Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
In Australia, Skywatcher and GSO are the name brands - they're good scopes. You won't go wrong with either of them.
The 12" is the size of a water heater. You need to consider the portability. I started with a 10" dob and it was a fantastic mix of aperture and portability.
The only reason I upgraded to my 12" newt was for planetary imaging - I've got the 12" newt on an EQ6 but in general, I prefer newtonians on dobsonian bases for visual observing.
The 12" newt OTA is about 21kg. And not only that, it's long and can be awkward to carry. If you want to observe out of city lights, it also needs to be able to fit in your car. I use the half-circle foam cutouts that came with the scope to sit it on in the car.
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More good advice, thanks Iceman. I still feel I'll be sacrificing some serious aperture for portability, and I feel most of my observing - at least for the moment - will be on this level of the house... this could tip the scales in favour of the 12". However, it's good to know that your 10" dob starter scope was not shabby for a compromise between portability and aperture.
So, if I settle on the 10", do you recommend the tube or the collapsible construction?
All the best
DSB