Buying a scope, is it worth it.

[uthikoloshe]

When I was 21 I owned a cheapish 6 inch refractor. I used all my 21st birth cash on it. The things I saw. Now I am older, have more cash.

My logic is

1st) leave the photography side to the professionals, my tax money gets spent on these scopes, so download their images.

2nd) Its better to sacrfice electrics and connectivity for mirror size. Dobsonian all the way.

I like looking for objects and ticking them off if i manage to make anything out. I like my freinds to see these things and share in their first time pleasure. I like the idea of getting these freinds ontop of a hill in winter

What holds me up is a sense of inevitable disapointment. That 6 inch refractor had HUGE advantages. Firstly it was in Zimbabwe. I had the entire southern sky, and at the right time of year The Plough looked like an upside down pan resting on the horizon, so most of the north too. Secondly it was Zimbabwe, utterley dark, polution free, and 1500meters high.

Would a 12 inch dob provide as much fun, in say Exmoor, as sticking a 6 inch into Sagitarius in darkest africa. I don't know.

[ollypenrice]

I'll take amicable issue with the idea that downloading a picture is like making your own. That idea is like saying that listening to a professional musician is better than playing an instrument yourself. You can do both. (Well, I can't because I don't play an instrument but I wish I did!)

However, I fully sympathize with your fancy for a large Dob and sharing it with friends. I do something like that for a living and it's nice.

Hard to answer your question. Your best bet would be to go to an astronomical society and see what you can see in the UK. If you Google Federation of Astronomical Societies you'll find a list. Personally I think a 12 inch Dob in the UK is worthwhile.

Olly

[Peter Drew]

Well it would be different! There are objects that would be better seen from this latitude than Zimbabwe and a 12" would probably outgun a 6" wherever it was.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

I get the feeling you'l very much enjoy it. It's difficult to quantify the similarity/difference in views you'l experience, but a 12" will show some wonderful sights.

Not much to lose by trying it, the second hand market is healthy and you'l be able to get the majority of your money back if you decide it isn't for you.

[barkis]

I side with Olly's analolgy, you mustn't deny yourself being creative. Whether you make a good imager or not, it's a challenging prospect acquiring, capturing and processing stuff you can barely discern in the eyepiece. There's no cheating involved, you get the data, and you work the magic that reveals it in all it's glory, what on earth is wrong with that? . I hope to do it soon, now that will raise a few titters.

Ron.

[coulthamst]

There is another side to the analogy. We do things because we want to enough. I have played instruments for fifty years, and still get a great deal of pleasure (and a fair amount of money) from doing so. People ask me if they should take up playing. I ask "How long have you wanted to?". If they answer more than a year - and they don't have a cash shortage - I tell them that they don't want to enough.

Learning to play, and learning to take good quality astronomical photographs, takes a good deal of time, frustration, and patience. Without commitment you will not succeed......... and that is why I am a purely visual sky-watcher.