New scope, or upgrade my ED80

[Rockah (Zal)]

Hello all

I'm trying to clear out all my hobbies except astronomy/AP and focus solely on that.

I recently upgraded my HEQ5 to an NEQ6 and I have a Skywatcher ED80 pro (gold) which has been a great scope for the last year. I'm using the stock focuser, stock rings, no reducers/flatteners and just my DSLR for imaging (plus a guide scope)

My fiance just ordered me a 60Da DSLR (awww yeaaaah) and imagining is now my main focus for the hobby, as it has always been. I just want to get much more serious about it.

So, the question is: do I look at getting a new scope (budget around 1.5k, but possibly up to 2k) and sell the ED80, or do I upgrade what I have? I was looking at possibly getting the Orion ED80T CF (Carbon fiber triplet), but I don't know if this is a big step up? There's also its big brother, the 102T CF but apparently these are now discontinued and people are suspecting there will be a new line of refractors from Orion coming out soon. The thing I like about these scopes (apart from the quality) is the nice dual speed focuser, and on the 102T it has the heavy duty tube rings.

OOORRR should I look at getting upgrades for my current ED80, and if so it would be great to have your suggestions on what those upgrades could/should be. I would also love someone's opinion on the best method of getting the ED80 onto a losmandy-style plate (i.e. what rings and plate to use). I'm going for a side by side setup with my guide scope, and the SBS setup I have accepts both vixen and losmandy dovetail plates.

I don't know if it's worth mentioning, but I do have the Hutech LPS filter (2"), so I don't know if this would be an issue with the 3" focusers on some of the bigger scopes? However, I currently have it threaded into my 50mm extender for my SLR, so I'd assume no?

Thanks heaps in advance!