Which 'scope to buy?

Started by RobertHowe, 04/19/2004 05:37AM
Posted 04/19/2004 05:37AM Opening Post
Hi everyone,

I seek a fine telescope for deep space work, visual for now but adding photographic capabilities in time. Let me describe my telescopes and problems below, I will ask which telescopes people recommend.

I now own or have access to an 11 inch Starmaster Dobsonian f/5.5; an AstroPhysics 155 EDFS f/7, 6.1 inch aperture; an AP 130 f/6 (5 inch), and my own Borg 100ED f/6.4 refractors binocular telescope (4 inches/eye).

I have been diligently comparing the deep sky performance of these very fine puppies this winter. The Starmaster is wonderful except for the prolonged cooldown time and the inability to track objects (although Sky Commander works surprisingly well to find things). It has the brightest views of DS objects but performs less well at altitudes below 40 degrees, and it is very clunky to move about. A big Dobsonian thus seems unlikely to meet my needs.

The APs are wonderful scopes but I cannot handle the 155 comfortably. Given that the eyepiece is located on the telescope's rump, I need to elevate my tripod (Losmandy G11 with Gemini) about a foot in order to see things to the south without lying on the ground. This is particularly important in the muddiness of a warm spring night. Thus the tube rings are at my head height. Putting this 23 pound telescope in its cradle is always a little bit scary, as I must carry it down three porch stairs and then lift it to head height; I fear that I will drop it someday and be left with $6000 worth of bent aluminum tubing and glass dust.

The 130 is much more tractable but of course lacks aperture for fine deep sky work. I intend to keep it as an all-purpose-except-grab-and-go telescope.

The Borgs are superior to the AP 130 for deep space, no doubt due to the binocular vision, but the larger apertures of the AP155 and Starmaster more than compensate perceptually for the binocular vision.

ITE sells a bunch of Maksutov-Cassegrains and Mak-Newts that may work for me. I have been lusting after the Intes Micro 8" f/6 MN 86, but it is almost twice as heavy and equally long as the AP155; does the EP being located in front solve my problem? The Intes MK 91 f/13.5 is also heavy, but shorter, so perhaps I need not raise the tripod, but it would seem to have a limited FOV. The Intes Micro Alter M703 7" F/10 Maksutov-Cassegrain, Intes Micro Alter M715 7" F/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain, Intes MN71 7" F/6 Maksutov-Newtonian and Intes Micro MN76 7" F/6 Maksutov-Newtonian all have some appeal.

Will any of these 7 inch telescopes give me deep sky performance similar to the 11 inch Starmaster? How will a 7 inch Mak-Newt or Mak-Cass telescope compare in performance with, say, a Celestron 9.25 or 11 inch Schmidt-Cass? How will it compare in usability to the AP 155?

What do you folks recommend? I will be very interested by your replies.

Best wishes, and thanks,

Robert Howe
Wilbraham MA

Robert Howe
Wilbraham MA


TeleVue 85 f/7 // Astro-Physics Traveler 105 f/6 // Astro-Physics 130 f/8.35 // Tak Mewlon 210 //
Coronado 60 DS
"Scopes, Brains and Wisdom--but no Beauty"