Quote:
Originally Posted by Jowel
Thanks for the replies so far guys!
I guess that for the money I want to spend, an 8 inch dobsonian seems to do the job. Would it be fair to say that equatorial mounts would only be vital if I were very big into astrophotography? Is it also true that to do decent astrophotography I'd need a scope much larger than 8 inch anyway? So therefore if an 8 inch is all I can afford, then I shouldn't even bother with an equatorial mount, and therefore dobsonian is a clear winnner?
Just how heavy is an 8 inch dob? I'd love to hear more stories about people transporting them around the place. Do they get damaged easily too? If I were to get a collabsible dob for easier transporting, does a collapsible dob have less image quality than a standard dob?
Another question, when using the dobsonian I notice they are low to the ground. I'm a tall guy and so would have to crouch down to look. Is it uncomfortable to use these things or can the problem be avoided with using a stool to sit on or something?
In terms of diameter, I guess an 8 inch would be minimum to see some good stuff. Would a 10 inch do much better or only moderately improve? Is there a website somewhere that shows comparisons of the view through different telescope sizes?
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Hello Jowell and welcome.
I think the 8" Dob will be a very good starter for you, very portable, and pretty light. I had one for many years before upgrading to my 10" collapsible dob. They are 2 seperate pieces and easy to disassemble and pop into the car. They are low to the ground, and I used to pop my 8" mount onto a sturdy box, to make viewing more comfortable. Of late though, I have been using a stool - much better.
I havent had much experience with other scopes, but equatorial mounts are needed for longer exposures in astrophotography, so you can track. You dont necessarily need a big aperture - some of the pics put up in the imaging section are taken with aperture < 8".
If you can afford a 10", then do it as you will upgrade at some stage, otherwise, stick to a 6-8" Dob, then down the track you can sort out what you want for the future.
