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What should I buy?

Started by jeffnw1, 07/15/2008 05:35PM
Posted 07/15/2008 05:35PM Opening Post
Just getting back into this wonderful hobby after a few decades and would like to buy a newer 'scope. Here are some criteria so my choices can be narrowed down.

1. My main interests are DSO and just browsing star fields such as in Cygnus - Milky Way stuff. Occasionally some planet shots.
2. Budget ~ $4,000, would have to include a couple eyepieces
3. Astrophotography is something I'd like to at least dabble in
4. I live in a light-polluted suburb of Seattle where mag 3.5 - 4.0 is about what I can see with the naked eye.
5. For now it has to be somewhat portable. Maybe when the kids all leave I can move to AZ or NM and build something permanent. Any given section of the equipment should top out at 30-40 pounds for me to comfortably handle.

Eyepiece advice also welcome. I was thinking a 10-12" Meade/Celestron on an EQ, but don't really know everything that is available.
Posted 07/15/2008 06:53PM | Edited 07/15/2008 06:55PM #1
Jeff Willson said:

Just getting back into this wonderful hobby after a few decades and would like to buy a newer 'scope. Here are some criteria so my choices can be narrowed down.

1. My main interests are DSO and just browsing star fields such as in Cygnus - Milky Way stuff. Occasionally some planet shots.
2. Budget ~ $4,000, would have to include a couple eyepieces
3. Astrophotography is something I'd like to at least dabble in
4. I live in a light-polluted suburb of Seattle where mag 3.5 - 4.0 is about what I can see with the naked eye.
5. For now it has to be somewhat portable. Maybe when the kids all leave I can move to AZ or NM and build something permanent. Any given section of the equipment should top out at 30-40 pounds for me to comfortably handle.

Eyepiece advice also welcome. I was thinking a 10-12" Meade/Celestron on an EQ, but don't really know everything that is available.

That wouldn't be a bad choice...if you mean by "EQ" a GEM mount, a German Equatorial mount. Either a 10 or 12 fork mount scope would be way over your 40 pound limit.

My most important suggestion? JOIN YOUR LOCAL CLUB. Get out to a couple of their star parties, try a few of their scopes. See what seems RIGHT to you.
wink

Uncle Rod

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Posted 07/15/2008 08:32PM #2
DSO plus star fields sounds like "fast and wide" to me. The EQ doesn't appeal to me, but it (or some kind of tracking mount) would be useful if you're seriously planning on longish-exposure astrophotography.

Since you mention returning to the hobby after a few decades, I'm expecting you'll be able to navigate the night sky without too much difficulty. I'd be thinking big dob, maybe 12 inches, maybe a bit more if it's a truss and you can handle the mirror box all right. Even with a tube dob, laying the tube in the rocker box doesn't require a lot of precision. The only real downside of the dob is that it's harder to do exposure photography. Otherwise, though, you can get a heck of a lot of quality/aperture for your $4,000 minus eyepieces.