12" Meade LB vs 10/8" Skyliner

[midjam]

I'm need some advice guys, I'm not great at making decissions hence this thread.

I currently own a 12" Meade LB (brought secondhand) which is in fairly good condition apart from the primary mirror, it has some signs of oxidation which probably doesn't effect it very much but, it does bug me. I looked into getting it recoated which would cost around £120 with delivery.

I do like the views I get from the Meade but, disassembling and reassembling just to my back garden is becoming a pain, haven't had a chance to take to dark site yet. Also the fact that the mirror is oxidized probably means I'm only getting as much light as a 8/10"

I have someone who would like to buy it from me at £400 so, was thinking instead of getting the mirror sorted I could buy a brand new scope.

I would have around £520 to spend so, was looking at either the 10" or 8" Skyliner from FLO which would give me some extra cash for EPs etc.

Would there be a massive difference between the views with a 8/10" Skyliner and 12" Meade?

What would you guys do;

1. Keep the Meade and recoat the mirror.

2. Buy 8/10" Skyliner plus EPs.

3. Buy something else.

Thanks

[Daniel-K]

recoat the mirror once recoated with better coatings than the standard meade it will be a treat also even getting it to a semi dark sky is fantastic my 16" at our semi dark site just blows you away the oxidized is the norm it doesnt affect it that much due to the size of the mirror

[Moonshane]

what Daniel said. can you not leave the OTA assembled? that way it's just two bits to carry.

best thing to do is consider what you'll get selling with newly coated mirrors. if it's £520 approx then you cannot lose.

unless your mirrors are seriously damaged I'd be astonished if you are losing 31% of their reflectivity (to match a 10") or 66% of their reflectivity (to match an 8"). so even with no new coatings, you are gathering more light.

[swamp thing]

+1 for the recoat. Big scopes at dark skies is the ultimate observing experience for me, nothing else comes close.

[John]

I used to have a Meade 12" Lightbridge. It was a good scope but heavy to move around and I suffer from back problems from time to time and decided to downsize as the Meade was not getting used as much as it deserved. I sold the Meade and bought an Orion Optics 10" F/4.8 tube assembly which I use on a Giro type alt-azimuth mounting. To be honest I've not noticed the drop in aperture from my garden which is my main observing site. Perhaps it would be different if I regularly viewed from a dark sky site. The portability of the Orion Optics setup is very welcome though and I can move the whole thing around my garden in one piece, something I just could not do with the Lightbridge 12". So I don't regret the drop in aperture at all. The optical quality of the Orion Optics scope is better than the Meades and it has the Hi-Lux coatings so I think these things help "bridge the gap" to some extent.

If someone will give you £400 for the scope as it is now then I'd be tempted - I sold mine for £350 which included modifications such as Bob's Knobs top and bottom, a counterweight system and an Astrozap light shroud. The optics were in good condition too. This was a couple of years ago though.

I'd get a 10" if you can though - I think you would notice the drop to an 8" more often.

[midjam]

I used to have a Meade 12" Lightbridge. It was a good scope but heavy to move around and I suffer from back problems from time to time and decided to downsize as the Meade was not getting used as much as it deserved. I sold the Meade and bought an Orion Optics 10" F/4.8 tube assembly which I use on a Giro type alt-azimuth mounting. To be honest I've not noticed the drop in aperture from my garden which is my main observing site. Perhaps it would be different if I regularly viewed from a dark sky site. The portability of the Orion Optics setup is very welcome though and I can move the whole thing around my garden in one piece, something I just could not do with the Lightbridge 12". So I don't regret the drop in aperture at all. The optical quality of the Orion Optics scope is better than the Meades and it has the Hi-Lux coatings so I think these things help "bridge the gap" to some extent.

If someone will give you £400 for the scope as it is now then I'd be tempted - I sold mine for £350 which included modifications such as Bob's Knobs top and bottom, a counterweight system and an Astrozap light shroud. The optics were in good condition too. This was a couple of years ago though.

I'd get a 10" if you can though - I think you would notice the drop to an 8" more often.

You sold that cheap, mine has Bob's knobs top and bottom, counterweight, Astrozap shroud plus 8x50 viewscope.

Do you think with newly coating mirrors it would be worth £520?

[Naemeth]

Recoat the mirror. As others' have said, that big scope in a dark sight will be amazing!

[John]

You sold that cheap, mine has Bob's knobs top and bottom, counterweight, Astrozap shroud plus 8x50 viewscope.

Do you think with newly coating mirrors it would be worth £520?

I sold it for more or less what I paid for it. You could buy a new 12" Skywatcher dob for around £550 then. New prices have risen a couple of times since then so I guess that would be reflected in the used prices too. A good condition scope should fetch around 60%-70% of the price it would be new, as a guide.

[midjam]

Thanks guys for the advice, looks like I'm going to pimp up the lightbridge

[swamp thing]

Nice one. You won't regret it.

Get that big lump out to a dark sky site, then make sure you have some string tied to your sox cause, they is gonna be blown off.

[midjam]

Nice one. You won't regret it.

Get that big lump out to a dark sky site, then make sure you have some string tied to your sox cause, they is gonna be blown off.

Hahaha love it, can't wait now

I tried to get to a dark site last night the sky was fairly clear when I started out but, by time I got there blumming CLOUD CITY!!