it just gets worse, i've found a brand new Tak FS-102 for a decent price lol
BUT i think this will be the one.
Tak's have a really good rep and its the close to a perfect match with my camera at 1.97 arcsec/pix, also i dont think ill hear any experienced imagers say that an 8" SCT would be a better choice than the Tak (shh Fred)
also it should be more than capable of throwing up a planetary image worth a look at the eyepiece.
the 8" sct at f10 would give me 0.8 arcsec/pix or at f6.3 1.28 arcsec/pix which is probably overdoing it a bit for down here.
its a given that the 8" would beat a smaller refractor by brute aperture but when you put it that way and realise id need atleast something like a G11 to take GOOD quality images, i could then put my 12" on top and with the mpcc that would smack the 8" around.
im not that bad yet am i Trevor lol..