Opinions

[Benno]

Hey all, im looking at getting a scope and I was just wondering your opinions for a few ive looked at. the first one being the Bushnell Northstar with the goto tracking system. with a 900mm focal length it seems the goods plus the fact that it tracks it would be a good starter for some more deeper space photos. the other is a 10" Dob, with a 1200mm focal length, this seems awesome as well but do they make tracking mounts for these particular scopes. all opinions and scope ideas welcome. im looking at spending between $700 and $1200.
cheers Benno

[h0ughy]

benno I am sure you have read all the new scope needed threads in this site - are you really sure of your choice? imaging is not to be taken lightly. Go visual until you can learn to start to delve into the astro imaging area. It all costs - and with the resourcing you have allocated you are short a fair bit. Build yourself into the hobby get a 10" dob then save your pennies and get an eq6 mount then you can save and get a guidescope and rings and then other bits and Pieces and then there you have it - your imaging. it will take time.

[dugnsuz]

Hi Benno,
Forget the Bushnell as a scope to grow/develop with - no good in my opinion.
a 10" Dob is a fantastic visual scope - it will give you great views of deep sky objects but you wil have to push the scope around to observe the planets. high magnification can be telling on the Dob mount.
Astrophotography is an expensive hobby, believe everything advised - it all comes from experience!!
If your passion is photography, then start with a camera on a motorised equatorial mount to get a feel for what's involved.
If you bought a 10" Dob then wanted to get into Astrophotography, then as houghy said,you'll need a very sturdy mount (EQ6) to cope with it.
Often though, the best pix for a beginners are wide field shots that can be obtained with a 50mm lens on a camera mounted on a simple driven (motorised) mount. Check some of the pics from the link in my signature to see what I achieved with such a setup
All the best
Doug

[Benno]

Thanks for the comments guys, ive found a couple of other ones id like some opinions on. they are below:
1. Saxon 150mm (6 inch) large aperture Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope with 1900mm focal length (f/13), illuminated south/north polarscope (variable power), 50mm (2") Star diagonal and 31.7mm (1.¼") adapter, 10x 50mm Finderscope, collimation screws for primary mirror, Plossl 20mm & 6.5mm eyepieces and updated EQ3 equatorial mount with steel tubular legs, adjustable-height tripod.
2. Celestron 6" Newtonian in the Advanced series is now available on our heavy-duty CG-5 computerised mount. The CG-5 GT computerised EQ mount allows access to features like automatic star alignment capability and GoTo slewing to over 40,000 objects. Equipped with high speed motors and hand control, the C6-NGT allows you to remotely slew your telescope to desired objects quickly and accurately. No matter at what level you are starting out, this precision instrument will satisfy your needs both visually and photographically.
Celestron's new German Equatorial mount has precision worm gears on both axes for extremely smooth stability. The key element that makes this system the most stable in its class is the NEW heavy-duty tripod with larger and more substantial legs that offer excellent damping characteristics for more stable views. The CG-5 also has a convenient latitude scale for easier alignment and an optional polar finder scope for the ultimate in precision alignments.
The Advanced GT Series telescopes include these high performance features:

Proven NexStar® computer control technology
RS-232 communication port on hand control to control the telescope via a personal computer
Autoguider port for long exposure astrophotography
40,000+ object database with 400 user-definable objects and expanded information on over 200 objects
Custom database lists of all the most famous deep-sky objects by name and catalogue number
Double line, 16-character Liquid Crystal Display Hand Control with 19 fibre optic backlit LED buttons
DC Servo motors with encoders on both axes

[kosh]

Nice photo's dugnsuz!
Where these taken with the camera on a mount through a small refractor or just the camera lens on a mount?

Benno, the C6-NGT is not bad IMO for photography, whatever you do, DO NOT BUY THE BUSHNELL!!
I had it for a day/night, awful! 9v battery could barely drive the OTA let alone a camera on it too. It's fork mounted btw so it's not great for photography without a wedge.