Need help choosing

I am a beginner, but have some disposable cash on hand. I have always been interested in this hobby, but until recently couldn’t swing it. I am looking for a scope which will satisfy me for at least a couple years before I want something better. I would like to keep it around 4000. I don’t know a lot about finding things and a “goto” would probably benefit me. I’ve been reading forums a lot and am looking at:

Meade LX90GPS 12inch 3,299
Meade LX200GPS 12 inch 4,100
Meade 200R 12 inch 4700 (but the 10 inch is 3,700) Is the 200R that much better than the 200LX

Celestron CGE 9.25 XLT :S 4,019
Celestron CGE 1100 XLT 4,424

I’ve got the space and strength to store and heft the 12 inch.

RCX400 is too expensive and apparently the bugs need to be worked out.

I probably want to buy new as I would not know if what I received used was working properly or it was me. (could happen with a new scope as well I suppose)

Planets and deep space peak my interest and I would like to image. The current sale on DSI pro from Meade may be a plus.

Any input would be appreciated.

Hello Eric and welcome to Astromart, you have made a wise choice by asking first...

The telescopes you have chosen are all competent Schmitt-Cassegrain telescopes with a reasonable amount of aperture, a long focal length and a GOTO mount.

Whether these scope suit your needs really depends on what you hope to do, what you want to look at, what your expectations are. For some, a scope like any one of these would be a great scope, for others, the scope's limitations outweigh their advantages and they would be happier with another type of telescope.

In the end, about the only way you can find out is to give one a serious try, own one for a year or two and then figure out if it works for you or if something else might be better.

So, the wisest thing you can do is go to some star parties, club outings, people's houses, and just look at and through a variety of telescopes. See what they can do, what they can't, see what the limitations are, what every owner knows but the catalogs don't mention...

Since you are looking at SCTs, I will point of some of the things you will need to know about SCTs, many of these apply to other larger telescopes in differing degrees...

1. Dew: The corrector plate of an SCT needs to be heated or shielded, otherwise as the night cools, dew will invariably form on the collector. This is a got to have.

2. Cool down: Taking scope outside from a warm house to a cool backyard or out of a car to the observing site means the scope has to cool (or warm up) until it is thermal equalibrium. All reflectors take a substantial time to reach thermal equilibrium, SCTs are slower than Newtonians. Until the scope is cool, the views will not be as sharp as possible so planetary views, double stars will not be up to snuff. Refractors of normal size are much more stable in this regard.

3. Collimation: To get the good views, most reflectors need to be collimated, ie the optics aligned. SCTs and Newtonians generally need to collimation to be touched up if you want the best possible view.

4. Long focal length, restricted field of view. The 12 inch scopes you mention have focal lengths of around 3000mm, the others somewhat shorter. These long focal lengths combined with the possible eyepiece formats mean that the maximum field of view for one of these will be less than 1 degree. For most targets this is not a problem but if you happen to point the scope at the Pleiades, don't be surprised when you only see a few bright stars.

5. SCTs have a large secondary obstruction, normally somewhere around 35%. This does reduce contrast on planetary targets, how much, that is a much argued topic but it is an issue to be aware of. Newtonians have Central obstructions but they are smaller so their effect is less and it can be under 20% in which case it's effect is essentially zero. (Note, this is the ratio of the diameters of the secondary and primary mirrors.)

My point here is not to run down Schmitt-Cassegrain telescopes but rather to point out some things to be aware of and hopefully spur you to getting some first hand experience before plunging in and spending your money.

Buying used is a reasonable way to go. You save money and here on Astromart, people are quite trustworthy (or they don't last).

Jon

Keep in mind eps and diagonal and filters and etc. You need to think about this hard. You get the good stuff and you'll have to buck up for more good stuff.

Like you I came to the same choice dilemna. I matched a 9.25XLT with a CGE at first. The CGE was defective and given a day to think about it and take it back, I then matched the scope to a G-11 GOTO. Just a little more than what you want to spend, but not much more.

I can say the G-11 is much better than the CGE. My first 9.25 was bad and had to go back, but now this one seems ok.

With this kind of taste in mind you'll be spending no less than another $1K or more on eps and a better diagonal at about $300. So when all's said and done you're looking at about $6k TO $7k to start. It won't stop there either.