Wow! This is EXACTLY what I joined the forum for. I had done some research and found that most helpful experts reccommend and 8" dob to a beginner. However, as the sites I'd been to were not Australian, the most reccommended brand was Orion. Can anyone tell me about the Skywatcher and Saxon brands. Mostly I just want to know if they're good or not. I've heard some good stuff about Skywatcher but what about Saxon? How does it compare? Also, how much better of would I be 10" Dob? Portability is not an issue. I live in the boon docks so I wouldn't be going anywhere other than my back paddock and my husband has offered to make me a stand on castors for wheeling the whole set up in and out of the garage. The upside of living in a place that is isolated from star clubs etc is that I have dark skys to look at.
