Thanks Gary,
I value your thoughts and experience on this... it's getting down to that issue that in the end aperture wins out by virtue of the greater resolution it delivers. The mount should be fine for these size scopes (it was designed for a 20in newtonian) it's just a matter of getting the motors/handset operational. Usability in a big thing for me though. I don't need to move the thing around, but either I should be able to drag it outside and setup within 5-10minutes or drag a cover off a fixed scope - more effort than that and it's all over for me
cheers,
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Originally Posted by gbeal
Robert,
a couple of points.
I have used a M180, and it was a fantastic scope, much like the MN76, similar, but slightly different.
Both were eclipsed slightly by the 10" f5 newt I own. It is a Sky Instruments primary, and secondary, now sitting in a carbon fibre tube. It has turned into a do anything scope. I use it on the AP600E mount with imaging in mind, both webcam, and DSLR, but it is also quite at home in a homebrew dob base. Point here is that the 10" gives better results than the 7"'s ever did, simple physics. AND it's cost was significantly less.
If I didn't have the 10", and knew what I know now (I can just hear Ponders about now???) I would be looking to go to a 12". But the 10" in a one piece tube is about as big as most normal cars will allow, so it is the sweet spot for other reasons as well.
Gut feeling is try the old girl(s) but if the mount isn't up to snuff, then it is going to revitalise a BIG hole in your wallet.
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