[Outcast (Carlton)]

Apologies in advance for the long post but, I'm at a decision point on purchasing a new telescope & I am having trouble making the decision. I'm wondering what I might not be considering as I way up the pro's & cons of which way to go.

Firstly, some background info to inform opinions:

I live in Cairns, about 8km from the CBD as the crow flies. Light pollution is in my opinion pretty bad but, probably not as bad as a major city. I do most of my observing from my backyard with the viewing area restricted by my house & some fairly tall trees in the adjacent bushland. I get about 180 degrees of views to the eastern hemisphere with an lower altitude limit of about 40 degrees. My neighbours leave their porch lights on, permanently which adds to my light pollution issues.

If I want to view western skies I move to the front yard but, this brings in more light pollution in the form of street lights & the illuminated footbridge from hell about 2km away.

I currently own a Meade 5000 series 80mm ED APO refractor & have owned this for the past 5 years. However, I have recently sold the two mounts I had for it (GSO Skyview deluxe & Ioptron Cube Pro). I was never 100% happy with either mount; the skyview because it wasn't a goto mount & the Cube pro because I think the scope was right on the practical weight limit & vibrated like hell whenever I touched the scope (ie: trying to focus). I have enjoyed some wonderful views in this scope & intend to keep it.

I want to be able to see everything (of course I do).. with the 80mm I have pulled out some great detail on the moon, Jupiter & even clear views of Saturns rings (but, not the cassini divisions). I have also managed some pretty cool views of the Orion Nebula & a couple of other bright nebula. Mars however, is just a bright orange ball.. the view through my 80mm isn't particularly mind blowing.

I have done a little bit of photography, predominantly Afocal or short exposure prime focus stuff.. don't really envisage getting into AP heavily.

I want more... I want bigger more detailed views of the planets, I want better views of deep sky objects & I want more deep sky objects to be available to me.

Edit: One other note of importance, we might be considering a move to an apartment/townhouse in the next 5 - 7 years; not sure how useable a Dob is from a balcony.

Lastly in terms of background information, I consider GOTO a must.. I'm lazy.. not too lazy to do setups but, too lazy to truly learn the night sky & do star hopping. Plus, to be honest... the visibility of stars with the naked eye in my backyard is limited to the brightest.

Now to the options I am considering in order of cost;

Option 1: Skywatcher 8 inch GOTO Collapsible Dobsonian. Can get one for $1200 at present, plus postage. This would mean postponing the purchase of a new mount for the 80mm

Option 2: Skywatcher 10 inch GOTO Collapsible Dobsonian. Currently available for $1699 plus postage. Also means no mount for the 80mm for a while.

Option 3: GSO 8 inch F5 newtonian reflector on Celestron VX mount. This bumps my cost up to around $1800 plus postage. It does give me a mount for my 80mm; possibly gives me an option of piggy back mounting my 80mm (might be over the limit for the mount??). I'm aware of the challenges of a Newt reflector on a GEM but....

Option 4: 150mm f8 Achromat on Celestron Advanced VX mount. I think I can get one for around $2200 plus postage. I have read a lot about Chromatic Aberration & I can't say I like the sound of purple fringing around planets.

Option 5: Celestron 8 inch f10 SCT on CGEM Goto for $2300 plus postage, again gives me a mount for my 80mm. Is a more compact approach in terms of physical size & weight.

Option 6: Celestron 8 inch f10 SCT on Celestron Advanced VX mount for around $2500 plus postage.

Budget is a major consideration.. the more I spend the less my wife will like me but, really what I want to achieve is maximum bang for buck & less chance of buyers remorse.

Can I wait to purchase a mount for my 80mm; yes but, only if the dobsonian that I purchase really blows my mind for views & is a relatively simple/easy evolution to move from my house to my basically flat backyard (about 8 metres with a couple of steps down from my rear deck to the lawn).

Thankyou for your patience in reading this epic post... I look forward to the myriad of opinions that will follow from the vast knowledge bank that is this forum.

Regards

Carlton