Part 4
The binoculars taught me the beauty of wide-field views and the ETX taught me the limitations of some instruments in providing those views. I am at a point where I really need to learn to determine the field of view of my binoculars and eyepieces, so that I can learn how to star-hop better. However, I also thought it would be nice to have a small wide-field instrument, so when Orion offered their short-tube 80mm refractor on sale, I purchased one. I have this mounted on a camera tripod, and need to add slow motion controls (they go for about $30) to really make better use of this instrument. I agree with some reviewers that this scope makes an excellent starter instrument for someone just coming into the hobby. It provides excellent wide-field views, which is great for large objects such as the Andromeda galaxy and the Pleides, and offers up enough power to see belts on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn, albeit with limited detail. (No, I’m not on Orion’s payroll, but if they want to send me a free accessory for my glowing endorsement, that will be fine.)
So, for the last few years, I have become more actively engaged in the hobby, have garnered a collection of instruments and accessories, and I guess like most in our hobby, have pined for clearer skies, more accessories, and of course MORE APERTURE!
The need for aperture really hit home during the spring and summer of 2001 when I was trying to observe Mars. Even through the ETX90’s long focal length, Mars looked like the head of a pin. There was absolutely no way to make out any features (even if they had been visible through the planet’s unexpected dust storm). Reading that Mars would be at opposition in the summer of 2003, I made my mind up that I would purchase a better/bigger instrument. And so I began exploring the literature and weighing the pros and cons of the various instruments. This past spring I began asking questions on the Astromart forum and obtained excellent advice, which led to my becoming even more thoroughly undecided.
After much consideration, my list narrowed down to an APO refractor (if I could figure out how to buy one) or a GOTO SCT. This not to say that I didn’t consider other configurations, such as dobs, a newtonian on a good EQ mount, achromatic refractors, and the Russian mak-newts, which are said to be excellent planetary scopes. In the next section I’ll explain how my list was shorted to the APO and SCT.
The binoculars taught me the beauty of wide-field views and the ETX taught me the limitations of some instruments in providing those views. I am at a point where I really need to learn to determine the field of view of my binoculars and eyepieces, so that I can learn how to star-hop better. However, I also thought it would be nice to have a small wide-field instrument, so when Orion offered their short-tube 80mm refractor on sale, I purchased one. I have this mounted on a camera tripod, and need to add slow motion controls (they go for about $30) to really make better use of this instrument. I agree with some reviewers that this scope makes an excellent starter instrument for someone just coming into the hobby. It provides excellent wide-field views, which is great for large objects such as the Andromeda galaxy and the Pleides, and offers up enough power to see belts on Jupiter and the rings of Saturn, albeit with limited detail. (No, I’m not on Orion’s payroll, but if they want to send me a free accessory for my glowing endorsement, that will be fine.)
So, for the last few years, I have become more actively engaged in the hobby, have garnered a collection of instruments and accessories, and I guess like most in our hobby, have pined for clearer skies, more accessories, and of course MORE APERTURE!
The need for aperture really hit home during the spring and summer of 2001 when I was trying to observe Mars. Even through the ETX90’s long focal length, Mars looked like the head of a pin. There was absolutely no way to make out any features (even if they had been visible through the planet’s unexpected dust storm). Reading that Mars would be at opposition in the summer of 2003, I made my mind up that I would purchase a better/bigger instrument. And so I began exploring the literature and weighing the pros and cons of the various instruments. This past spring I began asking questions on the Astromart forum and obtained excellent advice, which led to my becoming even more thoroughly undecided.
After much consideration, my list narrowed down to an APO refractor (if I could figure out how to buy one) or a GOTO SCT. This not to say that I didn’t consider other configurations, such as dobs, a newtonian on a good EQ mount, achromatic refractors, and the Russian mak-newts, which are said to be excellent planetary scopes. In the next section I’ll explain how my list was shorted to the APO and SCT.
