which telescope NOT to buy?

Would this be a more productive way to decide what to get?Some optics obviously are inferior. But every telescope I look through at star parties looks absolutely wonderful to me compared to my ETX60, and I honestly can't tell the difference in looking at a globular cluster with a 20" reflector or a super nice Takahashi refractor, they all look crisp to me.

So with my limited budget, the danger is I'll buy something too cheaply made. Takahashi is out of the question, as is a 20" reflector. I have lots of clear skies because I live in the dark sparsely populated mountains of NC at 3000 feet. I can drive to spectacular viewing at 4000 feet in 15 minutes.

Can you experienced astronomers tell me NOT to buy certain brands of scope? I'm thinking of getting a reflector because it's cheaper and I'm not going to get into astrophotography.

Bob

Can you experienced astronomers tell me NOT to buy certain brands of scope? I'm thinking of getting a reflector because it's cheaper and I'm not going to get into astrophotography.

Bob
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Bob: It really depends upon your budget but here are some thoughts:

1. Your ETX-60 cannot show M13 or M92 the way a larger scope can. But there are things that it can do that a larger scope cannot do, it can show your big chunks of the sky all at the same time, a binocular like 4.5 degree Field of view at 11x can be quite stunning and will not happen with a big Tak or 20 inch Newt.

2. A 10 inch F5 Asian DOB is around $500 and will provide some very nice views of all types of targets and yet be relatively easy to setup and transport.

3. Avoid Ebay scopes, some real dogs sold on Ebay.

jon

Bob,

Do not overlook setup and transport. A 15 minute drive by yourself may be a much different thing then loading up (or failing to be able to load) a big scope and driving 15 minutes. Long setups tend to kill frequency of observing.

Ed