Looking to buy my first telescope. Been interested in anstronomy for many years but now its time to buy a scope. The 2 scopes I am looking at are Meade LT 8" ACF or Celestron NexStar 6SE Series
got a budget of 2k approx. just wanted opinions on these scopes or other suggestions. Would prefere to buy it from a local shop but there doesn't seem to be anything here except sirius-optics and they seem way over priced compaired to online stores like bintel.
Yes I agree get the 8 inch , you wont be using up all it can show for many , many years ,
Oh yes I like your user name as well , as I have a Vitimine C E37 R/T Charger , VH model 1971 .
Fast car .
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by koputai
The light gathering and resolution of the 8" is much better than the 6", so on that basis alone I'd recommend the Meade out of those two.
I'll be the first one to ask the obvious question........ have you considered a Dobsonian?
BTW, I like your username. Many years ago I had a K13 Charger.
Just looking at the Dobsonian's Bintel BT302-B 12" Dobsonian for $900 or something smaller like an 8" for $600. Just wondering how portable are they? If i wanted to take it camping etc.
Btw yep I have a k16 cop charger also have a VG coupe.
Re the BT302 12" Dob. They are a fantastic scope but as a solid tube job they are a bit of a handful. The tube itself is more than 12" diameter and is 1.45 metres long. The base is fairly bulky and heavy. I have an Astra wagon and when I put the scope and other gear I have enough room for camping gear but not much else. If I had a sedan it would be a serious squeeze.
The 8" is much more portable and easy to handle. With my 12" I built a modified hand trolley to assist with transport.
Hi & welcome to IIS
I'm a fellow Clayfield dweller myself- I used to live there ... aaaargh, my old stomping grounds.
Do the drive and head out to Sirius Optics and take a look at those scopes- nothing beats walking into the shop and eyeballing them for yourself. You may also be surprised at just how big those dobs are (as Malcom pointed out with the 12").
I bought my 10" dob from them and the price was reasonable and they even showed me how to collimate it. I've put wheels under the base and it's relatively easy to lug around. I like that the Saxon's & the Skywatchers have got the long tension handles (as opposed to GSO) as that's what I use to pull it along on wheels. There's no way known I can handle a 12" , I've maxed myself out with my a 10" .
Perhaps also give some consideration to a 12" collapsible? With a go-to, it should still fall into your budget .
Many people find the 10" just manageable and transportable for a sedan and it will give you serious views of the sky.
Mate you would have trouble getting a 1 inch scope into the boot or backseat of a Charger ,,,,, let alone a 12inch monster ..
But now you are talking , 12 inches is a whole lot of light grasp .. and at $999 a stesl , go for it if you can transport it easily .
Brian . ( a fellow Charger owner )
Quote:
Originally Posted by k16charger
Think the 1" should be more ideal for a 1st scope then.. good price too.
Thought you may be interested , here is my Charger.
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brian nordstrom
Mate you would have trouble getting a 1 inch scope into the boot or backseat of a Charger ,,,,, let alone a 12inch monster ..
But now you are talking , 12 inches is a whole lot of light grasp .. and at $999 a stesl , go for it if you can transport it easily .
Brian . ( a fellow Charger owner )
Beautiful car Brian. Mine was a '76 VK 360ci 727 2.92 (South Australian K13). After I got it I must have pulled out 200kg of extra wiring harnesses and general carp. It came with hotwire wheels, but I got some Chrysler 'Styled Steel' wheels and had the fronts widened to 8 inches and the rears widened to 10 inches.
Unfortunately I ended up losing it on a gravelly hairpin, through a ditch, wiped out a large sign, and stopped in a paddock. I had her fixed up (Car-o-line chassis straightened etc), but she was never the same.
I sold her to a guy who I think ripped her up for spares. A couple of times a year I actually dream that I've found her again, a smashed up rusty hulk in the bush.
No matter how much I ever spend on cars, I don't think I'll ever have a car as good as that one again............
Cheers,
Jason.
P.S. My girlfriend used to get 8" in the back seat of the Charger every now and then....
Here's a pic of my brother's Charger taken around 1985...
Oh wow I loved this car so much, and when it came time to sell it - the pic shows it being stripped apart for selling - my brother wouldn't sell it to me saying I was too small to handle it . That's me in the pic in the little blue checked dress.
Aaaargh, I'll never forget the day of this pic, it was so sad. My hubby is the one that did all the work and paint on it, it used to be like any army coloured green with ding marks all over it.
Sad story Jason , If you knotice the number plate on mine , its a Kiwi car , I have here in storage in NZ at the moment and do miss he3r , thats why I now drive a BA xr6 Turbo manual while I am working up here in the NT , very similar cars to drive the Charger and BA , both very powerful.
Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by koputai
Beautiful car Brian. Mine was a '76 VK 360ci 727 2.92 (South Australian K13). After I got it I must have pulled out 200kg of extra wiring harnesses and general carp. It came with hotwire wheels, but I got some Chrysler 'Styled Steel' wheels and had the fronts widened to 8 inches and the rears widened to 10 inches.
Unfortunately I ended up losing it on a gravelly hairpin, through a ditch, wiped out a large sign, and stopped in a paddock. I had her fixed up (Car-o-line chassis straightened etc), but she was never the same.
I sold her to a guy who I think ripped her up for spares. A couple of times a year I actually dream that I've found her again, a smashed up rusty hulk in the bush.
No matter how much I ever spend on cars, I don't think I'll ever have a car as good as that one again............
Cheers,
Jason.
P.S. My girlfriend used to get 8" in the back seat of the Charger every now and then....
Oh wow I loved this car so much, and when it came time to sell it - the pic shows it being stripped apart for selling - my brother wouldn't sell it to me saying I was too small to handle it . That's me in the pic in the little blue checked dress.
Aaaargh, I'll never forget the day of this pic, it was so sad. My hubby is the one that did all the work and paint on it, it used to be like any army coloured green with ding marks all over it.
Hi Brian,
I'm standing in front of the bonnet, am wearing a blue checked dress.
The quality of the pic isn't that great as I didn't scan it, I just snapped a photo of it from the album (I was afraid it wouldn't stick back into the album once I peeled it off).
I remember those sort of days well Suzy ,, Ahhhh . Simple times they were compared to todays hustle and bustle !! , and not one cell phone to be seen ? ,
Brian..
Yes I agree get the 8 inch , you wont be using up all it can show for many , many years ,
, I've maxed myself out with my a 10" 
. 
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. That's me in the pic in the little blue checked dress.
Sad story Jason , If you knotice the number plate on mine , its a Kiwi car , I have here in storage in NZ at the moment and do miss he3r , thats why I now drive a BA xr6 Turbo manual while I am working up here in the NT , very similar cars to drive the Charger and BA , both very powerful.
OOPS! lost the photo , so here goes again ...
I remember those sort of days well Suzy ,, Ahhhh . Simple times they were compared to todays hustle and bustle !! , and not one cell phone to be seen ? 
,
