I need a good wide field scope.

Soon I will be purchasing an 18" dob. I would also like to have a nice low power/wide field scope for scanning the Milky Way. Any advice on what to get?

I really like the Tele Vue 76, but it will cost a little over $2,000(including the tripod). I don't mind spending the money but I want to know what my other options are. I was thinking maybe I should go the binocular route. Some Fujinon 10 x 70's cost about $570, a little under $1,000 by the time I add a tripod. They would give me similar wide field views as the Tele Vue 76, of course the magnification is only 10x.

So I need some advice here. Any other suggestions? I'm not into astro-photography yet, so that really shouldn't weigh in on my decision.

Well, Chris, there's a new review of the TV-76 by Ed Ting.
http://www.scopereviews.com/page1t.html#3

Alternatively, you may want to look into the Tak FS78 currently on sale.

Ron B[ee]

I bought the Funjinon 10 x 70s before I bought a telescope, and I still love them and use them, but I think it might be a shame to sacrifice the incredible versatility which you get with a small apo. (I now have the TV-102, and when it is set up, nobody is looking through the Fujinons.)

With the TV-76 you would get the chance to use powers from 9x to 160x without resorting to a Barlow, with the corresponding selection of fields. Think about it... with a Panoptic 24 you would get about 3.2 degree views of the Milky Way at 20x, with incredible rendering of star colors. The view I get with my Panoptic 35 and TV-102 is about 2.5 degrees, and when you look at the Cygnus Milky Way, it's really almost too much to take in in every field you look at.

For daytime use, you have maybe the best lightweight spotter scope around. Given that the reviews of the TV-76 say it produces images of a quality similar to the TV-102, how can you go wrong?

Get the TV-76 and invite me over.

Steve

At low power there will be little noticeable difference between rich-field views with the TV-76 and the various 80m f/5 Syntha scopes. If you want to look at the planets that's another matter but 76mm isn't enough aperture, IMO, to justify buying the Tele Vue refractor solely because of its planetary performance. If you want something better than a Chinese achromat the Borg and the Stellervue refractors mentioned are also worth considering as would be a Takahashi FS-78. You could also purchase an 80mm f/7 Apogee with a 2" focuser if they are still available.

There are several 20x80 giant binoculars that run $400 or less. However, since I bought an Orion ST80 in 1998 I rarely use my Celestron 20x80's and binocular guider.

Dave Mitsky

Chris,

I see no one has mentioned a TMB 80/480 or 600, maybe a Tak sky-90
Both of these scopes will give very wide field views and still be very impressive for planetary observing with a good Barlow. These can double as fantastic day scopes!

Paul