Skywatcher New Quattro Telescopes

Skywatcher Quattro f4 Newtonian TelescopeThere seems to be an array of new Skywatcher telescopes coming out soon. They range from the Quattro f4 Newtonian telescopes which are coming out both in Steel and Carbon Fibre.

Why offer both, it just adds more confusion, as I can’t make up my mind whether to buy a Carbon Fibre version or the steel, or whether to go for the 8″ or the 10″ version.

The 8″ non-CF is going for £399, 8″ CF for £599, 10″ non-CF £520 and 10″ carbon fibre for £799. There is even details of a 12″ version but that will just be in steel at the moment.

Does carbon fibre really make that much difference? I am thinking of only using the scope for some planetary imaging and perhaps some deep sky targets that require the extra light gathering capability.

It’s not just the carbon fibre or steel versions I have to think about, but if I go for a 10″ version, then I will also need to purchase an A3 EL light panel to go with it, otherwise if I buy the 8″ model, I only need an A4 light panel, but the difference in price of these is small, about £30.

As this would be my first newtonian for a while, I would also need a collimation tool and let’s no forget probably a dew shield or dew strap, and a Bahtinov mask. The cost is starting to rise!

I also saw that Skywatcher are planning some 5 element 120ED and 150ED refractors, which look really good. But who knows the prices on these. I expect we need to think about £2,000-3,000 for the 150mm and probably £1,500-2,500 for the 120mm?

We may have to wait for these scopes though, probably until October 2011, is it worth the wait, will they just be too expensive for most of us, and I will have to resort to getting a 120mm ED DS Pro Black Diamond instead at around £1,000.

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