Hi Patrick,
Firstly as you already know 12" of aperture, gives you an excellent balance of light gathering ability, size and portability.
Will a 16" be that much better? YES!!
It gathers 77% more light than the 12"
the only negative of a 16" scope is the physical size and possible weight.
A good way to check the health of the 16" (aprt from mounting it in a scope) would be to have it tested by a reputable optician/mirror maker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paddy
Dear all,
I have the opportunity to obtain a 2nd hand Meade 16" Newtonian for about the price of a new 16" GSO primary. I have been very happy with my 12" gso but contemplate an upgrade to 16-18" in the next few years, but finding a quality 16" primary at a good price could accelerate my plans. The vendor says that the mirror was crafted in the US in 1992 and is optically superior to the current Chinese primaries (quoting 1/4 wave error for the current Meades vs 1/8 for the older model). Do people think that this would be true and would the difference be significant? Is the difference between a 12" and 16" under dark skies significant? I had been planning to take some time looking through various scopes at star parties before upgrading, but this opportunity has pre-empted this groundwork.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
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