what to buy!!!

[duncan]

Hi to all. I'm looking at scopes up to $2000.Although only a beginner i do have a very good technical and logical mind.I was wondering if anyone has used or has a Saxon 200mm Maksutov Cassegrain. I need something portable but still plenty of ability. So large dobs are sort of out. Plus i only have a small car (ford laser).Whatever i get must be upgradeable to computer drives etc. to allow astrophotography.Any help would be really appreciated.
Ps. and i still haven't seen the comet (damn cloud).:sadeyes: :help:

[ving]

a 200mm mak would be nice, but be wary of the mount... you are going to need a really sturdy mount if you plan on doing astrophotography with it and the chances are the mount it comes with will not suffice.

but on dobs. astronutt (aka john) has a 12" meade light bridge truss dob, i believe his mode of transport is a ford laser too.... tho i cant remember for sure.

[duncan]

Thanks ving, can't get to see or try much up here so need plenty of feedback.

[[1ponders]]

Planetary photography the Mak would be ok, deep sky stuff you would probably find it too slow.

12" truss dob. :confuse3: Now there's an idea and whack an argo navis on it. Bit more than your budget though :)

[paninaro]

If I had $2000 to spend and wanted to do what you wanted to do (which I presume is photography) I would buy a meade LXD75 go-to mount from bintel for $1198, lets see that leaves $800 for the scope, I don't know if you are a refractor guy or an SCT guy, or if it is planetary or DSO stuff you are interested in photographing but you could pick up a quality second hand 100mm+ refractor for around that (non-apo) for planetary or a second hand meade or celestron 8" SCT for DSO, not sure how SCTs are for photogrphy though - maybe you need a phot guy to step in here and whittle down your choices.

[janoskiss]

Haven't heard much good about the Saxon Maks but never used one either. Sounds like an 8" SCT is what you probably should be aiming for. I'd have a hard time justifying spending $2000 on one though when a $400 Dob shows you as much, a little more even. So if you can accommodate a 1.15m long optical tube the Dob is worth considering. If you have a hatchback that would make it easy. Otherwise it's got to go across the back seat. Re "upgrading" for astrophotography, the 8" Dob's OTA can be transferred to an EQ mount.

[ving]

like what i did...

8" gs dob. now mounted on a heq5 goto eq mount.... computer controlled :D

[mickoking]

G'day Duncan. Go a Dob 200-300mm you cant go too wrong. A 200mm will easily fit in a small car :thumbsup:

[duncan]

Many thanks to you all for the replies.sounds like a dob will be the go but like most beginners it's a case of aperture fever versus sensibility. I'll have to measure the inside of the car.lol.
One more question though, can you put a 10"dob onto an EQ mount?
Thanks again to all.:thumbsup:

[sejanus]

duncan maybe a meade lxd75? the 8" complete with goto is about $2300 i think, and being a schmidt newt is pretty compact (mount aside).

[ballaratdragons]

HEQ5 with V.3 Synscan, 8" dob for deep Sky and a 6" Astrophotographic Meade Newt.

Nice package.

HEQ5 with V.3 - $1599 - Bintel
8" Dob - $499 - Andrews
Meade 6" Astrophotography Newt - $399 - Bintel

Oops, that's a total of $2500.

[g__day]

I think you will find you have a clash of desires leading to compromise hell. You want portability, affordability, upgradeability and aperature and ability to do astrophotography for an unspecificed class of objects in space.

I'd either go a dismantleable dob like lightbrigade and add Argo Navis for pointing, or select an ED80 on a Heq5 or CG5 goto mount.

The choice will depend on what you want to image. Aperature is very nice, but it doesn't beat sharp optics and a sturdy, stable mount. If you want to snap planets or bright star clusters and the brighter Messier objects the ED80 would be great. If your after deep space objects then aperature and rock steady pointing is a must.

Personally I reckon (and its just me and my tastes) spend double on your mount what you spend on your OTA. That rule of thumb would lead you to $700 scope and $1,400 for the mount. Nothing ruins viewing faster that a wobbly mount that doesn't track well or optics that aren't razor sharp.

[netwolf]

You could go for a ETX-105 or ETX-125. very portable, computerized, and within your budget. Meets all your criteria. You can get quiet good results with planets and the moon with this using a webcam like astrocam like the toucam/neximage/Mead LPI etc.

Aperture rules. But portability generally means you will use it more.

Regards
Fahim

[duncan]

Well now i'm starting to think a 12"dob(collapsable) and a 6"newt.Could be the best of both worlds.
What a trip to the next star party that would be in the little laser!!!
Thanks for all your help. Keep the suggestions coming.
Cheers
Duncan:thumbsup:

[ballaratdragons]

So many choices!!! Geez I'd hate to be starting out these days with so many choices available at good prices!

It ain't like the old days when you had your choice of a 4 1/4" reflector on a wobbly mount or a supermarket/camera shop refractor on a wobbly mount, and both were expensive.

[ballaratdragons]

Good choices Duncan.

I use my 12" for deep sky visual and my ED80 for Astropics. Even better now I have an EQ6 and my EQ mega mount.

Whatever you decide on, you'll add to in the near future :lol:
GoTo, ED80, EP's, focal reducer, Barlows, Guidescope, etc etc etc :scared:

[duncan]

I started many years ago with a tasco 115mm reflector. Cheap and nasty (about $400) then but hey it got me interested. Now i want the biggest and best but who can afford that,lol.:rofl: