in need of advice...which scope?

[rustem]

hi all,

i've played around with a few basic set ups and found myself hooked!!!

only trouble is which scope to buy?

so many out there im confused!!!! and as much as those 10" great set ups up for grabs in the classifieds i'd hate to spend the money on something that would be overkill for my experience/time/effort

i've managed to save 2k for the purchase and am willing to buy s/hand

no more than an 8'' reflector or maybe a refractor of some sort..not sure

what im looking for is an all rounder good visually and something that i can play with when it comes to photography...later on.

as much as i'd love to do this more often than not life gets in the way so i will not be going into this head first but would like something there that would satisfy my itch without spending the good $$$

any advice appreciated

rob

[Quark (Trevor)]

Hi Rob,

Have a look in the "Stickies" posted at the top of this forum on selecting a scope.

Seek out your nearest astro group and make yourself known. Check out other amateurs scopes and what they use them for. Give a lot of thought as to what expectations you have and what you want to get into.

Be aware that ounce hooked astronomy can become quite an obsession, at least thats what my wife says and that your expectations will likely change over time.

Cannot stress enough that good optics will last a lifetime, buying good quality ounce is cheaper in the long run than updating to better quality gear latter.

Oh, don't jump in to purchasing a scope etc to quickly. Far wiser to thoroughly research the topic first.

Just some thoughts.
Welcome to IIS.
Regards
Trevor

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

yep, go and find your local, that will do what you need it to do.