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One scope to rule them all

rowan46

By rowan46
in The Astro Lounge

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rowan46

rowan46

Posted
Posted

I've been there, so have a few others. We join SGL and we go "I want a scope to see planets and DSO's."

It's politely pointed out that you need apperture for DSO's so we go. "Yes I want a big one but it needs to be portable."

Most people are reasonable at this point after some persuasion and go for the 200p Dob or the 127 Mak or the 130p.

There are some die hards who come back and go by the way I want be able to image. The problems with the 200p weight on an EQ5 are explained ,the problems with long focal length on the Mak the inability of the 130p to focus with a DSLR.

What I am trying to say is us newbies go through purgatory, trying to find the one perfect scope that does it all but why would we want to? I want to do visual and image. I don't want to spend my evenings watching the computer (I have SGL for that) I want to make the most of my time under the stars hence 2 set-ups. To get to the point it's not 1 perfect scope that's needed it's 2. Oh and by the way I forgot to say I want them cheap :grin:

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Naemeth

Naemeth

Posted
Posted

You need quite a few.

Visual - Probably at least two or three, one Planetary monster like a large Maksutov Cassegrain / SCT. One 'light bucket' for the really small DSO's, and one intermediary to get to dark sites.

Imaging (and I'm just guessing here) - Short FL for large DSOs, Long FL for Planets and close ups of DSOs, and of course, the £1000(0s) for the mount(s), filters, CCD / DSLR, Software etc.

All in, a minimum to do each well, I'd say you need about 5 or 6 scopes to get a good balance of visual and imaging, oh, and a huge budget to be able to do both. Adding to visual, I'd probably want a really good quality ~4" refractor for Lunar / Planets, as it would be less susceptible to seeing conditions than a huge SCT, and with great contrast because it has no secondary.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

Posted
Posted

Seems to me that if a scope maker could build a single scope that does it all, they would be onto a winner!, i have to many refractors, i seem to collect them, but for my interest in this hobby, i would need a minimum of 2 scopes

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Ags

Ags

Posted
Posted

I've been playing with ideal setups in my head the past couple of days. I guess I would have a C11 on an EQ6 at home for planets and my favorite, globular clusters because high magnification cuts through the LP. I would have a delux portable 200mm dob for backpacking to dark sites. I would have an EQ3 Pro for imaging DSOs with camera lenses and an Ioptron Sky Tracker to go in my backpack to do the same from dark sites. Obviously I would also need an AZ4 mount and a nice 100mm doublet for grab and go. Then I would have a Mak 150 simply because I love maks. Particularly because of the long focal length of the C11, some of my eyepieces would have to be ethoses, others would be BGOs and the 35 panoptic in particular.

That should just about do it.

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swamp thing

swamp thing

Posted
Posted

Not sure there is one perfect scope for visual, there may be a perfect one for you but it may not be perfect for someone else. The venerable 8" Dob is a tough act to beat but, for some it can be easily beaten by a 12". Others can't even lift a 12" so we reach an impasse. :)

Or put another way, some objects look best through a RFT. Others need a huge light bucket to be seen at all. Horses for courses I'm afraid. You'll just have to start saving for a third, fourth, fifth.................. :evil6:

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VigdisVZ

VigdisVZ

Posted
Posted

Shane gave me an idea, so I put together a little silly version of the One Ring poem. I usually dont do this, but then again I havent slept well all week. *cough*:

Three scopes for the photographers under the sky

Four for the giants in their halls on Paranal

Nine for visual users who dobsonians buy

One for the Hubble Lord on his orbital throne

In the darkness of space where photons fly

One scope to enjoy the stars, One scope to find them

One scope to asterisms bring them, and in the darkness align them

In the darkness of space where stars die
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rowan46

rowan46

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Is there not a collapsible pocket sized 20" that weighs 1lb has 1/10 wave optics with tracking and goto that costs a fiver surely such a thing is not beyond the realms of possibility. I saw one with similar specs but it weighed a kilo and cost a tenner too rich for my blood and too heavy.

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John

John

Posted
Posted

I don't image so that eliminates one set of requirements but I would still find one scope limiting. If I was forced to just have one I think the 8" F/6 dobsonian would be the one I'd pick. They seem to do a pretty competent job on most visual targets :smiley:

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J_M_Franklin

J_M_Franklin

Posted
Posted

I think scopes are like cars, what fits one person will likely not fit someone else, they are very personal. I have a 8" SCT at the moment, but my plans are for something in the 16"-20" range, a dob obviously, because this will give me the light collecting ability I want for the type of DSO's that I like...not too bothered by open clusters and the like, but planetary nebular, star forming regions and other types of gaseous nebula are what peaks my interest...however I do also like the planets and want to get decent pictures of all of the Solar system objects within the visual range of the beasty...I think it will be about 3 years till I can set aside the cash to buy it..

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jason.p

jason.p

Posted
Posted

You all make me feel totally inadequate. I was quite content with my little 6" reflector till I started reading this thread. Do you realise the damage you've done :eek:

(better go and lie down, I feel the aperture fever coming on and I know there's no known cure :shocked: )

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Naemeth

Naemeth

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You all make me feel totally inadequate. I was quite content with my little 6" reflector till I started reading this thread. Do you realise the damage you've done :eek:

(better go and lie down, I feel the aperture fever coming on and I know there's no known cure :shocked: )

Even if you owned the (currently being constructed) E-ELT, you'd still have aperture fever, it would just be subdued for a while.

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