Meade 8" or 10" SCT

[Steve_G]

Hi all,

I'm getting back into astronomy. I had a 8" LX200 GPS back in 2005.

Anyway, time for another scope, as the prices are not too bad (anyone know places in Brisbane to buy these scopes ? Bintel is the place I'll ship one from)

I want to get into astrophotography down the track (early to mid next year)
So, looking at adding a meade 80mm 6000 ED scope on top of the SCT.

Now, I'll add a wedge and so on too, but $1k for the new wedge for the 10" and $300 for the wedge for the 8" is a bit of difference in cost.

Will the 10" be that much better over the 8" ?? I know the 12" is awesome (but just out of my price range for now)

Kids wants to see the planets, and with a nice barlow, they'll get to see some detail. But will the 10" give me $1k more detail ?

While I am thinking of getting the 10" as it's in the budget. But for the money I can get the 8" and wedge and some other things for the cost of the 10"

Hope all this makes sense and any feedback is welcomed

Anyone know of a cheap 12" Meade 2nd hand ??

Cheers

Steve

[dannat]

if it were me id get an 8" -the small diff in weight is another plus for me, also the slightly reduced cooling times -

or you could split the diff & get a celestron 9.25"

[julianh72]

Sirius Optics at Underwood are the only licensed Meade dealers in the Brisbane area that I know of.

[Camelopardalis]

:welcome: to Ice in Space Steve!

Have you considered an equatorial mount and scope? Can be a bit of a learning curve to setup, but would be more versatile and eliminates the need for the wedge and piggy backing.

[Steve_G]

I've had a wedge before so no issues there. I'm just wanting the best for the money, Bintel has the 8" for $3599 and the 10" for $4699. $5k is the budget for a scope. I like the Meade over Celestron (well the CPC's anyway)

The weight is not an issue at this stage. I guess the main question I want to know is if the 10" is worth $1100 over the 8"
but that I mean, let's say that Jupiter is 1" disc via the 8" and say 25mm. Is the 10" a 2" disc or more like 1.2" (these are numbers I just picked out) but you should get what I mean :D

In saying the above, this is more for the 'family' when viewing. For me it's going to be seeing better detail in deep space stuff and for later imaging (and looking at an SBIG down the track)

This is going to be a 'work in progress' in builing it all up, but I also need to keep the family happy too.

Or should I save up more and get the 12" ??? (LX600 would be nice)

I'm looking at buying the scope within the next week or so.

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read this and replied with feedback I appreciate it

[Camelopardalis]

Steve, the 10" would have the higher theoretical resolution, therefore be able to discern smaller surface features on objects....but whether you actually get to see anything more is largely up to seeing conditions (and scope thermal equilibrium, collimation, etc).

Added to that, the 8" with its shorter focal length will be a little more forgiving when it comes to DSO imaging, but still...not as forgiving as a shorter focal length scope.

[netwolf]

Steve there is 8" LX90 in the classifieds section, this one seems to come with a wedge. There maybe others there also. Suggest you look there first. Also Gumtree and astrobuysell.com/au are also places to look for used gear.

[Steve_G]

Ok, thnaks to all for the feedback.

Looks like I'll buy an 8" LX200, wedge, Meade 80mm 6000 APO and dovetail
and a 2nd hand SBIG camera and other bits to make it all work (and a Crayford focuser)

Then down the track I might upgrade to the 12" LX600 (if the wife says I can lol)

I'll be going out next week to purchase one