks but i'm looking at these 2 second hand so 2-300 hundred euro;)

dbran

rccaulfield wrote: »

It does help-Thanks Dbran, i suppose id prefer to starhop myself, the idea of a computer starhopping for you would leave me knowing very little without it if you get me, although it has its advantages with astrophotography etc! So the newtonian isn't really practical without the goto?

Hi

Starhopping can be great fun and it is always a good feeling when you eventually track something down at last. But it is not easy (in my opinion) it is a skill learned over many nights.

Another thing I found with an alt az mount that makes star hopping just a bit more interesting is field rotation. This effectively means that the orientation of what you see every night is different depending on what time of the evening you are observing. So you will need to have a good star atlas and to be dedicated. But it can be good fun finding stuff.

Me, I just like to be able to see stuff rather then spend a half an hour trying to find it. But thats just me

But even with a goto, you need to have a good idea of the sky and constellations. The Lxd75 is designed to be used with the goto. It can be moved around manually but it would be a pain in the ass as you would have to be forever loosening and tightening things. You would soon get tired of doing this. The dob is designed to be moved manually and this would be the one to go for if that is what you want.


Kind Regards


Dbran

bogman

Would recommend Andy if he's still in business

North Down Telescopes
4 Ailsa Park
Bangor
BT19 1EA (MAP)

http://www.northdowntelescopes.co.uk/

Contact Andrew McCrea
Telephone 07775576872

rccaulfield

bogman wrote: »

Would recommend Andy if he's still in business



http://www.northdowntelescopes.co.uk/

Contact Andrew McCrea
Telephone 07775576872

Thanks Bogman, his site doesn't show any scopes or prices tho which is a shame and its a long way up, i heard his prices are reasnable!

rccaulfield

Decided to go new and found good value here- 10 inch dob for 550 delivered? What yis think? http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p1994_Skywatcher-Skyliner-250PX---10--parabolic-Pyrex-Dobsonian.html

dbran

Hi

Congratulations and I hope you have many good years observing.

One thing I forgot to mention about Dobs is that they tend to be bulky so just make sure that you have a good place to store it when not in use.

Best of luck


Dbran