Hello everybody,
and thank you in advance for your kind words of wisdom.
It's the same story you've heard many times before - a quickly aging suburban dad of two has decided to reignite his interest in astronomy
and finds himself struggling to pick the right starter's scope.
I'm looking for a light, easy to transport, not too much maintenance allrounder with soft budget cap around 500$. Photography is of no interest at the moment.
Main usage scenarios would probably be: 70-80% backyard stargazing (I live in Sydney, roughly halfway between Chatswood and Gordon) mostly moon and planets, DSOs would be
a bonus. 10-20% travel to close-by darker pockets like Lane Cove national park, other darkish areas between Rosevile and Turramurra.
10% companion for camping adventures.
At the moment time is the least available resource I have so easy setup/transport are highest priority for. Also I've personally ruled out Dobsonian's.
Scopes I am considering and would love your input on:
90/102mm refractors (eg
http://www.opticscentral.com.au/saxo...-telescope.htm,
http://www.opticscentral.com.au/saxo...-telescope.htm ).
I like the idea of having 102mm, but but I've read bad things about about chromatic aberration F5 refractors and 102mm/F10 appear out of budget.
My question about refractors is: how much of a deal is F5 vs F10? In essence would you recommend a 102mm/F5 over a 90mm/F10 for a beginner?
130mm newtonians (eg
http://www.opticscentral.com.au/saxo...telescope.html ). Aperture is king, they said.
What I'm not sure about
: a/collimation - how often required, how tricky? b/ the mount: online wisdom seems to disagree on whether Alt-Az or EQ is better, but the
trend seems to be that Alt-Az is more newbie friendly.
102mm SCT (eg
http://www.ozscopes.com.au/skywatche...telescope.html ). Same question about the mount again. Also - how much
cooldown time should I expect for a small SCT like the one linked? More than 1hour?
So - any strong opinions or "meh, not much difference either way"?
Thanks & Cheers,
Sven