A dob but a little out of the box.

[Earl]

Wanting some apature and from a luna / plantary view.

Also needing somethign which is easy to handle I have priced up a F11 6 inch custom Orion Dob, anyone used something like this? Obstruction will be only 25mm

[John]

Moonshane has something similar to that I think Earl.

You will have seen the Ade Ashford review I guess ?:

http://www.nightskies.net/scopetest/scopes/OD150L/OD150L.html

[Ibbo!]

not quite like that but an 8" f13

it was great on planets but very wind dependent

was first used for the shoemaker levy 9 impacts

I plan to rebuild it

I had great fun with it and it was surprisingly good on PN's as well

[nightfisher]

I have had a look through Shanes 6" f11 and its a real stunner for planets and Luna

[Bodkin]

An alternative would be an Intes or Intes-Micro six inch mak newtonian.  They come up second hand now and again at pretty low prices compared to buying a new one.  Mine is excellent on the moon and planets as it has a tiny secondary.  They can be pretty good on deep sky for the size too as the F-ratios tend to be about F6. 

They are more compact than a similar aperture  F8 to F11 newts but are rather heavy though.  Also, they take quite a long time to cool down.  Just a thought.

[John]

An alternative would be an Intes or Intes-Micro six inch mak newtonian.  They come up second hand now and again at pretty low prices compared to buying a new one.  Mine is excellent on the moon and planets as it has a tiny secondary.  They can be pretty good on deep sky for the size too as the F-ratios tend to be about F6. 

They are more compact than a similar aperture  F8 to F11 newts but are rather heavy though.  Also, they take quite a long time to cool down.  Just a thought.

I used to own an Intes MN61 mak-newt. It was a really versatile scope and put up great images of the planets. Really "refractor-like" quality

[nicoscy]

I also think a Mak Cass is the best choice in terms of getting a large aperture instrument at reasonable cost with reasonable mounting requirements.

Only recommendation re Mak Cass is to get a Lymax or something similar to aid in rapid cooling of the scope.

[Moonshane]

my 6" f11 is a wonderful if slightly scarce and unusual scope. it is affected by the wind and takes a little while to settle after nudges. for this reason I made an equatorial platform for it which works well. I got mine cheap so will never sell it.

in truth I use this mainly for doubles now but it is very nice on solar system objects. my 12" and 16" f4 dobs provide better planetary detail in good seeing.