[astro_south (Andrew)]

Bazooka

from your earlier reply you seem to indicate that we haven't been as clear as we could have been. A Dobsonian is not a brand name, it is a design, and refers to the simple alt-az mount as shown in Frogman's picture. What you saw in Star Optics that resembled Frogman's scope is infact a "Skywatcher" Dobsonian. It is important to diferentiate between the designs (both optics and mounts) and the brands (Meade, Skywatcher, Celestron, GS). In terms of mounts there are dobsonian, equatorial(GEM), and fork types generally available in amateur equipment. All these mounts can be motorised to track and have goto, though some are harder than others. Optical designs commonly available include refractors (glass lense at the front that refract the light) and reflectors which include newtonian (Newt), Schmidt Cassegrain (SCT), and Maksutov-Cassegrains. All these designs differ and have advantages and dissadvantages over each other.

Do some research on the web and perhaps purchase one of the current astronomy magazines from your local newsagents. They contain photos in adverts and this will help you recognise what people are talking about.