If your gonna have a dilema....

this one aint half bad...looking for ideas on this: 130 or 140?

I'm pretty high up on the 140 list and could theoretically be notified this summer.

I've also been on the 130 list since early 2001 and could be notified within a year, maybe? (yay!)

As much as i would love to, i really doubt i can consider buying and keeping both, although i am willing to sell my FS102 and/or my Discovery 12.5" dob. May need to sell one or both just to fund the 140, no?

I like the idea of the portable 130, as i'm a traveller, no pun intended. But the 140 was SO SWEET... how can I not? Budget is 5k, wife is on board, bless her!

If i buy the 140 will it have the typical amazing resale value? if so i could sell it when the 130 comes up?

Ugh!! What would you do?

I'm primarily a visual observer and have a decent go to mount that should handle either scope well...

Thanks and Clear Skies,
Mike

What a nice position to be in. I am a long ways off on the 130 list having signed up just recently. I will likely get in on the 140 since I signed up just a day or two after NEAF ended when the notification list was updated with the 140, prior to it becoming common knowledge. It is not the scope I really want though. I would much rather have the take-down 130.
I can tell you first hand from comparing my 155 with a friends 130 that visually you will prefer the brighter image, slight increase in focal length for the moon and planets and the slight increase in resolution in the 140 to that of the 130. It won't be a huge improvement, but the 140 will be a better visual instrument. It also can be upgraded to or possibly ordered with the 4 inch focuser to take advantage of the large field flattener and telecompressor, something that the 130 will not be able to do. I have a Traveler which is a joy to use but I really want a larger scope for traveling with to certain places I vacation. Maybe we can arrange something?

Michael,
Money provided, you MUST buy them both. An AP scope is one of the best ivestments you can make. When I think of the stuff I was collecting in the late 80s and early 90s, should have been purchasing AP refractors. Of course I probably would not be able to sell any of them now-that's the dilema. Another potential dilema is that you may need to buy a lighter weight mount, like the GM-8 for the 130 to keep it a portable system. The mount needed for the 140 will need to be heftier.
Buy the wife flowers. take her to dinner, then dacing. Tell her she is simply the best thing currently in this universe and... Go For It!

A dilemma is when you get offered two AP scopes at the same time - and can't afford to buy both.

Or maybe when the CFO has other designs on your "scope fund" when the call comes in.

Clear skies, Alan