As a beginner I bought a Celestron Nexstar 130slt newtonian and found the tripod mount is very unstable for the weight of the telescope. Even at minimum tripod extension the focus takes about 5 seconds to stop shaking from the instability of the mount. The telescope feels like it wants to fall over in light winds. I put 2 patio blocks on the tray which helped some. There is no way to do "push-to" either. So my advice is consider a good tripod and separate OTA purchase. OEM tripods on all of the telescopes I investigated are flimsy at best. The goto on this scope is also frustrating. It takes usually 3 alignments to get it to work. On the other hand the OTA is very good. Just needs a "real" tripod which is another $400+. Alot of money for a beginner to investigate astronomy as a hobby.
I did this excercize, and went with the skywatcher 200p f5 on eq5 mount with enhanced dual axis motor. For guidance, adapted a starsense cradle from a celestron 114lt which i got fot $106 delivered on amazon day. And put rings on a celestron az 102 refractor, for "grab and go" and wide field. In bortle 7 sky, the 102mm refractor is all i use. The 200p reflector is about as effective as the 102mm refractor in bortle 7. The 200p reflector is for dark site, or when splitting difficult double stars in bortle 7. Dobsonians have hidden expenses, like needing more expensive wide angle eyepieces to manually track, limited astrophotography, the annoyance of constant nudging, awkward motion around zenith, minimum altitude limits on balcony... I'd get a 16" or greater collapsable truss dob, if found a good deal second hand. Something portable, for a dark site. If i lived at a dark site, i'd get the biggest dob i could find, at a bargain price. Or make one.
GOTO is a loose term; I have had two GOTOs and have struggled with both of them to get them aligned properly so they can GOTO. My Mead 127mm refractor never aligned properly, but however because of that I learned the night sky pretty well. The other one was a Celestron SE8 which was for me also a struggle to get to align. Every once in a while, I will get lucky, and it will give an " alignment Successful". So, for me the term, GOTO is a loose term. It is GOTO "if" you can get them to align properly.
Great informative video. Thank you. Do you thing that the Orion SkyQuest XT10 would be better (more clarity and distance) than the Apertura AD8 Dobsonia 8"?
We would recommend the Apertura AD10! Has the same great things to offer as the AD8 and would increase your light gathering capabilities a bit over the 8" as well.
@high point scientific - I'm in the New Hampshire mountains and the night views are great. I'm looking to spend $1500-$2000 on a telescope. I'm a beginner, I want something that I can easily set up and tear down (weight is not a factor), I want a phone app where the telescope will automatically go to the location I want based on a predefined list I can select from, ability to take high resolution images and save them for offline editing/printing. Do you think the Celestron NexStar 8SE with wifi module is the right choice? Thank you.
We love our son apertura ad8 we've had the best time of our life looking at the night skies. Moving it around isn't a problem when you have help. The carrying bag is definitely a plus when you want to go outside while your kids are sleeping lol
The Apertura AD10 is going to provide the same size mirror and identical views but the build quality is better than the Celestron. The StarSense is very easy to use and is a great scope but once one learns to find objects on their own using the AD10, they have the higher quality scope in the end AND the ability to find objects by themselves.
You're paying a premium for the Starsense Explorer. That will get you a really good computerized guide to finding deep sky objects. So your choice is what do you want? A learning curve to find deep sky objects (with upgraded parts) or a really good initiation into the universe with some parts you may want to upgrade if you get serious about the hobby. For example, a two-speed focuser takes a lot of fuss out of precise focusing, but you don't NEED one at first. If you want to easily see a lot of stuff as a beginner, the StarSense Explorer will get you there. Having to find deep sky objects yourself as a beginner has a learning curve that many people very quickly abandon. With Starsense (or any other guided system (GoTo or PushTo)) you'll get a very good idea quickly of what is within reach of visual observing. StarSense Explorer is a better interface than hand controllers or systems that are complicated to connect to a phone app. A lot of new observers never master than hand controller, but the StarSense app is really intuitive.
just save up the money and buy one telescope thatd last a lifetime i got a 12.5in reflector and a 14inch meade SCT both are amazing. with telescopes the bigger they are the more light they collect. go full manual also with just a basic single axis tracking motor learning the nightsky is half the fun of using the teleacope and teaches you how to spot the super faint fuzzy objects youre looking for.
Does the Celestron hook up to a PC--or do anyof them hook up to the PC so as I am viewing I can send the image I am seeing onto a live feed viewing on the PC?
The Virtuoso and Heritage table top Dob's wont reach focus with a planetary camera unless you're using the narrow bodied type cameras that fit all the way in like an eyepiece. My camera wasn't like this so I had to drop the truss rods half an inch to gain focus, the catch being doing so clips the light from the primary mirror. The helical focuser is a challenge though! Very much agree that the GSO / Apertura / Stellalyra 8" Dobsonian is the best telescope you can start out with unless you specifically want to get into astrophotography from the get go. As an all rounder for observing it's going to be hard to beat. Very good video, thanks.
I have the 8SE and the AD8. Guess which one gets more use. I put a setting circle on the AD8 base and bought a magnetic inclinometer. Those two things with something like Sky Portal or Stellarium make finding object super easy.
Why all those top sold Telescopes and reviews are for units that are like 10 years ago? Isn't there any new telescope with good lens from 2020+ year? How telescopes from 2010 are still top 10 for beginners and pro.
For $100 more, the Celestron Starsense Explorer 8 inch dob gives much more versatility, doesn't it? If you don't want the push-to, don't use it. But it is there when you want it.
The StarSense dobs are nice and easy to use (at first) but the Apertura AD8s build quality is nicer. Comparing the two you see the AD8 has a dual speed focuser, ability to balance and tension knobs in the azimuth direction while the celestron does not. With the AD8 and an app like Stellarium - one will eventually get very good at using the scope and finding deep sky objects on their own and at this point they will have the higher quality scope with the better warranty in the end. You get the best of both worlds.
Difference isn't $100 but far far more: Celestron loses dual speed focuser, which is $150+ upgrade separately. 25mm Plossl doesn't work as wide angle for 1200mm focal length telescopes meaning you need wide angle eyepiece to see Pleiades. (add $80 for GSO 30mm SuperView) Neither it has 9mm Plossl to get started with higher magnifications. (that's $30+) Red Dot finder is very meh not having either Telrad's guide circles or collecting more light than eye like finder scope. (add fair $70 for RACI finder) And altitude axis mounting point adjustment is something you can't even add to Celestron and you have to either drill new holes into OTA for mounting pieces, or add weights.
Starsense Explorer is by far the simplest computer system I've seen. It's intuitive, accurate, and non-intrusive. You only need to use it when you feel like using it. And then it's ready very quickly. Easy automatic integration with a sky map on your phone (sky maps are so much better than command lines of hand controllers). Great way to learn the sky and the power of phone apps.
Pleaseee help me!! I wnat to buy telescope a good telescope to see deep sky objects,moons ,Saturn ,galaxies,but it should be portable as I want. To import,suggest a good telescope
Its called Stellarium. It's great for assisting you in finding objects when using a manual scope and I use mine to plan my nights out for imaging. Definitely an enjoyable app and likely the best one out there.
Love your videos Teagan... and I love the telescope I purchased from High Point a couple of months ago. Sure enough, it was on your list! Keep up the good work....
My vaonis vespera will be here in a couple of hours. Customer service so far is spot on. Hoping to make you our go-to for our new hobby. If all goes well coming g to you for my redcat 51 gen 2 next.
Hi Teagan. I see all your videos. Very informative. I have an AD8 I bought last year from High Point Scientific as my first scope as a beginner. Works great barring the fine adjust of the focuser. But I am planning for a new scope in 2024. I found AD8 very bulky. And I want to enhance viewing experience. Nearest places around are bortle 6 or 5 on a clear dark night. I want to see more color in the nebulae and sharper images. What is a good 8+ inch scope that is less bulky than AD8 and can get better image. I care less about astrophotography, but an option to add tracking would be nice too. I star hop through the laser pointer and I absolutely love it.
Thank you for the positive feedback, very much appreciated! The Celestron Nexstar 8se or the Celestron NexStar 8" Evolution are great options with tracking. The SCT design is quite compact and the entire setup is significantly lighter. Planetary imaging is also an option with these scopes as is deep space imaging with very short sub exposures!
If you're in the US a lot of public libraries have telescopes available. Might be worth looking into if you want to get your hands on a telescope but are on a tight budget.
@@Nighthawk-lr9km Celestron 102 AZ is $250 or so; seasonally at Costco for $199. Used dobsonians are often on craigslist for a couple hundred dollars. You can generally resell them at that cost.
I agree. If you're at a point where a good light alt-az GoTo is a consideration, the Evolution is solid (I like the fact that it has clutches, so I don't need to power it on to move it around).