new telescope Celestron 6se or 8se ?

[veejo]

Haven't even bought one yet but the apeture bug seems to have bitten. Having used SLRs all my life, I like apeture. I'm just starting out, but my son at 3 has shown an interest in the moon and shadows, etc, and it's something I've always wanted to do.

Had considered a cleestron 4se, but not sure if I'II be able to see colours.
6se seems a better bet (and exchange rate to US is good) or a used 8SE locally.

I'm open to brands so saxon or other brands I wouldn't rule out, just looking for value for money that I' won't outgrow in 6 months, and show enough details to keep my son interested (rings of saturn, colurs of mars, etc).

If the bug stays, I'm sure we'd upgrade eventually.

I'd love to do imaging, but I'm not sure these entry level maksutovs / schmidts come with accurate enough mounts.

[mch62 (Mark)]

If you think if your going to image in the future then either the 6 or 8" in the Celestrons as when funds are available you can accessories either with a Hyperstar lens to give wide field F2 images as well as standard native F10 or F6.3 with reducer.
An 8" will be better than the 6" when it comes to planetry or deep sky observing but both will be portable enough.
Both will have plenty of aftermarket goodies to add on.
I am not a big fan of the single sided arm mounts when it comes to adding extra weight of cameras ect as well as the fact you need to add a wedge for long exposures. Better a GEM mount either a Celestron or an Skywatcher EQ5 pro or bigger mount. Plenty of help to go around on these if required. Don't skim on the mount either , better a 6"scope and heavier mount than an 8"and an undersize mount.
The best bit of advise would be go along to a club or an INS members viewing night and ask lotsa questions and look through as many scopes as possible. There will more than likely be a 6 or 8"SCT there.
Mark

[veejo]

Mark,

thanks for advice,

I went with the 6se, was within budget, and so it's on it's way.

Figured the 8se with the single arm mount was too big an investment.

Now to keep my eyes open for a used eq5 pro :-)

veejo

[stephenb (Stephen)]

veejo,

You'll find the 6SE will perform well as a great visual scope. As Mark has suggested, use this setup for a easy setup for popping in the boot of the car etc. Remove the OTA off the single fork, and onto a GEM for a beaut little imaging setup!

6SE ans 8SE's are very popular in the US and the UK and have a big following. Check out the Cloudy Nights link: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea.../Board/nexstar and I bet you'll spend hours browsing it for information.

All the best with it.

Stephen

[mch62 (Mark)]

If your budget can manage it look for a HEQ5 pro as well ,just a bit heavier mount and new only a couple of hundred $ more than the EQ5 pro,this is in case the aperature bug hits you before the imaging bug does.
As Veejo said the 6" has a reputation for great optics in the States and can even be used with starizonias Hyperstar imaging for wide 300mm F2 unguided imaging with Video cams or smaller Astrocameras. I have an EQ5 pro with a 8"EDGE hd as a light travel setup but only image at F2 400mm with hyperstar lens and it handles this weight fine with a finderscope as a guide scope, but if your going to place the camera at Cassigrain Focus at the back F10 or F6.3 with a focal reducer than thats where a slightly heavier mount would benifit. The 6"might get away with it as it is only about 3kgs from memory and an EQ5 pro handles 9-11kgs ---lower kgs for imaging.

Mark