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Originally Posted by Satchmo
You can get an 8" F6 Dobsonian from a Sydney supplier for $399. they are pretty compact - when i used one I at first thought it was a 6" due to its size. Use it in Sydney and take it camping . Try both places and put an off axis 100mm cardboard stop over the aperture to compare views , and then decide whether it would make much sense to have $3000 invested in a that kind of aperture A 32mm 2" ep will allow you to get down to X38 which gives you a few degrees of sky. At least you will learn a lot for a little outlay. You will see next to nothing exciting in Sydney skies with a 4" telescope but the Moon and planets.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by madbadgalaxyman
I absolutely agree with Mark that a 4 inch refractor is hardly a mainstream recommendation for beginners these days, when you can get a compact 8 inch Dobsonian for very little money.
Look, there are a handful of "refractor fanatics around", and all of us like to have a refractor handy for quickly throwing out onto the verandah for a "quick look-see", but deep sky performance of even a 5 inch refractor is so modest that one soon tires of the instrument.
Mark is absolutely right that light pollution renders a four inch, even a super-high-quality four inch, completely useless for everything except viewing a small number of very bright objects.
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Personally, I would not want to lug an 8" Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount 200 metres let alone a few kms!
As Allan initially suggested go the ED80mm scope. Performance and portability. If you've got a couple of mates to help you lug it in to your dark site up the aperture, you'll be thankful later. Just don't go expecting to carry a Dob a few kms ANYWHERE!
Whack out a chunk of the rest of your cash on some good Tele Vue
eps. They last forever and hold their resale value.