[Sunday (Lee)]

Hi everyone, I'm very pleased to be a new member of this great forum. I'll apologise in advance for this quite lengthy first post!

First of all, I'm a complete astronomical novice. Like so many here, I've been interested in the night sky, the wonder of the stars & planets, the incredulity of so many celestial bodies out there just waiting to be discovered etc. for as long as I can remember! Trouble is, every day life has always got in the way of taking serious steps to be hands-on with this (ever) burning interest.

I now subscribe to Australian Sky & Telescope, I note the current planetary rise & set times in The Australian every week or so & I sometimes have a peek at Jupiter (& a few of it's moons) with my cheap & cheerful Tasco 7x50 binoculars but that's really about it.... until now!

I've decided to take the plunge & buy a telescope, become a member of this forum (to learn & hopefully contribute) & seek out like-minded people in my neck of the woods (Central Queensland, slim pickings here).

From my (fairly limited) research & funding base I've pretty much decided on a Dobsonian scope, probably 8-10". It certainly seems to provide the best aperture-for-buck and a good starting base for a complete beginner. Firstly, am I right about this scope choice as an appropriate entry point?

I'll initially spend a fair bit of time familiarising myself with the moon & planets. I guess I'm seeking reassurance that the Dobsonian will do this well & I won't be discouraged by fuzzy images of these (relatively) near-space objects. I've read somewhere that some people don't consider Dobs to be very good at this (?)

In coming months, I'm sure I'll take more & more notice of deep space objects & I believe the Dobsonian is well suited to this use. Am I also on the right track in that regard?

Although I'm a keen amateur D-SLR photographer (& film SLR before that) with some pretty serious Canon equipment, everything I've read suggests I'm best putting that aside right now until I develop some astronomical expertise & seek out some purpose-built scoping equipment for that later on.

So, I've determined there's some damn good deals going on Skywatcher Dobs right now. Specifically I'm considering the collapsible 8" or 10" version. I'll initially be doing my viewing from my suburban back-yard in Rockhampton. It's a typical back yard with some light pollution from nearby homes but I hope I'll be able to get a reasonable view. I guess I want the scope to be reasonably portable & I'm prepared to put it in the back seat of the vehicle (Totota Prado) to drive a few kms out of town to set up in a paddock for even clearer views. For this reason I'm wondering just how portable the 10" might be compared to the 8". Or is it really a case of "sure it's a bit bigger but much of a muchness to move one as compared to the other"?

Also, are the Meade Lightbridges worth the extra money (e.g. better optics, eye pieces etc.)?

Is it a case of bigger aperture ALWAYS better or are there some advantages to starting with the 8", other than slightly better portability?

Am I on the right track at all???

I really would appreciate any insights this knowledgeable bunch can provide.

Oh, and yes I've already read many of the similar threads here but I'm not sure I've really got a good handle on all this yet (!)

Kind regards,
Sunday