[kalmarau]

Hello all,
I am trying to get back into a hobby that I gave up many decades ago. I bought a tiny little 3" Newt to take camping down to Bateman's Bay. The girls and I were blown away by the night sky. But back in Sydney, um, not so good.

I want something with more aperture, but it still has to be very portable since it will be travelling out of Sydney often - and it will have to fight for room in a Camry with four people. So I've ruled out a dob, and I'm eyeing off some 6" Maks and 8" Maks or 8" Schmidt's.

What has got me confused is the different mounts available, what with all the various clone EQ5, HEQ5, and EQ6 models out there. I am uncertain how hefty a mount I would need for these sorts of tubes.

It will be used (mainly) for the planets. Visual use only. I can not possibly afford goto, nor any of the Meade fork mounted wonders. Even the LXD75 8" Schmidt is too rich for me. I would like an equatorial, since that is all I have ever used. A single-axis drive would be nice, but I've only ever used manual tracking before.

So, basically, any advice gratefully received. Is a 6" Mak suitable for planetary viewing, and will I get much better views with an 8" Mak or Schmidt? How hefty a mount do I need with either of those two apertures?

Cheers,
John