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Travelnewton - Quattro 150 or 130 PDS?

iOptron CEM25P Equipment Reflectors Buying Advice
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Skywatcher Quattro 150 or Skywatcher 130 PDS?
Single choice poll 31 votes
68% (21 votes)
32% (10 votes)
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Mina B. avatar
Mina B. avatar
Hi,
I'll be spending 10 days on La Palma this May, and I'd like to take a small Newtonian with me. I have a 55x40x25cm carry on backback which can be a lil bit stretched, I'll be flying Business class anyways, so that shouldn't be an issue, and according to my measurements with stacked toilet paper rolls, both of them would fit in, albeit the 130 PDS only diagonally, so I'd put towels around it so its well cushioned. My question now is, which should I buy?

the 130 PDS seems more forgiving in collimination, I like the extra focal length for photography, and its an easy feast for the mount I'm gonna bring (CEM25P), while the Quattro is tempting due to more aparture and it would fit perfectly into my carry on luggage with the 55cm length. But the collimination worries me a lot, what tools would I need? I assume with the 130 PDS I'll get a laser and creshire and be fine… the Quattro however? I don't know.

If anyone has experience on those two, I'd like to hear you out.

Thanks and Clear Skies
andrea tasselli avatar
andrea tasselli avatar
I have a 6" f/4 and you'll be better served by the faster aperture  and shorter tube length. I use a cheshire and laser for secondary collimation and autocollimator for the final, primary only collimation. I guess an Ocal would do as well, at least for secondary centering and collimation. But, most importantly, you need to get some practice before you fly off as you don't want to improvise on the hoof. And you need a good coma corrector unless you only do visual.
Concise
andrea tasselli avatar
andrea tasselli avatar
Incidentally, I wouldn't buy a Quattro but the TS one.
Matija Jakičević avatar
Matija Jakičević avatar
Hello Mina! I own a 150p quattro as of a few months ago and the collimation has been a bit challenging.

If you were to maybe buy it a bit earlier than the trip, and get it properly collimated beforehand (primary, secondary as well as squaring the focuser), you'd have much an easier time setting it up in La Palma. It comes with a good enough coma corrector (make sure it's in the bundle) so you probably don't need to worry about field correction if well collimated.

One thing though, skywatcher has been very inconsistent with which focuser the 150 comes with. Some people get cheaper focusers than others.
I got a monorail one and it seems fine, but it has some sort of spongeiness to focusing (if properly tight) so you'd have to slacken off the pressure screws a bit if you're thinking of autofocusing.

I have just gotten almost everything in check and it seems to work very well for the price which is why I'd like to change my poll answer from 130pds to 150q. Especially if you're thinking of keeping the scope afterwards. The speed of it is well worth it.

Here's a preview of 5 hours on the Leo triplet from a bortle 4 sky:


Clear skies,
Matija
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Mina B. avatar
Mina B. avatar
Hi, that Leo Triplet is sure looking nice, and my biggest gripe the last few years was making a 80mm aperture work under my bad skies… The tip with getting it properly colliminated beforehand is a good one, I have a store close by luckily! How do you colliminate it? And what kind of focusers does it come with besides the monorail? I thought it only had the standard crayford one. The imaging train will be the coma corrector (might go for a non field reducing one, still unsure, like the GPU), filter drawer, OAG, camera, should be fine with the stock focuser hopefully?
And yes I’d definitely smack on a ZWO EAF!
Rafael Amarins avatar
Rafael Amarins avatar
Be aware that you might need an extra counterweight
The reason being the CEM25 won't allow you to leave the imaging train pointing down due to its design - the RA and DEC motors stay in the way so you won't be able to balance the DEC (because to avoid hitting the motors you would have to pull it forward making the dec way out of balance). You might tilt it leaving the imaging train pointing sideways but then the Z axis will be vastly unbalanced. Wich forces you to spin the tube to upwards which then makes the moment of force so you might have to add more weight to balance it
I say this by experience wih a CEM25 and a 6" newtonian 

I is doable just make sure you set up and test the balance before going to the field.
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Matija Jakičević avatar
Matija Jakičević avatar
Mina B.:
Hi, that Leo Triplet is sure looking nice, and my biggest gripe the last few years was making a 80mm aperture work under my bad skies… The tip with getting it properly colliminated beforehand is a good one, I have a store close by luckily! How do you colliminate it? And what kind of focusers does it come with besides the monorail? I thought it only had the standard crayford one. The imaging train will be the coma corrector (might go for a non field reducing one, still unsure, like the GPU), filter drawer, OAG, camera, should be fine with the stock focuser hopefully?
And yes I’d definitely smack on a ZWO EAF!

I think it either comes with a basic crayford or a monorail one, but I'm not too sure about the info. I just make sure the focuser is parallel to the horizontal spider veins and is level in relation to the tube (google "squaring a focuser"). Before squaring I'd collimate it normally first and give it a shot on a clearish night to see if it's even needed.

I collimate by following AstroBaby's collimation tutorial and it serves well with just a collimation cap and a cheshire. 

The imaging train seems fine so weight shouldn't be an issue.

cs,
Matija
Concise
Herwig Peresson avatar
Herwig Peresson avatar
Hi Mina,

Might be late to reply, but I have done exactly what you plan - taken my 130PDS to La Palma and Lanzarote before. I demounted the mirror cell (easy) and put the mirror into my boarding luggage and the tube and the mount & tripod  into the suitcase. Worked very well, despite I pinched the steel tube a bit with the tripod - but has no effect on collimation whatsoever. Once in La Palma, reinstalling the mirror and collimation was super easy with a laser. Under those spectacular dark skies you are fine with f5 and do not need f4 or faster optics.

Some images acquired with my 130PDS in La Palma:
https://www.astrobin.com/381175/
https://www.astrobin.com/381136/

I have many scopes, but the 130PDS is still my favorite for travel (easy to collimate and transport).

CS
Herwig
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Mina B. avatar
Mina B. avatar
Herwig Peresson:
Hi Mina,

Might be late to reply, but I have done exactly what you plan - taken my 130PDS to La Palma and Lanzarote before. I demounted the mirror cell (easy) and put the mirror into my boarding luggage and the tube and the mount & tripod  into the suitcase. Worked very well, despite I pinched the steel tube a bit with the tripod - but has no effect on collimation whatsoever. Once in La Palma, reinstalling the mirror and collimation was super easy with a laser. Under those spectacular dark skies you are fine with f5 and do not need f4 or faster optics.

Some images acquired with my 130PDS in La Palma:
https://www.astrobin.com/381175/
https://www.astrobin.com/381136/

I have many scopes, but the 130PDS is still my favorite for travel (easy to collimate and transport).

CS
Herwig

Hi Herwig, thank you!
I actually pulled the trigger on the PDS, the tip with disassembling is a good one! I might carry everything in my handlluggage - bcs without the mirror cell and the spider vanes the tube should fit easily into my backpack with 54cm length according to my vendor. I have a laser and a creshire eyepiece. I contemplated about the Quattro, but ultimately, I want a bigger Newtonian as well soon anyways, and the hassle with an f/4 for travelling is simply not worth it, it is too sensible imo. also price point - I got a very good coma corrector, a Baader clicklock and updated spider vanes / mirrorring for a little more than the premium the Quattro would cost. I thought so - I did a good shoot with f/7 under Bortle 3 and a canon in my early days as photographer, f/5 is still the fastest I ever had, so will be an upgrade nonetheless, I don't need extra CW for my mount, etc.

Thanks for your answer - I'm trying to fit the scope into the backpack without disassembly, but you gave me a good idea with disassembling it! cheers and Clear Skies!