Which scope?

[chris1964]

Hi. I'm really new to this and need some advice. I currently have a Meade ETX125 and am looking to move up to something bigger. I am thinking of something around 10 to 12 inch mainly for viewing and also some imaging. I am particularly interested in lunar photography.

At the moment I am looking at either the Celestron C11 or CPC 11 inch and the Meade LX200GPS in 10 or 12 inch. One thing I have noticed is that the Meade is a fair bit cheaper but I'm not sure why seeing as the accessories that come standard (microfocuser, ACF coatings, etc) seem to be more than what Celestron offer as standard. Just wondering if the Celestron is that much better.

Also I am open to suggestions on other brands.

Thanks in advance for your expert advice

Chris:)

[mental4astro]

Hi Chris,

Did you know that if Lunar photography is what interests you, then all you need is a dobsonian mounted Newtonian? There are many people who only do this type of photography, many of their solar system pics are posted here in IIS. The good thing with this technique is that you don't need an equatorial mount to track. Rather, you take a short 'film' of the object as it drifts through the field of view, and computer software does the aligning for you.

Mike Salway, iceman, has a great article on this:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-201-0-0-1-0.html

The is also another article in the "projects and Articles" section which describes how to convert a webcam into an astrocam. Did it myself too. Here too are a couple of single frame shots I took of the Moon and Jupiter taken through my 5" Celestron C5. First, the webcam conversion:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-431-0-0-1-0.html

This mode of astrophotography will accomodate a very large aperture scope, without the expense or complication of a large eq. mount. GSO offers upto a 16" dob for less than $2500 through Andrews Communications, plus 10" and 12" for considerably less. Click onto the GSO heading:

http://andrewscom.com.au/site-section-10.htm

If you can, before laying your money down, try to get yourself to a local star party to see these and other scopes in action to see what you are getting yourself into, astrophotography or not.

Just something to consider.

Mental.

[chris1964]

Thanks mental, great advice. I guess I am a bit put off by Dobs in that I would also like to eventually do some deep sky imaging as well. I am looking at the idea of video astronomy, probably with a gstar, and I'm not sure if a dob would track accurately enough. Still I must say the prices of the dobs make them very attractive in the large apperture field.
Thanks for the links, I'll check them out

Chris