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Originally Posted by ausastronomer
That's a $5,000 telescope you have there. That's a bit more than the 10" collapsible tube Skywatcher I recommended which has GOTO and tracking for $1,700
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Around $4k, given it's on an EQ6 Pro. And that "tracking" on the Dob isn't in the same class, even for visual, so I'm getting much more for the money. I've never much liked the "step stair" tracking of a Skywatcher Dob.
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There's the rub. It takes a lot more effort and know how to set up a Newtonian telescope properly, so that it can perform at it's maximum capability. I would guess probably 75% of the 10" and 12" Newtonians you have looked through at star parties haven't been properly set up.
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You've not been at those star parties, and don't know the people involved. Plenty of them are diligent astronomers well aware of how to collimate a Newtonian and who invest significant effort in the process. But they are all stock-standard, mass-produced Dobs.
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In addition a lot of people have the know how but just can't be bothered to set their newtonian telescope up properly. I assumed Rob would know how to set the scope up properly on the basis that he already owns a Newtonian. If he doesn't he lives in Sydney with ready access to plenty of people who would be happy to help him.
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You mean Richard? Anyway, I've been talking about well collimated Newtonians (mass-produced) compared to well-collimated SCTs (mass-produced). Comparison to an SDM (or anything else with premium optics) is irrelevant.
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Unless you want to go home disappointed I suggest you never set it up anywhere near my 10" or 14" SDM's, Rick Petrie's 14" Skywatcher, or Rod Berry's 20" SDM
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Comparing SDM scopes to a 10" mass-produced SCT .... yup, that's a fair comparison.
SDMs start at $10k and up
not including the primary mirror. $4k for a 10" SCT looks pretty good in that comparison.
Like I said:
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Originally Posted by Astro_Bot
Horses for courses. A Dob is cheaper than an SCT (with mount) of the same aperture. If you can transport it (or don't need to); if that's all you want and you don't mind diffraction spikes, then fine. But don't talk down SCTs on some theory that they will be always be inferior - in mass-produced examples, they are not.
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