Newbie Here..

[shishghate]

Newbie here just wanting to say hello and ask for some advice.

I've been cruising the net looking for a new telescope and was wondering if someone could tell me the difference between these two scopes and if one is better than the other?

Celestron Nexstar 6 SE
Celestron C6-A with a goto mount.

One thing I do know that I will be traveling with this scope as I live in Minneapolis. Right now, that traveling will be for camping trips (about 5) to various parts of the state over the summer, but as my kids get older, it will probably be star parties.

If someone has an option on either of the two above or suggestion on another scope, it would be much appreciated.. (i.e. would a 4 SE be just as good)

Thanks in advance

Shishir Ghate

[SEmert]

Hi Shishir, and welcome!

The mount and the goto electronics between the Nexstar 4 and Nextar 6 are either very similar or identical. The Nexstar 4 with a 4" aperture will see less than a Nexstar 6 with 6" of aperture. They'be both be good for Solar System objects, double stars, open clusters, brighter globular clusters, nearby nebula - in other words, the brighter objects. The 6 inch will help to see more definition and brightness in deep sky objects. Of course, it will make it a little heavier and larger, so if you are carrying it a long way from the campsite (like backpacking), that may be a consideration.


Not sure which C6-A goto mount you're referencing. Is it one of the fork mounts, operation would be very similar. If a German Equatorial mount cost, complexity and weight would be somewhat higher, but so would pointing and tracking accuracy.

One thing you may want to consider is borrowing one of the MAS loaner scopes. We have a C6 SCT optical tube assembly on an Astro-Tech Voyager Alt-Az mount. It is a sweet little scope. Contact Merle, our Vice President, in case you're interested in that.

Also, before you make the decision as to what to purchase, you may want to wait until the snow clears and the skies clear and you can attend either an Onan public observing night or a MAS star party, and take time to look through some other member's telescopes. It's always better to get a feel from some live equipment rather than guessing based on pictures in catalogs!

[shishghate]

Hi Steve,

Thanks for all the info. I think I'll go for the 6".

In regards to the C6-A, this is what I was looking at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWAX:IT

Not sure if ebay can be trusted, but it's out there. I like the idea of a separate scope and mount. It allows me to upgrade the scope. What I want to know is if that tube is of the same quality as the SE 6 tube? It appears to be, but I just want to be sure.

As for carrying, we go car camping (Jay Cooke, SplitRock, Itasca, Glacial Lakes, Lanesboro) so the car isn't that far away to pull/store things in. I would like to check some of the parties out, but I don't know if anything is scheduled to happen before memorial day as that is our first camping trip. Living in the city means that the only time we probably get some "real" use from the scope is when we head out of town.

Again thanks for all the info... and I look forward to having some fun...

Shishir

[Steve Baranski]

Hi Shishir, and welcome,

The answer to having a star party before your campout is "We sure do!" we are starting the Public Nights at Onan Observatory, ( In Baylor regional park ) this Saturday (Today, as it is after midnight)! We have one next week as well, and then about every two weeks after that.

The Public Nights at Onan Observatory are held, independent of weather... If the stars are not available, we still do tours of the equipment, answer questions, and look at videos and photos our members have taken. Sometime we will have programs, and we always have interesting conversations related to astronomy.

Directions, dates, and other info available towards the bottom of the MAS homepage.

Hope to see you out there sometime soon!

Steve

[SEmert]

Not sure if ebay can be trusted, but it's out there. I like the idea of a separate scope and mount. It allows me to upgrade the scope. What I want to know is if that tube is of the same quality as the SE 6 tube? It appears to be, but I just want to be sure.
Shishir

Hi Shishir,

I don't own either one of those two, so take this info with the normal precautions, but those two look very very similar. I believe the optical tube is identical. There should be just the normal minor variation from sample to sample, which is independent of model. The NexStar SE OTA can be removed from the mount as well - I checked a couple of the internet retailers (Orion - www.telescope.com and OPT - www.optcorp.com) and both sites say the OTA is removable. I don't know if it is a standard "Vixen style" dovetail on the NexStar, but I believe so. Perhaps someone here that owns one can speak up.

As far as e-Bay, it's hard to tell. It is really dependent upon the individual you're buying from. This looks to be either an individual, or someone selling used equipment on consignment. As long as it's a standard Celestron (or other) good name brand, it should be ok. The ones to watch out for on e-Bay are the ones selling these off-name brands. I see "Seben", and have never seen it before so I have no idea but wouldn't trust it until I saw a review on somewhere like Cloudy Nights. The ones with the headline "New Black 6" Reflector" and are BayTech or TwinStar should be avoided at all costs. I have seen reviews confirming they are very bad.

[shishghate]

Steve B.. Thanks for the invite.. not sure I can make it this month due to scheduling, but I will shoot for next month..

Steve E, Thanks for confirming what I thought. I just wanted to make sure the tube between the two scopes were of comparable or equal value. Everything I read on the web said they were, but I just wanted to double check.

As for e-bay.. I've known to take it with a big grain of salt... Every now and then one finds a good deal...

And I know there some deleted posts.. I can't remember who posted them, but yes Eagle Cliff is where we go camping in Lanesboro. We are camping across from a nice open field where we can set things up. We've been going there for the last 10+ years.

SG

[wkocken]

That was me with the post about Eagle cliff. I deleted it because it was a little off topic and I didn't want to derail the thread about scopes. ( Especially since I'm a dob guy. More bang for the buck!)
Bill

[SEmert]

Sorry about the deleted posts. Bill said he deleted the contents of one, then there was another one with just his signature but no info. I deleted them to just clean the thread up. No intent of censorship!

[wkocken]

Thanks for deleting them Steve. I was having technical difficulties. I could not delete my posts myself.
Bill