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A Good Old Fashioned Vs. Thread

Connor

Reflector Or Refractor?  

73 members have voted

  1. 1. Reflector Or Refractor?

    • Reflector
      36
    • Refractor
      28
    • Anything
      9

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John

John

Posted
Posted

I've owned all types but it's refractors that draw me back time and time again. I just love the way they deliver the views and they are so hassle free to use.

So they have my vote :)

You are not going to buy a scope on the basis of this poll though, are you ?

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cathalferris

cathalferris

Posted
Posted

Horses for courses. I've 2 reflectors and a refractor, all for different purposes.

I couldn't see a reflector being as portable and as quick to set up as the 80mm Onyx as a grab'n'go scope for getting immediate use when I come home from evening work at 2am. Little-to-no cooldown, and I'm looking at pretty stuff in about a minute with little effort expended.

When I know I have a bit of time to spare I'll bring out the big gun (only 8" but hey, I can't complain) and I'll have a lot of fun going deeper.

I'm living in rented accomodation with no backyard and no garage so my needs are a bit more specific than most, but when it comes down to it anything that makes the pretty sights happen is good in my book.

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A McEwan

A McEwan

Posted
Posted

Refractor. Quicker cooldown, less prone to temperature problems, easier to maintain, ahrper more contrasty view. Reflectors definately have their place too, and I've nothing "against" them per se, but it was a question of "which do you prefer..." after all.

Ant

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Moonshane

Moonshane

Posted
Posted

Newtonians all the way for me - I have had fast and slow refractors and have fast and slow Newtonians currently. The reasons (compared with refractors - for me anyway):

  • Much more light grasp for each £ - almost everything looks better with more aperture.
  • More comfortable viewing position (when on an alt az / dobsonian base) and easier to nudge along at higher powers.
  • Easier to follow star maps as they can be just turned upside down. I find right left inversion hard to follow.
  • No chromatic aberration.
  • Easy to collimate (some refractors can and some refractors cannot be collimated).
  • They just look better.

As they say - each to their own!

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James

James

Posted
Posted

On balance I prefer a reflector as I like the aperture for galaxy hunting... but that's only on balance as I prefer to image through a refractor (and the views can be gorgeous through a good one) and to make things a little awkward my mainstay scope for much of the last year was a Skymax 180 Mak... reasonable aperture, fantastic views and reasonably portable :)

James

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Caldwell 14

Caldwell 14

Posted
Posted

I voted refractor. I have but one telescope, a 4 inch refractor, I feel almost embarrassed to say that you know. For the 450 quid or what have you I paid for my TAL and AZ4 I could have bought a big Dobsonian, very big if I had got one second hand. (just where I would have put one in my little cottage is another matter but lets let that go) The views of DSO would have been better, I'd have seen more of them and a greater variety of targets to hunt for. (loads and loads of very fuzzy blobs)

The truth is I just like them, I like everything about them. Even in an Achromatic scope I find the razor sharp, pin points of stars in open clusters utterly captivating and at fl10 CA really is not that much of an issue I find, except with Venus, and Venus I think we are all agreed is not an easy target for any scope anyway. Ascetically I think they are just gorgeous and very tactual objects. I know we look through them and not at them but all the same they are just very nice objects to own.

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