£1200 – £2000 Range
The StellaLyra 16″ f/4.5 Dobsonian, made by GSO, is considerably more compact and affordable than most other telescopes of this size. It features the same bearings, accessories, focuser, and base design as the smaller StellaLyra Dobsonians but its tube is an easy-to-assemble 6-pole truss. This telescope is a monster, but it’s still easier to move around than the Sky-Watcher FlexTube scopes and at a price that can’t be beat.
The Sky-Watcher Skyliner 350P FlexTube is significantly more compact than a solid-tubed instrument of this size without the complexity of a full truss tube – though it’s still quite heavy and bulky. The 14″ (350mm) primary mirror gather splenty of light for fantastic views of deep-sky objects.
The Sky-Watcher Skyline 300P FlexTube GoTo adds motorized tracking and pointing to the already-excellent 300P FlexTube, though it’s a bit heavier and bulkier thanks to the electronics.
The Sky-Watcher Skyliner 250P FlexTube GoTo’s main selling point is not the FlexTube configuration but rather its motorized GoTo and tracking, which provides added convenience while not interfering with manual aiming at all thanks to the Sky-Watcher FreedomFind slip clutch and encoder system.
The Sky-Watcher Explorer 200PDS and NEQ6 Pro combination make for a decent astrophotography-ready setup with the addition of autoguiding, a coma corrector, and a suitable camera. You can also get splended views through the eyepiece of this scope, too, though it’s a bit more awkward than a Dobsonian.
The Celestron NexStar Evolution 6 is compact and features 150mm (6″) of aperture, motorized GoTo and tracking, as well as features like a built-in WiFi adapter and lithium battery. However, there are cheaper 6″ GoTo telescopes available and many can be upgraded to a WiFi-capable setup fairly easily too, while the 8″ model isn’t much more expensive but has significantly better performance.
The Sky-Watcher Skymax 180 offers superb planetary views and imaging capabilities when conditions allow and the telescope is properly cooled down to ambient temperature, and the EQ5 Pro is a decent mounting option for this telescope.
Another Sky-Watcher telescope/mount combination intended for imaging, the Explorer 200PDS works acceptably on the HEQ5 Pro provided you use autoguiding and don’t push your exposures too long. For visual use, it’s rather uncomfortable, but it will do the job with comparable views to an 8″ Dobsonian.
The Sky-Watcher Skymax 150 is of course an excellent lunar, planetary, and double star scope, and while GoTo may be a little unnecessary for such a specialized instrument the motorized tracking is nice to have and you can of course use the superb HEQ5 Pro mount for astrophotography with a different telescope.
The Sky-Watcher Explorere 250PDS is certainly an intimidating scope and a nightmare to use on an equatorial mount for visual use, but works well for imaging purposes – though the NEQ6 Pro is pushing its limits with such a large and heavy optical tube.
The Celestron C6 XLT telescope is an excellent instrument for viewing Solar System and bright-deep-sky targets, with some planetary and deep-sky imaging capabilities too. However, there are better mount options than the Advanced VX for either task and deep-sky astrophotographers may want to consider a more optimized telescope for the job.
Above £2000
The GoTo version of the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 350P FlexTube can still be aimed manually thanks to its FreedomFind encoder system while the addition of GoTo and motorized tracking saves you plenty of time in locating and maintaining your aim at targets. However, it is quite a bit heavier than the manual version of this telescope.
The Sky-Watcher Skyliner 400P FlexTube is already a nightmare to move around and the added weight of GoTo electronics doesn’t help things. However, if you can find a way to conveniently store and set up this beast, the views at the eyepiece are extremely rewarding and you of course get all the perks of tracking, GoTo, and still have manual aiming as an option thanks to the FreedomFind encoders.
The Sky-Watcher Skyliner 400P FlexTube is still quite heavy and bulky even when collapsed and probably rqeuires 2 people to move around. You may also need a ladder to reach the eyepiece when the scope is aimed high in the sky. Despite this, the views at the eyepiece through a big scope such as this are well worth the effort when the 400P is used under fairly dark skies.
The Celestron NexStar Evolution 8″ features the excellent Celestron C8 XLT optical tube providing plenty of light-gathering and resolving power coupled to the NexStar Evolution mount, which is fairly lightweight and compact but features fully motorized GoTo and tracking, a built-in WiFi adapter for control via your smartphone or tablet, and a built-in lithium battery.
The GoTo version of the Sky-Watcher Skyliner 350P FlexTube can still be aimed manually thanks to its FreedomFind encoder system while the addition of GoTo and motorized tracking saves you plenty of time in locating and maintaining your aim at targets. However, it is quite a bit heavier than the manual version of this telescope.