Quote:
Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman
How many times have we seen a beginner start off with a big telescope, and then end up rarely using it?
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Hi Robert,
Probably less times than you see a beginner start with a telescope smaller than 10" and rarely use it because they are unimpressed with the quality of the visual images, particularly as we are affected by ever increasing urban light pollution.
I agree that a 12" telescope is really way too much for a beginner to handle, particularly if it is a solid tube telescope. I think a 10" scope is handled reasonably easily by an adult particulalry as dobsonians are a lot shorter and lighter than they were 20 years ago. In addition the newer collapsible tube versions make things easier and lighter again. Twenty years ago a 10" telescope was a big telescope, by todays standards it's a small telescope for visual use. When Andrew Murrell got his 20"/F5 in the early 1990's it was the largest amateur telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. By todays' standards it's a baby.
Cheers,
John B