Recommendation for telescope number two

[jnb]

I have just bought telescope number 1, a secondhand 90mm refractor on a mount that is somewhere between an EQ3 and EQ5 (probably nearer the EQ3 but with the tubular tripod that seems to be more common with the EQ5). I am already looking to buy another telescope because I had been going to buy something larger than that anyway it's just that it came up very cheap second hand.

So the question is what to buy. I can see that I will do both planetary and DSO work until I have a clearer idea of what I will do long term (also I can do lunar / planetary work on moonlit nights and DSO work on dark nights). I am also only interested in OTA now as I will reuse the current mount and then get something like an NEQ6 someway down the line, the packages with an NEQ6 are out of budget for now or tend to include a bigger scope than I would want. So what can I get that will be reasonably future proof and give me the options I want. I could get a 120 frac which was my original idea but that sort of duplicates what I have now. I could get a mak which would give me the aperture and be light enough to give me a big aperture on that mount. I could get a newt which would be faster for DSO work but to get a reasonable aperture it would struggle on that mount. So ... suggestions please.

[lestergibson]

200p? You'll get a wider FOV for DSOs than you'll get with a mak plus it'll also do a good job for planetary stuff.

[itmo]

get an 8 inch reflector. It is a great starter for deep sky. But i would maybe get a dobson. even an EQ5 is quite wobbly for a 200p and eq3 is probably too wobbly for it. Dobson is easy to use, quick to set up and easy to store. Your third scope can then be something like an 11 inch sct or a 12 inch dob. 

[lestergibson]

Yup, I meant the dob. No fannying around with setup and if you want to flip it on down the line, you'll have no trouble selling it if you want to go for a bucket.

[itmo]

Equatorials are fun to learn and nice for hand tracking stuff or for photography, but bang for buck stupid dobs are better. What they do lack is capability to track nicely and you have to make sure they are very smooth so hand tracking is not an issue. 

[tyco]

You could get a 10" dob and when you get an neq6, put rings on your telescope and put it on your neq6 mount.

[jnb]

You could get a 10" dob and when you get an neq6, put rings on your telescope and put it on your neq6 mount.

I've never really been that keen on the idea of dobs but as a 10" dob would cost only a little more than a 10" pds. It might be worth considering. What are the optical differences between those? We're I looking at that aperture now I would have looked at something like an orion optics VX10L but while that's affordable it's the cost of the mount which is a showstopper. So perhaps I should consider a dob as a stop gap until I can get a real mount.

[Naemeth]

I've never really been that keen on the idea of dobs but as a 10" dob would cost only a little more than a 10" pds. It might be worth considering. What are the optical differences between those? We're I looking at that aperture now I would have looked at something like an orion optics VX10L but while that's affordable it's the cost of the mount which is a showstopper. So perhaps I should consider a dob as a stop gap until I can get a real mount.

The tube is slightly shorter to give it more in-focus and the focuser is dual speed.

Personally I'd get the 10" dob, wind would be something to consider if you mounted it on an NEQ-6 though.

[Liquid360]

My personal opinion... I currently have 10" LX90 ACF. It's a terrifically reliable scope for visual use. My next scope will be an 80-90 APO. With these two scopes I think I'll be quite happy! A strong platform for AP and a great visual scope and most things in between. Best wishes!

- Nate

Birmingham, AL