[bindibadgi]

I hope to be getting a new scope soon, but I still don't know what the budget will be (It's all tied up with selling my car - anyone interested in a 2005 Honda Civic? ). If all goes according to plan, I'm going to shoot for a used Nexstar 11 GPS. I'm in the queue of people interested in the used C11 SGT at Andrews Communications but I suspect I'll miss that one since I'm not first in line.

Well, if the budget doesn't work out, I'll probably still be able to wangle about $1,500 for a scope. Here's what I'm thinking:

Option 1 - hunt for a used Nexstar 8 of some kind. This would provide me with great portability, tracking (I'm sick of pushing my dob around all the time just to keep something in view) and goto. The only problem is the aperture fever!!

Option 2 - get an HEQ-5 Pro from Andrews for a grand and then a 10" or 12" f/5 dob, some rings and mount it on the EQ. If the budget is really tight I could mount my existing 8" f/6 on there. I'd still get tracking and goto with this, but the portability really suffers (as does the observing comfort - say hello to the step ladder!). BTW would this even work, or is this mount really no good for these scopes?

So how do I decide? Flip a coin? It worked for getting a girlfriend in high school, and now 14 years later we've been happily married for over six years!

Or should I scrap these and look at another option?

P.S. The letter aitch has stopped working on my keyboard. This post took a long time with cut and paste! Don’t try this at home kids.