Still frustratingly unsure of my scope purchase

[osbourne one-nil]

I'd buy a Televue 85, lots of nice eyepieces and 10 years' worth of season tickets for Fortress Portman Road.

[Moonshane]

I'm in the more than one scope crew. I am only visual and have three scopes and use them all (all manual dobs - 16", 12" and 6"). I buy almost all of my gear used and you could buy all of my scopes and all of my eyepieces and kit probably (paracorr, three BGOs, and 9 televue eyepieces) for your budget. buying used is a great way to get value. then if you sell you may well get back what you paid so no risk financially.

think about this also, if doing outreach (which is a nice thing to do), you might want a cheaper scope (like a 10" or 8" dob) and a set of basic eyepieces so that your expensive gear is not at risk - this set could be e.g. Televue plossls which used are between £50-80 and have every bit of quality you can wish for. the scope could be your grab and go when a larger scope is not 'worth it' (weather, time available etc). for the record, it's easy for most people to pick up how to track manually at up to about 150-200x if your scope is well adjusted. it soon becomes instinctive, and you can help by putting the object to the correct side of the field to ensure it drifts into view as they look.

hope this helps.

[Moonshane]

ps when I say 'you can buy' I have no intention of selling! my gear has been earned with blood, sweat and a few tears!

[bish]

Sorry, not exactly answering your question but I know what I would do with that amount. Stick a roll on roll off roof obsy in the garden with 16" dob. I should have enough left over for fairly decent grab n go.

[estwing]

yep...same here,10-12" dob,nice frac,good ep's..and some good bins!

[estwing]

yep...same here,10-12" dob,nice frac,good ep's..and some good bins!

[pragmatist]

I'd buy a Televue 85, lots of nice eyepieces and 10 years' worth of season tickets for Fortress Portman Road.

I prefer Fortress Carrow rd

Great tips guys, leaves me with a hell of a lot of thinking, my head is swimming more than ever now.

[farunj]

One of the problems with having such a high budget is the number of different and equally awesome choices available! There are so many companies and scopes out there, that one gets confused about what to buy! Hope you make a choice which will be fruitful!

[mapstar]

Just for viewing I wouldn't hesitate now and get a dob (I'll probably end up with one)

I've an eq mount and its not the most intuitive to use for visual.Also a dob is far easier to set up/tear down but the biggest thing is star hopping using a star chart and a dob is probably a lot easier,more gratifying and a lot less frustrating to do than with an eq!