What would you do?????

I currently own a 6"f/12 AstroPhysics SuperPlanetary refractor.It was bought used and has great optics!!(proof in unforgettable views of Saturn!)It has a sturdy homemade equatorial mount with a Byers drive unit.It has a 6ft. tall hardwood tripod.Nicely crafted. In other words....IT'S MY DREAM SCOPE!!!!It does however take nearly 30 minutes to set up and break down,and this keeps me from using it often.Too much hassle!My 5"Mak-Cass is getting all the work and views of Mars this summer.That one's quick and easy to set up!I can't afford a backyard observatory at this point,and we're not certain how much longer we'll be able to stay in our nice home with a 1-acre backyard with no trees interfering with any part of the sky!! If we move,it'll be into a condo where no observatory of any kind can be built,then I'll still have to find something smaller.However,bigger that my 5".So,my question is...does it make sense to sell the dreamscope refractor and try to buy something smaller and fit on the concrete pier made for an old 8"SCT(that I no longer own!) or keep it and suffer the long set up times and tough it out with the 6" refractor????

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If you must sell it , sell it too me! ;^)
I would never sell that scope. I would die and take it with me. Do you think you could ever replace it in the future? I doubt it. Sell it now and regret it for the rest of your life.
My opinion!
Floyd

Robert, I guess by now you can see a concensus forming - DO NOT SELL THE SCOPE! But let me offer another option: remove the lens and cell (carefully!) and build a folded refractor. You would need to buy a couple of flat mirrors, which aren't cheap, but you could end up with a 9" diameter tube only 24" long.

Even if you decide to do this, store the tube so you can put it back in its original configuration in the future. That scope is a collectors item, and it is your responsibility to preserve it for future generations. Seriously. I have one, too. Bought it in 1988 for the Mars apparition that year. Paid $1675 for it, I think. Waiting period was only 6 months back then

Hey Guys!!Here's the Mars photo I promised you!Taken with the AstroPhysics 6" f/12 APO planetary refractor on the night of Aug 24,2003 at 12:35 am.Taken with a Nikon Coolpix 885 digital camera,a 9mm TeleVue Nagler eyepiece(about 208x),and a Scopetronix digi-t adapter for 2" oculars.3x optical zoom also used.It's still a beast to set up and break down,but I'm very proud of this shot and it encourages me to keep trying for more with this scope!!Thanks again!, Bob Derouin,Johnston,RI

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