[CoolhandJo (Paul)]

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Most of your budget should go into the mount/autoguiding solution. Without a solid well performing low QE mount/autoguiding solution you've got nothing no matter how great your scope is. You'll spend all your time trying to get round stars and having great difficulty.

Forget the FSQ85 its bugged. FSQ106ED for widefield is a solid well known performer. Or if widefield is not your thing a 2nd hand 6 inch APO and PMX should be attainable for $20K. Or one of these AP1200's that are going cheap on Astromart for $8500 + shipping and GST = $10K.

You can add larger aperture later on. The corrected Newts like Mike's are hard to beat. Perhap the 200mm F2.8 Power Newt may be good. Its certainly good value.

Greg.

Thanks Greg