Starmaster FX scopes

I've been looking at the Starmaster FX series of scopes (dreaming may be more accurate).

I'm weighing the pros and cons of the 16.5- and the 18-inch models.

Here is where I'm coming from: I have a 6-inch refractor that I used visually until I attached a camera to it. This rig is such a pain to set up at a star party (in fact, it's a pain to set up and tear down anywhere). So I plan to put this in a building and thus I "need" something to look through and a "travel" scope.

An observing buddy of mine has a 20-inch Obsession, but I don't want to climb a ladder. I want something with enough punch to deliver "in my face" views (compared to the six inch).

Coming from the driven six inch, though, I'm partial to tracking and goto, so those are nice to have. My friend's dob is undriven and I find it difficult to do "critical" observing that way.

What I'm looking at, then, would be the 16.5 with tracking versus the 18 without. If I went the 16.5 route, would I be leaving too many photons uncollected? Will I be utterly disappointed viewing side-by-side with my friend with the 20-inch?

Thanks for your opinions.

The 18" is only 18% larger than the 16.5". I don't think you would see a big difference between the two scopes. A slightly brighter image in the 18", but not substantial I would think.
I have the 14.5" Starmaster and the difference between it an the 18" is not that much. Even a 20" is not a huge difference compared to the 14.5" for me.
I am not saying that bigger is not better, that is a given. But I am saying that a 16.5" compared to an 18" would not be a big step.
If you can stand flat on the ground with the 16.5" and the 18" will require even a small step stool, the stool gets tiring after a while. I gave up a great 15" for the 14.5" because I did not need even one step up a ladder to use with any position. This was a big thing to me.
My $.02.

I have 16 & 20 inch dobsionians. While the 20 inch will show a noticeably brighter image, the 16 will still impress you. Heck, even a good 11 inch - like me Starmaster EL - gets plenty of "wow" reactions from my fellow club members!

So if you are accustomed to using 6 inches, going to anything above 14 inches will probably be quite satisfying, especially if you are a somewhat experienced visual observer. With a 14 inch mirror, you'd be getting more than 5 times the light gathering power of your 6 inch.

Other factors may be more important, as you noted, such as the need for ladders, portability, setup ease, etc. In fact, those considerations have lead to the 11" being my most used deep sky instrument, despite spending years with the 20 inch.

KMM

Louis Marchesi said:

I've been looking at the Starmaster FX series of scopes (dreaming may be more accurate).

I'm weighing the pros and cons of the 16.5- and the 18-inch models.

Here is where I'm coming from: I have a 6-inch refractor that I used visually until I attached a camera to it. This rig is such a pain to set up at a star party (in fact, it's a pain to set up and tear down anywhere). So I plan to put this in a building and thus I "need" something to look through and a "travel" scope.

An observing buddy of mine has a 20-inch Obsession, but I don't want to climb a ladder. I want something with enough punch to deliver "in my face" views (compared to the six inch).

Coming from the driven six inch, though, I'm partial to tracking and goto, so those are nice to have. My friend's dob is undriven and I find it difficult to do "critical" observing that way.

What I'm looking at, then, would be the 16.5 with tracking versus the 18 without. If I went the 16.5 route, would I be leaving too many photons uncollected? Will I be utterly disappointed viewing side-by-side with my friend with the 20-inch?

Thanks for your opinions.

Thanks, guys.

With the 16 I'll never need a ladder, so I think that's the way to go. And it should provide plenty of "oomph"; if I need to see extra deep I can amble over to my buddy's 20.

Now I gotta start saving my pennies