Are the tabletop dobsonians any good for amateurs?
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Mahesh
Oct 12, 2014, 6:14:24 PM10/12/14
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Hi,
As a long time lurker of the group, I finally decided to start my stargazing journey. As a first scope I wanted to buy one of these two scopes:
1. 114/500 Tabletop Dobsonian from National Geographic (http://www.tejraj.com/national-geographic-telescope.html )
2. 114/900 EQ Reflector (http://www.tejraj.com/skywatcher-114eq.html)
I'm inclined to buy the tabletop as it looks easier to setup and portable. I have some mobility issues and can't really go out of the city for stargazing very often. As someone said, 'the best telescope is the one you use the most', this should be the first choice. The equatorial mount of the other scope looks really daunting to me as a noob. Is it really difficult to set it up? As I'm not looking for astrophotography I'm quite not sure if I require an equatorial mount. On the other hand the tabletop looks like a children's toy and I'm worried about the quality of the scope.
As you can see I'm quite confused here, so please guide me and help me become a regular stargazer. Thank you in advance!
Mahesh
As a long time lurker of the group, I finally decided to start my stargazing journey. As a first scope I wanted to buy one of these two scopes:
1. 114/500 Tabletop Dobsonian from National Geographic (http://www.tejraj.com/national-geographic-telescope.html )
2. 114/900 EQ Reflector (http://www.tejraj.com/skywatcher-114eq.html)
I'm inclined to buy the tabletop as it looks easier to setup and portable. I have some mobility issues and can't really go out of the city for stargazing very often. As someone said, 'the best telescope is the one you use the most', this should be the first choice. The equatorial mount of the other scope looks really daunting to me as a noob. Is it really difficult to set it up? As I'm not looking for astrophotography I'm quite not sure if I require an equatorial mount. On the other hand the tabletop looks like a children's toy and I'm worried about the quality of the scope.
As you can see I'm quite confused here, so please guide me and help me become a regular stargazer. Thank you in advance!
Mahesh
Bryan Siegfried
Oct 13, 2014, 1:42:49 PM10/13/14
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Orion also makes tabletop dobs, but remember the the stability of your dob is then very dependent on the table, also.
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Sanath Kumar
Oct 14, 2014, 9:34:08 AM10/14/14
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Hi ,
orion star blast series has a table top ones with decent 5” aperture , but they are not really portable , also i wanted to say that almost all the non astrophotography telescopes won’t take a lot of time and effort to set up , also its not complex , you will get a user manual , and there are tutorial videos on youtube , if you want something that portable , then you can also go for a celestron power seeker 70mm refractor , but trust me its not good for planetary , and balancing both portability and aperture is not possible , at least portable for regular observer’s in this group is a scope which can go into a small car with 4-5 more people in it , and even 8” dob comes under this category , all the best .
Regards,
Sanath Kumar
………………….
Sent from OS-X
orion star blast series has a table top ones with decent 5” aperture , but they are not really portable , also i wanted to say that almost all the non astrophotography telescopes won’t take a lot of time and effort to set up , also its not complex , you will get a user manual , and there are tutorial videos on youtube , if you want something that portable , then you can also go for a celestron power seeker 70mm refractor , but trust me its not good for planetary , and balancing both portability and aperture is not possible , at least portable for regular observer’s in this group is a scope which can go into a small car with 4-5 more people in it , and even 8” dob comes under this category , all the best .
Regards,
Sanath Kumar
………………….
Sent from OS-X
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