My C11 rides happily on top of my EQ6 for deep sky and planetary imaging no worries... I did initially want the Meade 12", however its quite a bit heavier.... Even the G11 is right on the edge for the Meade 12".. Fred (Bassnut) will tell you that the Meade 12" is about as big as you'd want to go even on the G11 mount, on an EQ6, its just a bad idea...
A quick word on SCT's... The front corrector plate, a large, thin piece of glass.. cools down very quickly, and when it does, dew will rapidly form on it... Newtonians generally do no suffer dewing problems except in extreme conditions, and in most cases, a simple dew sheild will stop it. The SCT **WILL** require a dew heater... No If's whats or buts about it...
I find the EQ6 easily handles the C11.. You have to be picky about what accessories you decide to hang of it though... I strongly recommend an off axis guider for your deep sky photography.. With a seperate guide scope, you are pushing the limits of the mount, as you're adding quite a bit more weight.. not just the weight of the guide scope, but the camera, the rings, the piggyback bar or side by side plate (I recommend side by side over piggy back, as it keeps the center of gravity closer to the RA axis) Also, I found guiding through same OTA to be more accurate...
I would also recommend looking into some upgrades for the EQ6.. For starters,
www.admacessories.com sell a replacement head for the EQ6, that converts it from the skinny (read: flimsy) vixen style dovetail, to the beefy Losmandy D-plate. I found this made an incredible difference to the overall rigidity of the system. Without a doubt..
You'll want a focal reducer, as imaging at 2800mm with an EQ6 is going to make you lose your hair quickly.. I use the Celestron F/6.3 reducer, giving me a focal length of 1756mm.. Depending on the camera you intend to use, you could consider the F/3.3 reducer, but for any larger sensored camera (like a DSLR, QHY8 or upper end CCD) the 3.3 reducer will heavily vignett the field...
Be prepaired for lots of nights of trial and error. I've found with this much weight on the EQ6, balancing the system is CRUCIAL.. it needs to be perfect... That being said, the rewards when you finally get that last glitch ironed out are fantastic!.
As far as newts are concerned.. they have their ups and downs... a newtonian OTA is A LOT cheaper than an equal aperture SCT. They are also quite a bit heavier.. a 10" skywatcher newtonian is about 3kgs heavier than the C11..
Planetary imaging.. well... without any further modifications, the newtonian will generally cool down faster... this is a big plus. SCT's being a sealed system generally take a long time to cool down... Paul Haese has completed a fairly drastic modification to his C14 in order to quickly cool the mirror down to ambient (
http://paulhaese.net/) Whilst this looks seriously overkill at first glance, after using my C11 for planetary imaging a few times, I've started to strongly consider doing something similar... It really does take quite a long time to cool down.
Overall.. I will say this... 6 months ago, I was in your shoes... tossing up between the meade/celestron SCT's or a 10~12" newtonian... It took me quite a lot of time to come to a decision, although now, 6 months later, I'm quite sure I made the right decision... I love my SCT... I dont see it going anywhere for quite some time!
