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Your Favorite 3 Telescopes ???

deepspacehunter

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John

John

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I've owned somewhere between 25 and 30 scopes over the years. My favourites are the ones I have now :smiley:

Of the ones that have departed I wish I still owned:

- Intes MN61 Maksutov-Newtonian

- TAL 100 RT

- Chinese 150mm F/8 refractor fitted with a Chromacor II CA/SA corrector

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Stu

Stu

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Yep, I like all mine for various reasons but the Vixen 150ED and Televue 85 are my favourites

Stu

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Well I clearly can't count, so will add the 12"" OO f6 dob in 3rd place

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L8-Nite

L8-Nite

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Since 1965 I've had a total of nine scopes. At present there are six, which is still two too many. I guess my favourite would have to be the Sears 76mm Model 6339-A which was the dream scope when I was a kid. I came across one for sale by chance when I became an adult, and still have it after all these years. My second favourite has been a 63mm Zeiss Telementor, and third would have to be my long awaited Questar which was my retirement present to myself. 

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Chris

Chris

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I've lost count of the scopes that have passed in and out my front door in the search of those magic 3 or 4 scopes which will be kept for good!

I'm hoping my Current C8 Edge HD will be one of them, its a lovely and very capable scope and everytime I use it I become more fond of it :)

I should have never of sold my WO 66 SD and probably not my 130pds, or my 200p Dob, oh and any of the 3 ED80 varients I've owned :D

so here we go:

1) Celestron C8 Edge HD with 0.7 reducer (currently own)

2) Skywatcher 200p Dobsonian

3) I really can't decide between the 130pds and ED80? sorry slight cheat.

Luckily I don't have to include my Vixen BT81 in all of this as its a bino ;)

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jgs001

jgs001

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I own 3 , so my choice is made for me :D

#1 Celestron 80ED (same as the SW ED80)

#2 GSO 6"RC 

#2 Konus Vista 80s (same as the SW ST80) lovely and portable, fits in my eyepiece case

I know that's two #2's but they are tied.

I sold a Skymax 102.. nothing wrong with it per se, but for what I wanted it for, it wasn't enough of a difference from the results of my 80ED. 

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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I have owned a fair few scopes, the 3 that stand out are:

!st and still my favorite is the TAL100RS 4" f10 achro refractor

 joint 2nd would be the Antares 105 f15 achro, i did not want to sell this on but it was just far to long to be practical on a tripod, and i dont see me ever having a solid pier! and the TAL125r, funny thing with the TAL125, it just did not seem to do any thing the 100rs cant do

3rd the 150 skymax pro, i had the 180 pro for a while but it was a right heavy beast and i find the 150 more of a grab and go but still has a huge focal length and near APO performance

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Luke

Luke

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Thankfully I have all three of my fave's still.

1) Equinox 120 - nearly sold this one! It was so nearly sold, the upgraded focuser and the focal reducer had already been sold! I then realised it might be quite good for solar white light. It's now my fave scope for solar imaging in white light with a Herschel wedge, or in h-alpha with a Daystar Quark. I also like using it for lunar, though my fave scope for lunar is an Edge 8. It is not my most used scope, but it is the scope I like to use the most, so this is the last one I would be without. Here's one of my pictures taken with the 120 and Quark:

14777106901_84c1ccab5f.jpg

2) Tele Vue 60 - gets the most use, as solar is my favourite thing and it's my grab and go for solar white light and h-alpha. Very compact and a nice thing to take on hols, it doesn't draw much attention to itself, a lady on hols asked why I was pointing my camera at the Sun! Also use it for a quick view at the night sky and I have been surprised to find planets are still pleasing even with just 60mm of aperture. Of course, it is not going to match a bigger scope for resolution. Sometimes it's just nice to see the objects, have fun, it's not always about the very best view. I managed to grab the monster spot in white light on hols with the little 60:

15481698688_1dfb3d59d1.jpg

3) Skywatcher 16 inch dob - haha, it gets beaten by a titchy 60mm scope, because although a 16 inch dob is very nice indeed for DSO observing, it doesn't work with a Daystar Quark and Herschel wedge for solar. Which just goes to show, all scopes have their plus and minus points, and the best scope depends a lot on your needs and preferences.

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Marki

Marki

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Everytime I think about this question, I come up with a slightly different list. In particular - I struggle with which of the two TALs I have is better. In the end, my list is partly based as much on the "feel" and look of the scopes as objects and how I feel about them, as much as how good the views through them are, or practical things like ease of use, and indeed how much I use them, or even if I still own them. Anyway, here goes!

1. Skylight 4" f13.

A beautiful scope to look through and to look at. Beautiful black tube with brass details and dewshield, married to a quality Carton 100mm objective. Richard Day, who made this, has managed to match a traditional elegance in design with modern optical excellence in this telescope. Its length is long enough to minimise any CA (I hardly notice any now), but not so physically long as to really cause problems with mounting. Absolutely sharp across the field. A fantastic double star splitter. Probably my most used scope now.

2. TAL125R

A Russian-made 125mm achromat at f8.9. Its been a bit of a love-hate relationship, until recently. Robust, mechanically excellent, but indifferently finished - pretty light and easy to mount, and enough aperture to make clusters and (some) DSOs begin to get interesting. Unlike Jules (see Nightfisher's post ~19 in this thread) I've found the larger aperture of the 125 does *just* trump the otherwise excellent (and optically possibly better) TAL100rs (which I also own). When I first got it, I was disappointed, as it was out of collimation and I felt had other problems. After being adjusted and corrected for spherical aberration by an expert, it is a much improved and altogether nicer scope - a good workhorse, and gets a lot of use now.

3. Istar 150mm Perseus. I no longer own this  - its an F10 achromat of excellent optical quality in a very heavy duty tube. This provided me with some absolutely stunning views of a range of objects, with some of the best, most detailed lunar views I've enjoyed, to teasing out some wonderful detail on Mars, with superb contrast and detail. Really opened up clusters and was no slouch on many "fuzzies" too. Absolutely beast to mount though - had it on an AZEQ6 GT, and it really pushed the limits of that mount. I regretfully sold it as the sheer weight and mass, coupled with a bad back, meant it was not getting used. If I coud get the same quality 150mm glass on a lighter tube, or if I had the option of a permanent obsy, I'd really get another Istar in a heartbeat.

I'll post this now before I change my mind again... .

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