Buying a telescope...

[gfpaladin]

Okay, I *know* the mechanics of the various types of telescopes one can purchase and I know to avoid the 'toy' telescopes. Here is my question: For general observing, reflector, dobsonian, or SC? Got a favorite maker (Celestron, Meade, or Orion)?

 

[gfpaladin]

1. how much money you can spend, including accessories <br /><br />lets cap it at 1K<br /><br />2. where your observing interests lie (moon & planets, deep-sky, or both)<br /><br />BOTH! <br /><br />3. How mechanically inclined you are <br /><br />Above average<br /><br />4. whether or not you live in an area that suffers from light pollution <br /><br />Not any more, ahh dark skies of summer are calling me again...<br /><br />5. whether or not you hope to use the scope for photography <br /><br />Not in the immediate future<br /><br />I am torn betweeen Dobsonians and SC. The latter can be driven but typically are far pricier than the light bucket Dobsonians. My concern is locataing and then tracking objects with a Dobsonian.<br /><br />Thanks for the tip on Dobsonians!

 

[bbrock]

Locating objects become second nature. If you don't use a go-to, you learn to star hop which is part of the fun of observation. You learn the sky much better in this regard. The Dob is a great choice. Very easy to use. The aperture is much less expensive for a quality scope then with an SC. <br /><br />So lets say you buy a Dob, perhaps an 8" or 10" and now you find you can blow it out to 400x or 500x. Great for planets, resolving stars in globular clusters and splitting those tight double stars. Now you have the problem of following objects at these high magnifications. Often seeing isn't very good above 250x anyway. So what are you willing to trade off. You have many choices at 1K$. <br /><br />Clear Skies.<br />Bill

 

[gfpaladin]

My thanks to Eddie and Bill for the replies. Bill, you do bring up a concern of mine, namely tracking objects smoothly and high mag and yet still enjoying myself.<br /><br />Mayhap I should save a bit more and go for a SG with a drive.

 

[gfpaladin]

One beer for you as well...