I started big with a Meade 16" and have progressively moved smaller to a 70mm. Reverse aperture fever. Connivence and ease to use are important for me. Still love the big scope though.
I started big with a Meade 16" and have progressively moved smaller to a 70mm. Reverse aperture fever. Connivence and ease to use are important for me. Still love the big scope though.
I have done the same. I found the bigger the scope, the less I used it.
The most enjoyment i have had with a scope is a williams ZS66SD on a vixen porta ii mount ,as simple as telescope on to the mount ,diagonal,eyepiece and away you go and is as easy to put away ,i have had a LX90 and never got the same enjoyment as the little APO set up,do not fall into the big telescope first buy thing because simple is sweet IMO and have 2 larger APO's i do the same thing with,my HEQ5pro mount gets nowhere near the same use as the porta ii mount
im really happy with my C6 sct with arcturus binoviewer, obviously not so great with stars etc, but moon and planets are a real treat...im using a pair of cheapish celestron 20mm wide views plossles. got it all mounted on a az3 alt az mount..very compact and got a lot of power at my fingertips with a generous field of view.
Great for day time viewing as well with upright views...you can see the birds change their mind!
I'm just going to park these links here. Ed Ting is a great educator, and these are great short videos for people starting out and thinking about buying their first telescope. (In fact, I think they should become classics.)
The main characteristic you want to consider when choosing a telescope is its aperture - the diameter of its main mirror or lens. The larger the diameter, the lighter the telescope collects, allowing you to see fainter objects and more detail on nearby bright objects such as the moon.