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Hi Tony,
Yep, had aperture fever too Tony, but it is always a trade off, particularly their cost. Large apertures are big and heavy, difficult to transport, unless, you have lots of money to set up trailers etc. Saw some awesome set ups at last years Stellafane.
The other downside is getting the mirror realuminised. I need to get my 16" realuminised, but I am thinking it might be easier just buying a new mirror, particularly considering that I cannot find anywhere that can realuminise it with an overcoat, at a reasonable cost, unless I send it to the states, but then freight is an issue.
I am getting too old to lug heavy stuff around any more, so portability is the main criteria these days.
I use my 16" from my back yard, just wheel it out of the shed, in suburban Perth, but I have much more enjoyment with my 110 in a dark sky! See much more too, compared to my 16" in the city, despite the smaller size. I also use an 8" SCT in my observatory, and even this is heavy for me to lug around too, which is why I got a Sirius observatory. I would love to replace the SCT with a large Apo refractor, but that isn't going to happen, unless, a miracle occurs, like winning Lotto, but I won't hold my breath.
The 110 set up just suits me now, not hard to transport and set up, has no maintenance requirements, has very sharp images, so I just take to dark sky sight, use and enjoy. It is certainly much more comfortable sitting in an observing chair, instead of balancing on top of a ladder.
There comes a point when aperture stops being fun, particularly when you have a stuffed back.
Cheers Pete
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Hi Pete,
The weight of the LX90-10" is right at the upper limit of what I can usable. It's 24kg, and tripod a further 9kg. By comparison, the LX90-8" which I owned previously was 13.5kg, with 9kg tripod. The improvement in view was (in my opinion) not worth the extra weight, cost, or reduction in field of view. But the tracking has improved out of this world. So I am sticking with the 10".
I've discussed with other members of the club (WSAAG) and a number of us feel that with the availability of the Evans 30" goto dob at Linden Observatory, there is no need for big scopes. Anything we might be able to afford is not going to measure up against this monster. So our personal scopes should be mainly good and light.
Yes health concerns are very important. And keeping the weight down on the back is a big issue.
Regards,
Tony Barry