Up grading to larger scope

[coldspace]

Hi everyone my name is Matt and I am new to this forum. Have been using it for a short while to gather information. Have been into astronomy for many years. Not much in the practical aspect but love to read anything about it including many books and just about all magazines as well as this site. My wife pushed me into joining a club so I joined up with the SAS in QLD. Great friendly people who made me feel welcome. Went to this years Astrofest and was amazed to see such a variety of things. My question is we have a 8inch newt on a ge mount that a salesman sold me about 6 years ago and the views through it have been alright. I was always having trouble using it to pan the sky and only reciently found out It was more designed for photograpy. Wish I had been steered towards a Dob anyway a friend of mine this year moved to the US and I bought of him an ETX125 at a steal. We take it camping and love the little thing but now want to move into a really serious scope. Only into visual at moment but after going to astrofest would like to have ago at imaging down the track so was looking at the lx200R 12 inch. Size does not concern me but my question is would this be a good choice for long term as I Don't want to have to sell and upgrade in year or so. And would this give me alo better visual pleasure in our outer suburban area for my family and friends than the 8inch. Your feed back would be great. Tks

Matt

[citivolus (Ric)]

Ah, the joy of trying to figure out what scope to buy. I don't think many people every really figure it out.

Originally Posted by coldspace

... as I Don't want to have to sell and upgrade in year or so.

Good luck with that

I used to think that the scope size didn't really matter, but my 10" LX200 sees starlight about 10% as often as my 8" LX90 did. Grab and go vs. 30 minutes to set up and 20 minutes to tear down, or more if a good polar alignment is involved. I think the LX90 took me under 5 minutes to set up and be observing. There is a limit to what you can regularly go through without a permanent installation, and for me I think it lies somewhere below my current scope. I've personally considered smaller aperture again just to improve portability. Fortunately my wife has agreed to a G11 mount in a permanent installation, unfortunately the conditions are that we have to win a dream home first

If you accept that you will upgrade 1-2 years down the road, in the interim I'd suggest a 40cm+ light bucket (dob) instead of the LX200R. It will cost you much less, and perform substantially better visually.

If you're convinced you will have one scope for the next 10 years, the LX200R OTA can probably handle it, but you will likely be upgrading to a GE mount (eg, G11 or CGE) if you ever get serious with imaging. That is an upgrade, not a replacement, so it may be easier to get past the budgetary approval department.

Good luck!
Eric

[rmcpb (Rob)]

Ever thought of making a dob mount for the 8"? Then you could use it in either mode as you wish.

Cheers

[coldspace]

Thanks Eric and Rob for your comments. I have thought about mounting the 8 inch on a dob but it is an F4 and is probally to short for this we really like the Etx fork system for tracking and camping which we take away alot. It fits in the car just when we have to take allthe stuff for camping for kids and wife so this suits our needs for this. I was looking at getting its big brother for our use at home, family and friend gatherings and the odd astro camp so for this I don't mind the bigger set up hassels of a larger unit. Want to be able to lock on a object to enjoy and with lots of kids always wanting to look I thought a goto and tracking system would be alot more fun. Have bought a DSI of bintel while they were only $149 last month so want a system to be able to play with it. Have been told that a field de-rotater is a good option to use with a large fork mount that is why I was looking at lx90 or lx200r. Want a large arperture for visual use. Has any one had much experience with these 2 scopes? I know the 200R has the better optics and a better mount over the lx90. Would the lx90 be good for basic imaging with a field de-rotater or should I go for the 200R. We don't mind spending the extra on the 200R for the long term and re-sale value but if the lx90 12 inch would be sufficient I would probally get that. Looked at a 16inch light bridge with a argo system but with lots of young kids it might still be alot of work when they keep grabbing it to stay on target. Looked through a 9.25 and 11 celestron at astrfest and was impressed with the veiws and and thought a 12inch would be better. Your thoughts would be appreciated. TKS

Matt

[coldspace]

Just a futher note. If any one has used or had any experieces with the optic differences visualy with these two scopes your input would be appreciated. My understanding is the lx200r has a flatter field and is more for imaging but if it is better visualy I would go for it over the Lx90. I have read that the 200r has a 15% larger field of veiw over the Lx90 as well is this true? I have only looked through the celestron gear. Any comments from people who have had experienced with these two would be appreciated. Tks.

Matt.

[davidpretorius]

i have always had a 10" dob which is now driven and have dreams of the c14 and 14" next..... but i tell you what, i am really enjoying the 8" dobs for simplicity and views.

Matt, I think it best to say that you will have a few different scope.

ed80 refractor for low mag imaging
8" dob for grab and go
12 - 14" for more serious stuff, but more permanent fixturing