paulisageek

Thanks Jonathan, a lot to go through there! I shall digest properly. Really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Hello all Been browsing here for quite a while and it seems everyone's keen to help a prospective beginner so thought it was about time I registered and asked my question. It's the usual one I'm afraid. I'm old enough to remember Apollo and I've just completed 30yrs service (software/hardware) with my employer. Apart from other benefits, as a "congrats mate" I can choose something which they'll buy for me, up to £500 value (not cash or vouchers!) - and I think a scope would fit the bill nicely. I know there are currently major stock issues but time isn't a problem - the offer is there for whenever I take them up on it. They're a good bunch to work for. Ideally I'm looking for something that I can add to in years to come; really interested in getting into imaging (experimented with my Nikon D90 and DeepSkyStacker which has whetted my appetite) so I'm assuming something that can track for long exposures. There seem to be so many options, and every review seems to offer a different opinion. Obviously I'd like to get the best I can for the money, even if it means a slight compromise now and dig into my pockets later for gizmos. I'd rather have good optics than flashy bells'n'whistles. Live in East Yorkshire, so although the back-garden sky suffers a bit from light pollution, I'm only 10mins drive from much darker skies - especially over the North Sea - so portability would be useful. If you were in my position, what would you go for?