mikeDnight

First, it depends how you define"better views". Brighter yes, but I've seen many smaller aperture refractors show noticeably better definition and sharper views that leave the 200p lagging obviously behind. As for the 120ED vs 120 evostar, with regard to lunar and planetary the 120ED is truly in a whole different league. And even on deep sky the 120ED is sharper and brighter, so it might be a mistake to side line it at this stage.

That's a very nice selection so far. The 10mm and 5mm XW's are superb on deep sky and lunar & planetary, as is the 7mm.

After using many and owning three over the years, I'm not convinced there's much variability in the SW 120ED refractors. They've all been great all rounders that have played very nicely alongside triplet apo's, including the superlative TSA120. They are certainly not a poor man's apo, as they deliver top class views across the range, both at low power wide field and high power lunar & planetary. For someone wanting to simplify their observing by having just one great scope that does it all, the 120ED has to be high on the list of potential players. Keeping things a little more lightweight, but not by much, a short focal length 4" ED can be a great master of all trades too. Last night my 100mm F8 became a breathtaking comet seeker on its simple, lightweight Altaz. On other nights its a powerful double star and planetary scope.

Perhaps not as impressive as all those amazing images, but here's my sketch from 10.57Ut last night. In my 4" apo and with a 35mm Eudiascopic eyepiece the comet all but crossed the entire field of view. At high power using a 3.4mm HR eyepiece the nuclear region revealed nice structure.

The Star Travel 120 F5 never quite did it for me. The ST 150 F5 on the other hand was really quite spectacular as a rich field refractor. If I were to pull the trigger on an RFT though, it would be the StarWave 152 F5.9. That is one glorious comet seeker that would complement your 4" F11 beautifully! I'd have no hesitation about mounting one on a GP providing the tripod is sturdy enough, or is mounted on a solid pier. Another complementary scope would be a TV Genesis, or in fact any of the Televue 101 series.

Refractors give sharper images and produce more pleasing views. From rich star fields to high power, high definition views of the Moon, planets and binary stars, they are a great all round performers that are virtually maintenance free. They deliver star images that other scope designs try to attain but never quit reach.

Putting thing into perspective like this shows how affordable today's astro gear really is. ☺

Around 20 years ago, an acquaintance of mine admitted spending £1000 each year to be a member of a golf club. Then he told me he also had to pay £15 per game. At least with astronomical equipment, whatever you spend, its yours for life. And the sky, whenever we see it, is free. So a few hundred pounds or even several thousand, pales into insignificance when looking at things long term. The trouble is the grass is always greener, and the appeal of something shiny and new can be hard to resist, but then for many, the equipment is just as vital for their enjoyment as viewing the skies.

My faithful AZ4 and vintage Vixen Polaris mount in Altaz mode.

You've really got it bad Stu. You might be able to get some financial assistance to help you deal with your addiction, the same way other long term addicts do.

Don't be too hard on yourself Alan. In years to come that White original could be hung on a gallery wall, with art experts discussing the deeper underlying meaning behind every stroke. 🎨

I'm particularly fond of refractors but the classical Cassegrain is very interesting. Just to throw another spanner in the works I thought I'd add this scope into the mix, as this wouldn't suffer from spider diffraction, unlike the classical Cassegrain.

Personally I feel a binoviewer is the single biggest game changer I've experienced. Intricate Lunar and planetary detail becomes far easier to see, and good quality simple eyepieces can outperform the best high end single eyepiece. I know that some observers seem to struggle with binoviewers, but I think they are worth persevering with. Once you've got it set for your eyesight, don't let anyone else mess around with it. It's almost as if a binoviewer turns a top class 4" scope into a top class 5", a 5" into a 6" and so on. I see more through my 100mm Tak apo using a binoviewer than I ever saw through my 128mm Tak apo with just a single eyepice.

It's definitely time for the serious high end eyepiece manufacturers to add the highly descriptive and scientific term "Dooper" into the title, and copyright it! At least then well know where we stand. ☺

That's frightening! I gave a couple of copies of the pocket version away to fellow enthusiasts last year or the year before. I wonder if theyed fall for it if I sent them an invoice?

I'd say go with your heart! With the Mak you don't need complex eyepieces, so you could invest in a binoviewer and a good diagonal, so as to really get the best lunar and planetary views out of it. And even though the field may be narrower than a Newt', the Mak will still give some superb deep sky views.

So a pseudo Masuyama with a built in barlow? I think the 5mm uses a built in barlow too if I remember rightly, but as I'm happy using barlows anyway, it doesn't put me off at all.

That's a nice experience, and the 3.8mm is one I don't have! The Eudiascopic's are exceptional eyepieces and the 3.8mm is quite a rare animal. Being a pseudo Masuyama it is quite a collectable too, so you could have quite a jewel in your collection. Great for double stars as well as lunar and planetary when the seeing conditions permit.

I found the 10mm XW to be a terrific eyepiece for faint nebulae. It is very transparent and in my 100mm refractor, presented nebulosity enmeshing the Pleiades beautifully. The Flame nebula and IC434 with good dark adaption was a real highlight through the 10mm XW. It also barlows beautifully and makes a great lunar and planetary eyepiece that is very orthoscopic.

Here's one I found of my lovely old FC100DC.

No, they are perfectly safe! Back in January before the lockdown, my son and I called in at McDonalds in Rawtenstal purely out of desperation. There I watched horrified as children played with touch screens designed to keep them quiet, but that were so unimaginably filthy, evolution was taking place on their screens. I wonder how many of those kids are still alive?

I must admit while looking through this slippery thread, the few maksutov's that have slipped in under the radar, have pretty lickable lenses too! But i don't presently own a Mak, so I'll just have to show off my lonely refractor, although from two different angles you get two different minty fresh flavours.

It even looks like it could benefit from a good licking. It's filthy!😲

Im not following your point regarding the 300mm vs 60mm. As far as light grasp goes, a 300mm reflector gathers considerably more light than a 60mm refractor and will go far deeper and show far more detail, including colour in many deep sky targets because it has more than 25X the surface area of the 60mm. Apart from giving beautiful rich star fields and pleasing lunar views, i really cant see any advantage of a 60mm scope over a 300mm. It's resolution is too limited for a planetary advantage and its light grasp would not be enough to show the majority of DSO's well.

As you're located in Liverpool you could make yourself a member of Liverpool Astronomical Society. It's a great society with very enthusiastic members who would be more than willing to give you hands on experience with some great refractors. Obviously it would need to be after the lockdown has been lifted and the danger of Covid has been genuinely reduced, but you'd get a side by side experience with scopes of various kinds. Maksutov Cassegrains are seriously sweet scopes that can approach refractor performance at a fraction of the cost. A 127mm Maksutov is a very good scope, but much larger and they become quite heavy!