Need Help Choosing a Telescope

[sabin0707]

I suppose the only useful thing I could add would be that your interest may take a new twist. I bought my scope with nebula's in mind mainly. I didn't think I would take more than a passing interest in planets and no real time for lunar obs. However, I've spent more time on Jupiter the past few months than any other object. An all rounder that can capture more light might be the best option? You've got a nice budget so the 8" newt would be very effective. I can only imagine how much more you'll get from Jupiter than with my 5"!

Is there any way you could sample some scopes beforehand so could get a feel for the differences?

This is the problem. There is only one dealer in Bucharest and it has almost zero stock. They will not lease the equipment for testing period so i have to buy in order to test.

I know my budget is a bit over the regular beginner scope but I still do not want to blew it on something that is not suited. For instance the reflector will not perform that well in a light polluted area and I want to make observations from home too when possible.

I will see how I can get a scope to test it but it is not a simple task.

[BinocularSky]

For instance the reflector will not perform that well in a light polluted area

Why do you think that? The reflector recommendations you have on here are for larger apertures than the other types of scope. In general, a larger aperture will show you more, especially of point objects, in a light-polluted sky (which is why a 200mm scope can show you stars that are invisible to the 2mm Mk1 eyeball in the ultimate light pollution: daylight).

[sabin0707]

Why do you think that? The reflector recommendations you have on here are for larger apertures than the other types of scope. In general, a larger aperture will show you more, especially of point objects, in a light-polluted sky (which is why a 200mm scope can show you stars that are invisible to the 2mm Mk1 eyeball in the ultimate light pollution: daylight).

I was under the impression that the more aperture it has the more it will be affected by noise

[LeeB]

Comparing refractor to newts and others is difficult. Most of a newtonians wows revolve around collimation being difficult with modern fast optics. Its a shame f8-f10 newts of 8 inch are not mass made any more, they will give any fract a run for their money.

as an example my 10"oo" F4.8 is great for deep sky but the 8.5 inch F7.5 I own destroys it on planets and its coillimation is very forgiving.

A friend of mine has a six inch f8 skywatcher and that performs very well on planets.

If I could find a 10 inch f10 for sale I'd sell most of my equipment to buy it.