Bang on there Matt , my favorite and most used scope is my little 63mm Zeiss , that scope spins my wheels every time I look at the moon , or saturn , or jupiter , mars . venus , Yep I am a planatery observer ,
on deep sky this little refractor shows double stars like no other , even my 127 mm . Up to a point as apature rules of course . Nice optics .
my Zeiss , remindes me and all who look thru her what excellent optics can show
.
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by g__day
The best scope is one you'll use and enjoy using!
To use it it has to meet your specific requirements - where you'll observe, does it have power, how much gear are you prepared to carry and set up, how sophisticated push to / goto etc are you happy to learn and a host of other factors you must decide on. A 24" SDM dob won't bring much pleasure if its too heavy for you to manage and you never use it. Any goto system will fail if you aren't happy to master it.
To enjoy it depends on your viewing site's seeing characteristics, the luminosity of the targets you prefer and the quality of all you optical gear and tracking mechanisms. So again you will control most of these aspects with your selections.
Hence the advice about star parties and budgets, there are about 30 user requirements questions you have to decide on before gear selection can be well honed.
A common usage pattern might suggest:
Cheapest bang for buck - 8" dob
Best initial imaging set up - widefield bright objects - 80mm refractor, DSLR and EQ5 mount
Simplest afforable, compact mount to set up use with computer aided goto - 8" SCT
Best value goto mount - 8" Newtonian
etc... all those views are very subjective and far over-simplify many trade offs. Astronomy is both tactile - you have to touch and use gear to see if its for you, and different folks like different things; I love seeing Jupiter and Saturn but loathe when the Moon is up - wrecks my imaging. I view the Moon, Venus and Mars maybe once or twice a year!
Horses for courses!
Matt
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