After years of researching and bouncing around among different candidates, I pulled the trigger today on a new telescope. As I studied it more my idea of what was ideal seemed to change a lot:
- initially just looking for the typical entry level scope...something like an 8" Dobsonian
- decided that a Dobsonian was too bulky and would primarily sit in a closet, and started looking more at SCT's. For a long period I had decided a Celestron Nexstar Evololution would be great because it has a cool wifi/tablet connection that makes it really easy to navigate the sky. For quite a while I was just waiting for this to rise to the top of my toy bucket list.
- started looking at used SCT's on CL and saw some nice bargains...a lot of people seem to buy a 10" SCT and then use it 2 times (at least they claim).
- thinking more about how I wanted to use the scope, it was going to be primarily when I go camping...we have great clear dark skies here in Arizona but not so much around Phoenix. It was also important that the wife and kids (5 and 7) can enjoy it. And I want it to last for a very very long time, not be something we junk in 10 years. So, it needs to be on the smaller side and have very little setup time...wife and kids are not going to allow a couple hours of setup/takedown time for a short viewing session. With those thoughts, I started researching refractors.
- looked hard at 4" apo's and decided it was beyond my budget for a really quality OTA (Televue, Tak, etc). Also bordering on too large for my travel desires.
- Finally decided on a TV-85 and put together 5 very good eyepieces along with a Stellevue M2 mount and tripod. Was very close to going with a wooden Televue tripod (love the look) but decided it was too big and heavy for travel and the Televue mount is just so-so. Also camera adapters, so now I have a 600mm/f6 lens for my DSLR :-).
The advantages of this setup are that it will be very portable, hence it will get used frequently (can be used for terrestrial viewing as well). It will give very good, clear, sharp views, and is great for wide views. It is very durable and takes no setup time.
The downside: Not enough light capturing ability to create impressive views of dim objects. Probably need to team it up with a large Dobsonian for long viewing sessions. Limited to about 200x magnification, so not "the best" for planetary views. Not motorized...not on an equatorial mount, so tracking at high magnifications could be an issue if I want to share the view with the kids. But this can be added later. I'm thinking that finding the objects may be just as much of the fun as viewing them, so I'm avoiding the computer assist for now.
So, what do you have, how often do you use it, and what is on your wish list?
- initially just looking for the typical entry level scope...something like an 8" Dobsonian
- decided that a Dobsonian was too bulky and would primarily sit in a closet, and started looking more at SCT's. For a long period I had decided a Celestron Nexstar Evololution would be great because it has a cool wifi/tablet connection that makes it really easy to navigate the sky. For quite a while I was just waiting for this to rise to the top of my toy bucket list.
- started looking at used SCT's on CL and saw some nice bargains...a lot of people seem to buy a 10" SCT and then use it 2 times (at least they claim).
- thinking more about how I wanted to use the scope, it was going to be primarily when I go camping...we have great clear dark skies here in Arizona but not so much around Phoenix. It was also important that the wife and kids (5 and 7) can enjoy it. And I want it to last for a very very long time, not be something we junk in 10 years. So, it needs to be on the smaller side and have very little setup time...wife and kids are not going to allow a couple hours of setup/takedown time for a short viewing session. With those thoughts, I started researching refractors.
- looked hard at 4" apo's and decided it was beyond my budget for a really quality OTA (Televue, Tak, etc). Also bordering on too large for my travel desires.
- Finally decided on a TV-85 and put together 5 very good eyepieces along with a Stellevue M2 mount and tripod. Was very close to going with a wooden Televue tripod (love the look) but decided it was too big and heavy for travel and the Televue mount is just so-so. Also camera adapters, so now I have a 600mm/f6 lens for my DSLR :-).
The advantages of this setup are that it will be very portable, hence it will get used frequently (can be used for terrestrial viewing as well). It will give very good, clear, sharp views, and is great for wide views. It is very durable and takes no setup time.
The downside: Not enough light capturing ability to create impressive views of dim objects. Probably need to team it up with a large Dobsonian for long viewing sessions. Limited to about 200x magnification, so not "the best" for planetary views. Not motorized...not on an equatorial mount, so tracking at high magnifications could be an issue if I want to share the view with the kids. But this can be added later. I'm thinking that finding the objects may be just as much of the fun as viewing them, so I'm avoiding the computer assist for now.
So, what do you have, how often do you use it, and what is on your wish list?