[TheDave (Dave)]

Hi All,

This my first post and I would appreciate your comments. Im guessing there are countless similar posts so I apologise in advance if thats the case.

I'm looking at buying a Nexstar 6se or 8se, I need to decide between the two. Mainly backyard astronomy with my daughter. We live in Kalgoorlie WA and could go out of town 20km and get some good clear skies some nights. I want to also do a little basic beginner astrophotography using a CCD camera. I know the Nexstar mount is only good for 10-15 secs tracking but thats ok. I know Celestron used to make an equatorial wedge for the Nexstar's, but hard to come by now, I assume they enabled the scope to track longer. I would like sharp solar system images, and wouldnt mind being able to see some nice nebulae and clusters. Lenses differ between the 6 and the 8 but here's my plan:

Nexstar 6SE or 8SE (which one?)
StarGPS NX Nexstar (what do you think of this add-on?)
Celestron Neximage 5MP CCD with software
Dell Mini 10 laptop (already have)
Car power supply for the scope.
Moon filter, maybe an OIII filter (?)
Equatorial wedge if I could ever find one (?any advantage)
Table for computer and Dad Chair.

Now we plan to do mostly direct observing, but use the computer and CCD for some photos on good nights.

From stuff Ive read, Im working out the best lens/barlow setup for each (6SE and 8SE) to give me magnifications around 50-70 (galaxies and nebulae), 95-120 (clusters, small nebulae), and 200-250 (planetary).

Are apochromatic barlows better than achromatic?
Is an ED achromatic better than a non-ED apochromatic?
ED lenses are worth the money?
Will I need a focal reducer?

Thanks in advance. Feel free to crit.