Jazza
04-01-2008, 05:23 PM
Hullo folks, new here and glad to find a southern site :D
I've been using a 6" equatorial reflector (the Tal150p or similiar I believe... they seem to have a penchant for not putting a model/brand name anywhere!) for the last 4-5 years or so. I really like it but I'm looking for something ummm bigger ;)
What am I going to use it for? I really like galaxies, and the ones I've found in the 6" while being better than I expected are somewhat disappointing.
Can I expect to be able to see extended structure in say an 11/12"? I'm talking spiral arms... (I'm guessing the dust lanes through centaurus A are not happening visually?)
How well do comets show up through a large(ish) scope? From what I've seen they have a tendency to look better through binoculars than they do through the 6" (even at low power). At least the ones I can find *grin*
(Ulterior motive, dad loves comets so I may be able to convince him to invest a bit in this enterprise :P )
Righto usage outta the way *ponders* oh yes mounts... I liketh eqatorials because I find detail a lot easier to make out when the thing you're looking at isn't trying to run away! I suppose however that the newer alt-az mounts track quite well with all their fancy electronics.
Speaking of which *grin* I don't suppose they make largish equatorialy mounted scopes without said electronics nowadays do they? Not that I'd mind a goto system (and I want a drive/drives) but I'm quite happy aligning/pointing the scope where I want it.
Which leads me to astrophotography. I've done some on the 6" with a piggybacked slr and hand guiding the (quite decent but well never intended to be used in this fashion) drive, but I'm mostly visual. At the moment. Oh dear. :)
SO yes possibility of doing imaging in the future would be good -> stable mount eh?
So then doing some research leads me to firstly the:
Meade lx200r (12"). Solid mount, good ota, wedge can be added for imaging if wanted. Expensive (8k AUD) + Wedge
Celestron C11-SGT XLT. Good ota, mount possibly a bit overburdened? Good enough for visual but astrophotography is out? a good 3k less than the meade without the need for a wedge. Smaller (how much difference is the 1" going to do me?)
Then somewhat suprisingly (I just sorta didn't consider it before)
the
Celestron CPC 1100 GPS XLT Same ota as above (I think?) Solid mount, Same price. would need a wedge for imaging. Do they make wedges for this scope?
Not so intrested in the CGE 1100 XLT cause it's more expensive than the meade and smaller.
Thoughts folks? I realise it's a looooong post with many different questions so thanks a lot for reading and maybe you can slice out the bits you want to answer :)
Clear Skies.
Jay
I've been using a 6" equatorial reflector (the Tal150p or similiar I believe... they seem to have a penchant for not putting a model/brand name anywhere!) for the last 4-5 years or so. I really like it but I'm looking for something ummm bigger ;)
What am I going to use it for? I really like galaxies, and the ones I've found in the 6" while being better than I expected are somewhat disappointing.
Can I expect to be able to see extended structure in say an 11/12"? I'm talking spiral arms... (I'm guessing the dust lanes through centaurus A are not happening visually?)
How well do comets show up through a large(ish) scope? From what I've seen they have a tendency to look better through binoculars than they do through the 6" (even at low power). At least the ones I can find *grin*
(Ulterior motive, dad loves comets so I may be able to convince him to invest a bit in this enterprise :P )
Righto usage outta the way *ponders* oh yes mounts... I liketh eqatorials because I find detail a lot easier to make out when the thing you're looking at isn't trying to run away! I suppose however that the newer alt-az mounts track quite well with all their fancy electronics.
Speaking of which *grin* I don't suppose they make largish equatorialy mounted scopes without said electronics nowadays do they? Not that I'd mind a goto system (and I want a drive/drives) but I'm quite happy aligning/pointing the scope where I want it.
Which leads me to astrophotography. I've done some on the 6" with a piggybacked slr and hand guiding the (quite decent but well never intended to be used in this fashion) drive, but I'm mostly visual. At the moment. Oh dear. :)
SO yes possibility of doing imaging in the future would be good -> stable mount eh?
So then doing some research leads me to firstly the:
Meade lx200r (12"). Solid mount, good ota, wedge can be added for imaging if wanted. Expensive (8k AUD) + Wedge
Celestron C11-SGT XLT. Good ota, mount possibly a bit overburdened? Good enough for visual but astrophotography is out? a good 3k less than the meade without the need for a wedge. Smaller (how much difference is the 1" going to do me?)
Then somewhat suprisingly (I just sorta didn't consider it before)
the
Celestron CPC 1100 GPS XLT Same ota as above (I think?) Solid mount, Same price. would need a wedge for imaging. Do they make wedges for this scope?
Not so intrested in the CGE 1100 XLT cause it's more expensive than the meade and smaller.
Thoughts folks? I realise it's a looooong post with many different questions so thanks a lot for reading and maybe you can slice out the bits you want to answer :)
Clear Skies.
Jay