Hey guys...many thanks for taking the time to read and reply...greatly appreciated.
Am going to try and catch a local star gazing night to get an idea of what different scopes offer...unfortunately these gatherings are pretty infrequent, so I might have to travel to Perth in September when i know there is a night on...
This will give me an idea of what i will see using different scopes, issues that other operators have encountered, and long term considerations re: astrophotography...