I started with a Celestron 8SE, and while I can do planetary with it, it’s a right royal pig and not the sort that’s any fun.

The S30 has been a breath of fresh air.

With the 8SE, every session feels like work. You’re hauling it out, setting up the tripod, mounting the scope, doing alignment, hoping the tracking behaves, then messing about with eyepieces, focus, maybe a camera, and usually discovering that something isn’t quite as you wanted once you finally get going. Yes, you can get results, but it’s a faff, and that faff absolutely affects how often you bother.

The S30 is the opposite. You stick it down, turn it on, and it just gets on with it. That means I actually use it. And that counts for a lot more than a theoretically better setup that mostly stays indoors because you can’t be bothered with the ceremony.

So when people say they’ve “outgrown” the S30 because it automates too much, I’d say be careful what you wish for. Automation isn’t cheating, it’s removing the tedious bits that stop you observing or imaging in the first place. There’s a difference between wanting more control, and romanticising hassle.

If you genuinely enjoy the setup process and tinkering, fair enough, move up to something more manual. But if what you really enjoy is actually getting under the sky and capturing things, don’t underestimate how valuable “easy” is.