Need advice on which dob to get.

In about a year or so I plan to buy an 18" Obsession. In the meantime, I would like to purchase a smaller dob. I have narrowed my choice down to the Discovery 10" f/5.6 DHQ(about $670 including shipping) or Discovery 13.1" f/4.5 DHQ(about $1,200 including shipping). Taking into consideration that I will be upgrading to an 18" sometime down the road, which one would you get? BTW, the largest scope I have looked through is a 10" dob.

The 13.1" cost almost twice as much and weighs about twice as much, but gives a nice increase in aperture over the 10". The move up from the 13.1" to the 18" would be a nice increase, but nowhere near the "wow factor" move from 10" to 18"(or so I'm told).The 10" is a lot more portable, and cost a lot less.

Chris:

I'd advise you to get the 10" now... Once you get the big 'un, you will find times when you just don't feel like dragging it out (say on a marginal night). The 10" is perfect for that.. The 13.1 is probably jsut as much hassle as the 18, so you wouldn't end up keeping it (probably) and miss a lot of viewing 'cause of the portability factors...

Oh yeah - the 10" IS significantly cheaper, as you noted (but if you can afford an 18" Obsession, why do you care?).

By two cents...

Pat

No, that is not me. I have only been in this hobby for about 2 years now. Glad to hear that you are happy with your Discovery 15". There seems to be a lot of satisfied Discovery owners out there.