which telescope

Hi everyone,

First of all let me say that I have recently purchased a paramountME mount (15000 euros). A very big investment for me. Took me a few years to achieve this. Now its time to think of a telescope. My main interest I reckon will be in deep sky astrophotography with ccd. I currently have my eye on a Takahashi Mewlon 250. Its going to be another big financial investment for me so I'm quite nervous about making the decision. Any help would be gratly appreciated.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Benny,

IRELAND.

FWIW - I would recommend considering the the AP 155 - 160, which is setup for photography. The 155 - 160 would not have diffraction spikes which the Mewlon would have. As well, any of the TEC refractor products would be a great setup for photography with field flattener. The TEC wait time is significantly less as well. I have a TEC140 and the quality of the tube and views are simply - - - impressive.

As for the AP, I realize the wait might be 6 years for a 160 but used 155s in pristine condition show up for sale from time to time.

I recently saw one for trade in Italy

http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=451274

Hello:
If you're thinking about a Takahashi, how about the astrographs? The Epsilon 180 is nice and small. The BRC-250 is supposed to have a nice wide and flat focal plane and is roughly the same price as the Mewlon 250. The Mewlon series is mostly intended for high contrast visual observing. The Dall-Kirkham design of the Mewlon is easier to make well, but has more coma than a regular Cassegrain. Thus, I would recommend against the Mewlon for deep sky CCD imaging. Another option would be a 10" Richey-Chritien from RC optical systems, which is about that price too. You could get started with a nice, wide field refractor (Stellarvue, Pentax, etc), and have money left over for the CCD, filters, guide scope, etc.

Cheers
Mike Connelley

hi,

I use a Mewlon 250 for ccd imaging with a SBIG ST10XME. The scope is a great imaging platform. Very little coma is visable at the edges of the image and can be corrected with a coma corrector if this bothers you.

See my web site for some images.

http://www.starryforge.com

Larry Citro

Have you considered a C14? It is probably not in the same league (optically or mechanically) with most of the other suggestions, but it will give you more aperture, lower cost, and with hyperstar can be used for wider fields.