[Sunday (Lee)]

Originally Posted by NorthernLight

Hi Lee,

welcome to IIS!

the dob is always a good starter and apperture does rule.
But if you really want to become an astrophotographer in the long run, get used to eqatorial mounts! they are not as intuitive as altitude/azimuth mounts (up down-left right), pretty hard to set up in the southern hemisphaere especially w/out polfinder and pretty expensive, though they are the only ones allowing accurate tracking of celestial objects and once you got an understanding of mapping the night sky, you can find objects by using the setting circles (celestial maps work in RightAscension/DEClination NOT horizontal/vertical) [though I´ve seen guys on starparties that somehow used base mounted cetting circles on homemade dobs].
Here a list of what to consider when going for a GEM (german equatorial mount) / EQ-mounted Telescope:
the mount should be at least an EQ3 or CG-4 with steel leg tripod and un-illuminated or adjustable luminated polfinder scope. the smaller mounts are basically toys and the illumination is just hindering in the s. hemis.
don´t put more weight on an eq3 than 6-7kg plus counterweights to balance it. So go for a scope in this dimension (less weight is always better). Motors to track in RA and DEC are usually available if want them later.
In the weightclass for an EQ3 you can usually choose between 150mm reflector, 100mm refractor, 120mm Maksutov-Cassegrain and whatever else is available. The latter 2 do not require collimation but are not as bright, are more expensive and do not have the wide field of view as the reflector (newton). Therefore they are superior on planets but not as good on extended deep space objects. Every scope is a trade off!
Don´t buy a big scope on a shaky mount as every touch of the focuser will let the view of your object shake for more than a few seconds and will drive you nuts in return, that includes huge scopes on underdimensioned mounts.
If you are terribly sure to become an astrophotographer and want to spend money progressively rather than see how it goes and buy the right gear later: get a HEQ5 or go straight for the very heavy EQ6 and mount a 200mm/F5 newton on top. Later you get a guidescope and autoguider, attach your slr and start shooting nebulae and galaxies - with a later bought astro CCD and lots of filters even in H-alpha wavelengths. BTW: a Dobson and a modded webcam makes for great moon crater and even planet shots!
Never forget, the scope is only as good the eyepiece you use and most importantly: CHECK IF YOU ARE NOCTURNAL ENOUGH to justify your spendings!!! It is one of the most expensive hobbies available and offers nothing in return - like fitness if you play tennis instead. You will probably not be able to make money out of it as with daytime photography, the chance for you to discover new things is small and requires probably a lot of expensive gear after a PhD-like learning curve in astronomy. But it surely broadens your mind.
Hope I haven´t put you off! Have fun choosing your first gear (perhaps a pair of 8x50 binocculars and a book about the universe will do for a start?).

Max, the very issues you raise are why I'm still not absolutely sure the Dob is the "only" choice for me. I did notice that the Celestron NexStar 4SE is very attractively priced at the moment (under $900). I know it's a much smaller aperture & a totally different proposition to the Dob in application. Is this really just a "toy" with jazzy features in this size?

Lee