Telescope for Imaging - Opinions wanted

Hello all,

Wasnt sure where to post this as I wanted to get a more unbias opinion from people. I currently have an SXV-H9 CCD and an AP1200 mount. Im looking at getting a higher end scope coming from an 10" SCT which is just annoying to use for imaging. Ive somewhat narrowed it down to two types of scopes. One is the TEC140 APO refractor or similiar and one is the 10" F3.8 Newtonian Astrographs by Astro Systeme Austria. I think the prices are somewhat similiar after all necessary accesories are added and the focal lenghts are about the same right around 1000mm. My sky conditions are very dark in rural Wisconsin, but the seeing conditions are often not that great and as such Im trying to stay under 1500mm focal lenght at the most.

Any opinions and experiences with such instruments for imaging would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks,

Mike

Mike,

The TEC 140 is lower maintenance (no collimation issues to worry about). OTOH, if that doesn't intimidate you, the ASA's look like photon-drinking buckets. If it were up to me, I'd probably get the TEC, but I'm biased towards refractors.

But the ASA, an ABG camera, and dark skies...... oh, my!

Eric

I have both an AP 155EDF f/7 refractor and an ASA N12 f/3.5 corrected newtonian astrograph. They are both excellent scopes. I agree with everything that has been said in the other posts: if you are technically proficient (ok with collimating a very fast system and keeping a mirror clean, etc) and want a lot of light in a short amount of time then the ASA is your ticket. If however, you want a bullet-proof imaging platform with the least amount of fuss then go with the refractor +/- a flattener/reducer.

Tom