Refractor or Relector or SCT??

[Simon Holmes (Simon Holmes)]

What will best suit a greenhorn like me, with no experience what so ever in astronomy.
I have been reading up as much as I could and is totally confused about the right type of scope for my first scope.
It seems, ideally, if your pocket is deep enough, you should buy the biggest aperture refractor that you could afford. Is this the right choice?

[Poita (Peter)]

Not just your pocket, your arms have to be long enough too

Honestly, get to a star party/viewing night, you will get nothing more than conflicting opinion here really, and each of us will be right!

An SCT gives you big aperture in a small package, much easier to transport, move and handle than an equivalent aperture Newtonian. Great for planets, moon and those tinier galaxies.

A refractor is easy to handle, easy to use (no collimation usually) and are great for DSO photography. They have the smallest apertures for the dollars though.

A newt/dob is cheap for the amount of aperture you get, you need to learn how to collimate them, and they are l-o-n-g, but they are great bang for buck.

But really, it comes down to what you want to look at, what sort of mount you require, how transportable you need it to be, what your expectations and viewing habits are etc. etc.
\
For one person an ED80 refractor and a mallincam will be the best setup ever
, watching full colour DSOs on a screen, for another it will be an 8" SCT on an EQ6, for someone else it will be a 16" dob, the list is endless, each has its pros and cons.
My first scope was a 8" SCT, and that was over 20 years ago, and it is still in use, and still gives great views.

Get to a gathering and have a play with the scopes and see what suits you. Get a look through them so your expectations match reality. Some people are blown away buy the view through a 12" scope, others are really disappointed that the objects are dim and B&W. It is all down to personal stuff really.

[casstony]

Hi Simon, I'd narrow down your options to an 8" or 10" dobsonian or an 8" schmidt cassegrain - people often trade up from 8" meade LX90's or celestron nexstar 8SE's so a wanted ad for either of those would save a significant amount off new.

The 8" scopes of either design are quite portable; the 10" dob is slightly less portable but still not hard to move around.

The two schmidt cassegrains find and track objects for you, though a standard dob would not be at a disadvantage in that regard if you were going to be observing with others who could help you.

[DavidTrap (David)]

I'm selling my LX90 8inch in the classifieds...

Hopeless plug!

DT

[mishku]

+1 from a new kid, who was trying to make the same decision not that long ago (and to be fair, I still want one of EVERYTHING).

one of the most helpful things I did was to head out to a camp (Hi, SVers! ) where very generous folks answered my many, repetitive, questions with great enthusiasm and patience. They made their suggestions (and everyone had a different one!) and I spent some time thinking about my situation and how I want to use my scope.

I couldn't recommend more strongly finding some folks near you (and there are plenty) who can share their experiences with you.

to IIS!!

[gregbradley]

My first scope was an LX90 and it was marvellous. I wasn't doing any imaging at first and it gives great views and the computer go-to system is fantastic.

If you want to do imaging then refractors or Newts are better suited.

The trouble with refractors as a first scope is that to get a comparable view to an 8 inch SCT you'd have to spend a fortune.

Greg.

[Octane (Humayun)]

I really think you need to buy a Takahashi FSQ-106.

H

[mishku]

Don't panic though, H is RICH and will definitely buy one for you if you are v v nice to him. Right, H???

Originally Posted by Octane

I really think you need to buy a Takahashi FSQ-106.

H

[TrevorW]

Sh... I'd even be nice to H if he brought one for me

[casstony]

Originally Posted by mrhogie

and the image on the apos crushes any SCT.

A 4" apochromat is great for imaging and widefields, but larger aperture dobs or sct's(schmidt cassegrains) will do better on most objects due to greater light gathering ability and greater resolution. Large aperture apochromats are not a practical option for a beginner due to price and possibly size.

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi Simon,

I've tried them all and I think that for visual observing with good portability, the 8" or 10" SCT has a small edge (no pun you lot) over the others.

That said, all have their very strong points as you read above, and if you get into astrophotography the choice will possibly be different.

It is also a personal choice thing. You will get fixations, wait and see

I have had 2 dobs, and became absolutely fed up with collimating them. So I got a 4" refractor and that is great unless you want to observe faint objects. So I got a 8" SCT for more aperture, and so it goes you see.

With a bit of luck and patience, you can get your choice here on IIS second hand for a reasonable price.

Cheers

[traveller (Bo)]

Hi Simon and welcome.
As the saying goes, horses for courses, each scope design has advantages and disadvantages. I second what Mish said re try before you buy, but be careful, you may want to get more than one!
Bo

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Yea Simon , get to a star party or 5 and look thru as many scopes as you can and find what spins your wheels , as the guys say here everyone is different , and like 'H' , I love to a good refractor as well , they bite hard .
A good APO is hard to beat ,
I love my 127mm triplet ,, perfect images . but expensive .
Brian.

[g__day (Matthew)]

Set a rough budget, go to a star party, look through many scopes at different objects to see what sort of objects you most want to view and that will help narrow your choice of scopes.

[gregbradley]

APOs crush SCTs only when the APO is large. Otherwise you are limited to very bright objects.

Even globular clusters are quite dim in a 4 inch APO. You need around 6 inch APOs to really start getting the wow factor.

Whereas an 8 inch SCT is quite bright and shows a lot of detail. I take it that is why they have been so popular over the years. That and the go-to plus tripod and guiding at a much lower price. A 6 inch APO is roughly equivalent to an 8 inch SCT in viewing power as APOs don't have a central obstruction. My TEC180 is the equivalent roughly (a bit less) in views to a Celestron Nexstar 11 I had. The TEC is of course sharper but I personally found the views through an SCT mesmerising and the go-tos are just the best. Plus the viewing position is much more comfortable. You can get into some very uncomfortable positions with APOs as they are so long. SCTs are compact.

This is also the problem with Newts. They are very short focal length for the same sized tube as an SCT and as a result you are back to widefield views. Unless you use a barlow. Plus Newts are harder to collimate, tend to be bulky for the aperture and show coma really easily compared to an SCT.

Anyway that is my experience.

Greg.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Well everyone has been putting their case forward for their particular favorite type of scope very well.

So I'm going to give all of them the finger and say... get yourself a pair of decent binoculars. At least 50mm in apeture. You didn't mention if you had them already. They are a brilliant way to learn the sky.. even from the city. When you've learned some of the sky in regards to constellations and the brighter DSO's when it comes time for your first scope you wont be much of a greenhorn.

That being said...

If you really really really wanted a scope first instead.

Get an 8 inch dobsonian, and with the money you save over an expensive Schmidt-Cassigran buy yourself some decent eyepieces.
People who say eyepieces don't matter or don't enriched the experience are seriously missing out.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

An 8" newt on an Alt/Az mount.
Bang for buck, the best set-up out there.
Dobsonian bases are heavy and inconvenient to re-locate. Plus they move around alot when you don't want them to.
Unless you want to spend the extra cash on a computerised 'goto', which will both move and hold the scope, I'd avoid 'em!

An 8" newt weighs next-to-nothing and a mount like the Bintel Voyager even less. Yet will have spent under a grand, have set-up that's easy to move and will show you a lifetime of objects.
On a mercenary note, when you want to move up (or on) you'll have 2 bits of gear that are easy to sell.

[mishku]

Bo is quite right (quite the mutual admiration society!) - I want at least two, for two different purposes, and I'm still busily researching to find my goldilocks scope (juuuuuust right )

Originally Posted by traveller

Hi Simon and welcome.
As the saying goes, horses for courses, each scope design has advantages and disadvantages. I second what Mish said re try before you buy, but be careful, you may want to get more than one!
Bo

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Well everyone has been putting their case forward for their particular favorite type of scope very well.

So I'm going to give all of them the finger and say... get yourself a pair of decent binoculars. At least 50mm in apeture. You didn't mention if you had them already. They are a brilliant way to learn the sky.. even from the city. When you've learned some of the sky in regards to constellations and the brighter DSO's when it comes time for your first scope you wont be much of a greenhorn.

That being said...

If you really really really wanted a scope first instead.

Get an 8 inch dobsonian, and with the money you save over an expensive Schmidt-Cassigran buy yourself some decent eyepieces.
People who say eyepieces don't matter or don't enriched the experience are seriously missing out.

Some C8 SCTs have sold recently for under $500, so they don't have to be expensive.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Originally Posted by Poita

Some C8 SCTs have sold recently for under $500, so they don't have to be expensive.

But you can get a 2nd hand 8 inch dob for as low as $300. Mind you I havnt seen one come up for that price recently.

What if he has to colimate the SCT? If I was a beginner and had to figure that out I'd probably lose the will to live.