Which one of your scopes would you keep?

[Paz]

I'v been doing a bit of reading about telescopes (I don't own one...yet) and one thing I would be very interested to know from those lucky enough to own more than one telescope is if you had to get rid of most of your scopes and could only keep one of them, which one would you keep and why?

I thought answers to this question would provide an interesting perspective on the pros and cons of different types of scopes from people who are in a position to provide comparisons from personal experience.

Any response would be gratefully received!

[John]

I have a number of different scopes but they each do different things so it would be a case of which aspects of the hobby would I prefer to continue wth and which could I do without rather than a question of this scope over that one or one being not so good as another, if you see what I mean.

[Fish]

I would have to keep my C8 , first reason is its so comfortable to observe with (the eyepiece height changes very little) . Second reason is it goes deep and provides stunning views , moon,planets,globs ,clusters and dso . Third reason is its weight, its so easy to transport and can be mounted on most mounts with little vibration. Last but not least its so simple to collimate .

The only negative is you need to run dew heaters .

[faulksy]

if this is any help. i only own 1 but have owned a few, each time i sell one only to upgrade. out of the relectors,scts and maks that i have owned my current scope is the best i have owned, and still love it. i feel it does a brilliant job all round from planets to dso,s. realy happy with it

[Scooot]

That's a very difficult question. My 10' is great but I've only used it once since I've had the 16" (since January) and that was to take a photo. So if my arm was twisted I'd have to opt for the 16" because I use it the most.

[knobby]

I'd keep my C8 edge , gets used most of the 3 I have

[L8-Nite]

As a visual only observer, it would be the one with the finest optimised optical train that is reasonably portable.

[Qualia]

For night time use without a second thought I'd keep the Moonshane 10". It's easy to set up, it's extremely light and portable, it goes deeper than any other scope I have and is a pure luxury to use. There is nothing quite like it. For solar work I'd keep the 60mm H-alpha scope. It's a real pleasure being being out under the blazing blue sunny day skies, sipping some ice drink and observing what our local star is getting up to. For a more sophisticated evening of measuring double stars, or testing my observing abilities, I like to use the 4". If I can do what I set myself with that scope, I think to myself I'm doing alright. And for my day and night white light and widefield starry night combo and the sneaky "Oh, where did that come from?" stack-under-car-seat when my girlfriend wants to get away or visit the sweet in-laws scope, it would have to be the little 76mm.

Hope that helps

[Paz]

Thanks for the replies. The problem of it depending on what kind of activity you prefer is interesting.

I was originally thinking if I only got one scope it would be the biggest dobsonian that was reasonably transportable and manageable by one person (somewhere between 8"-12" for me) , but I've since started thinking that a much smaller more portable telescope would also be good, e.g. a 100-120ish short refractor on a simple mount that you can take with you easily camping, on holiday, put it in the garden in no time and don;t have to wait ages for it to cool down, etc.

...and then a solar scope sounds like a great addition too...

I can see why it's easy to end up with an arsenal of equipment if you're not careful!

[Chris]

C8 Edge HD - It's given me the best planetary views I've seen, and is no slouch on DSO's either. Its also compact, light, and easy to carry. Very undemanding on eyepieces, and with the Edge .7 reducer makes for a nice galaxy and PN imaging scope.

The only thing it won't do is wide field as you're limited to around 1.4 degrees. Still, using my ES100 20mm I was sat between the double cluster and when I looked left there was one cluster and when I looked right there was another, all without moving the scope. 

Oh and the image is very flat

The C8 Edge and the ED120 are as close to an all round scope as I've managed to find so far on my astronomy journey

However, if I had to pick one scope to look AT for the rest of my life I would pick my little Skylight 60mm f/17 

[damnut]

I now have four scopes, one left today. But it would be the 10" sct that I had to sell would be the one and only. Else 152mm and st120!!

[David Smith]

Very difficult question. It would be a tough call between the Evostar 120 and the Revelation 10. At the moment I do mostly solar observing which means the Evostar but in time I suspect my desire to look at other objects will return and I will use the Revelation more.

[mikeskor]

Skywatcher 120 refractor on a celestron VX mount. The components are portable and I really appreciate the goto facility. It will go to objects that I can't see with the naked eye. So much more convenient than my heavy 10 inch manual Dob. And the refractor doesn't need collimation everytime I use it unlike the Dob.

[swamp thing]

The biggest one of course.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'd keep my 7090/130.200 refracting Dobsonian Newt SCT. 

[xtreemchaos]

hi mate,out of all my scopes i would keep my skywatcher 200p its a real time machine it knocks the spots off all my othier scopes for vis and its not bad for pics too.all the best charl.

[laser_jock99]

My 'do everything' scope is an 8" F4 Newtonian. The curious thing is the very general nature of it makes it the one of the least used!

Whilst it could just about do most things I have scopes which are dedicated to wide field imaging (e.g. 6" F4/F2.9) and longer focal length instruments (e.g. 10" F4/F2.9) which get used more often because they are better at specific tasks.

[Stu]

Tak FC100

It's the scope which will cover 95% of the observing I do.

Solar White Light

Solar Ha

Doubles

Planetary

Open clusters

Dark sky trips on holiday where I don't have room for any of my bigger scopes.

Of course I'd love to say the Sumerian, but that would limit my observing far more

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would not keep the company of any who would force me to part with one scope

Alternatively, I would mount the 80mm on the C8 as a GIANT finder scope, and the SolarMax 60 as a nifty solar finder.

[scarp15]

Thanks for the replies. The problem of it depending on what kind of activity you prefer is interesting.

I was originally thinking if I only got one scope it would be the biggest dobsonian that was reasonably transportable and manageable by one person (somewhere between 8"-12" for me) , but I've since started thinking that a much smaller more portable telescope would also be good, e.g. a 100-120ish short refractor on a simple mount that you can take with you easily camping, on holiday, put it in the garden in no time and don;t have to wait ages for it to cool down, etc.

...and then a solar scope sounds like a great addition too...

I can see why it's easy to end up with an arsenal of equipment if you're not careful!

Well if I were in your shoes then I would consider an Orion Optics UK VX10 with 1/10 wave p.v mirrors mounted on their dobsonian base. Expensive option to an extent, unless you got lucky S/H, but would provide you with aperture, excellent all round capability from high power planetary to DSO's, light weight and portable and easy to set up / use.

Then get a frac for solar later on.

[nightfisher]

I am very tempted to say my TAL100rs, but i am about to embark into video astronomy and have bought a 130p ds, so this might become my most important scope

[JamesF]

I'd buy another big telescope and hide all my others inside it

James