[sharpiel]

Hey everyone. Due to recent life events I have come into a tiny amount of money from which I want to allocate an absolute maximum of $10,000.00 to buy the last telescope I'll ever need. I'll probably never again have this amount disposable so I want to take the best advantage of it and get my best value for money.

So I'm putting the question to all you guys because I highly respect the wealth of online knowledge out there. What - within the following parameters - constitutes the best equipment I can afford? Looking for recommendations from personal experiences as well as general discussion..

Constraints: Equatorially mounted. I am highly leaning towards the EQ8 after closely following other users experiences in IIS threads. Potential cost new $4,500 though would happily buy second hand if available already to save cost and allocate the maximum possible to OTA.

Refractor: 6 inch or (dreams...7 inch), short as possible focal length, ED apochromatic. I'm expecting to only be able to afford second hand equipment but if something new and around the $5,500 residual after EQ8 budgeting is known out there then I'd love to know about it.

Your thoughts..?