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Old 06-06-2022, 12:40 PM
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OzEclipse (Joe Cali)
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
Posts: 1,186
If you live on a remote cattle station, then your skies are going to be excellent right at the station. I'd recommend a larger scope to stay at the station and then a good pair of mid-sized binoculars to throw in the car for star gazing while camping. The binoculars can be used for many other purposes, birding, wildlife spotting.

Binoculars in the 60-70mm objective size and around 12x magnification range weighs around 1.5kg and can be hand held. $200-$400

At the homestead, a reflecting telescope in the 8-10inch range will give you great views of both planets and deep sky objects. The Skywatcher Flex Dobs with GOTO meet your stated requirements but are over your budget. The flex dobs without goto plus binoculars are within your budget.

8" with GOTO $1700. Without GOTO $900
10" with GOTO $2100. without GOTO $1200

Store the reflector in the house and the mirror shouldn't get dusty too quickly. Telescope mirrors are easy enough to clean but there are ways to do it without damaging the surface. Ask advice before cleaning a mirror.
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