List your scopes through the years

[dweller25]

Just a bit of fun - here are mine.....

1985 - Astro Systems (Bedford) 8.5" F/5 Newtonian - A brilliant first scope - should have kept it - sold
1986 - Beacon Hill 6" F/8 Newtonian - Hinds optics, very nice but kids came along so no time - sold
2007 - Celestron 102SLT refractor - not really good at anything - sold
2008 - Celestron C9.25 SCT - very disappointing - sold
2008 - TAL 125R - very nice but too much CA - regretfully sold
2008 - Skywatcher 127 Maksutov - a bit too small - sold
2008 - Skywatcher 8" F/6 Dobsonian - superb optics - should never have sold it - sold
2009 - Skywatcher 120ED refractor - pinched optics - returned
2009 - Takahashi TSA102 refractor - 4" perfection - KEEPER
2009 - Helios 6" F/8 refractor - too much CA - sold
2009 - Takahashi FS128 refractor - superb scope - KEEPER
2010 - Celestron C102ED refractor - excellent lightweight travel scope - should have kept it - sold
2010 - Skywatcher 180 Pro Maksutov - would not cool down - sold
2010 - Skywatcher 8" F/6 Dobsonian - disappointing optics - sold
2010 - Skywatcher 10" F/5 Dobsonian - superb optics but this scope did my back in, otherwise a keeper - sold

2012 - Takahashi Mewlon 210 - this brand new scope from Tak Europe was actually three years old! and had bad mirror shift - returned
2012 - Celestron C8 SCT - Nice optics but the OO 8" was better - sold
2012 - Orion Optics 8" F/6 Dobsonian 1/10th wave - superb optics - KEEPER
2013 - Intes Micro 715 Maksutov - Superb optics - views match the FS128 - relatively light/compact - KEEPER

2014 - Orion Optics OMC200 F/20 Maksutov - Carbon fibre beauty - would not cool down - sold

2014 - Lunt 60 H-Alpha solar scope - always at work when the Sun came out! - sold

2014 - Skymax 127 Maksutov - still a bit too small! - sold

[Mike73]

2011 - 8" F/6 Skywatcher (sold for aperture fever)

2012 - 12" f/5 Skywatcher (sold for aperture fever)

2012 - 102 f/11 Lyra Optics (sold,not enough aperture!)

2013 - 16" f/4.5 Sumerian Canopus (sold and regret)

2014 - 180 Skywatcher mak (sold,wouldn't stay cool))

2014 - 10" f/6.3 Orion Optics VX10L (sold, lovely optics and kinda regret)

2015 - 12" f/5.3 Orion Optics VX12L (this one aint going nowhere!!)

[nightfisher]

Cant remember the dates,

Helios skyhawk, did not get on with it so OVL swapped it for ST80, that got me hooked.

got aperture fever..OO  Europa 8" F5 newt rubbish, did not even get to view the moon, ended up giving it to my friend

Skywatcher Evostar 120, nice scope kept this a long time

OMC 140, did not really get on with it so sold it but should have kept it now i understand Maks

TAL 100RS, best scope in the world and will never part with it

Evostar 102, not all that good sold

Antares 105 f15, lovely but to long so sold

ST astro 76mm f16.5, nice but not a lot of point to it sold

!80 pro skymax, superb but got to the point where it only got used at star parties so sold

used 150 pro Mak, good scope but sold to fund a brand new 150 mak

Vixen 80m custom, lovely but did not get used so sold, should have kept it

102 maksutov, good little scope sold and should have kept it

vixen 110 VMC, did not get on with it so sold, no regrets

127 Mak, did not use it so sold it

150p ds, nice scope, sold it due to changing mount but miss it a little

130p ds, lovely little newt, one day i might get to do some imaging with it

had a few other odd things bought on a whim 

and got a TS 80mm f7.5 frac that is proving a superb scope this will be a keeper

[Alien 13]

1968- Charles Frank 6" reflector on EQ pillar mount sold later to get my first motorbike.

2013- WO ZS71 keeper

I do plan to get something bigger for Lunar a nice 90mm MAK

Alan

[DirkSteele]

If in italics, not mine but used extensively by me..

1987 - 10x50 binoculars that belonged to my father (not a scope I know but my first optical aid for exploring the night sky)

1994 - 4.5" f/8 Newtonian on a shaky, undersized GEM

1998 - 8" Newtonian mounted on an Alt-Az.

2000 -  10" LX200 (not mine but used for a year during my astrophysics masters project).

2003 - Celestron Nexstar 11" GPS SCT.

2004 - 115mm f/7 TMB triplet Apo

2012 - APM TMB 105 f/6.2 triplet Apo          <-------- The year I joined SGL....See if you can spot what happened.....

2013 - APM LZOS 180mm f/7 triplet Apo

2014 - Takahashi FS-60 f/5.9 doublet refractor

2014 - Takahashi FC-76 F/7.5 doublet refractor

2015 - Takahashi FS-60Q f/10 Quadruplet refractor

Would seem to imply that membership of SGL can cause your wallet to empty! 

And I still own everything since the 11" SCT.

[brantuk]

A 130P, a 150P, a CPC800, and a 12" Flextube dob (all sold) plus everything in my signature (which I still have). All over the last 8yrs. Gosh - you're right - it's fun listing everything lol.

[DRT]

All in the past four years...

Skywatcher Heritage 130P Dob - got me hooked and then sold

Skywatcher 200P Dob - great scope but sold due to upgrade

Celestron CPC1100 - fantastic scope - a keeper

Skywatcher Evostar 120 - too big and wobbly for the mount I had then - sold

Celestron Travelscope 70 - good for kids looking at the moon - donated to an outreach centre

Skywatcher Startravel 102 - a great little scope - wish I had kept it

Skywatcher FlexTube 12" Dob - too bulky to lug around - sold due to lack of use

TeleVue Pronto - brilliant little scope - a keeper

Celestron C6 - bought as a travel scope for a holiday to the Caribbean then sold

Celestron Omni 150 Newtonian - an excellent little scope, sold due to upgrade

Skywatcher Explorer 250 - sold as it was just too big!

Skywatcher Explorer 200P - a keeper

Skywatcher ED100 Pro - fantastic - looking like a keeper

Skywatcher Startravel 150 - a great scope but sold as part of my Refractor journey

Polarex-Unitron 60mm F16 - a lovely piece of history and a keeper

Helios 150 F8 - my first big frac - now looking nervous

Bresser Messier 127L - fabulous views - a keeper

Starwave 102 F11 - beautiful scope currently going head to head with the ED100

Hmmm? No Maks!

[John]

From 1980 to Now (I still have the ones in italics):

Tasco 12TE-5 - 60mm f/13.3 achromat refractor

Astro Systems FR150 - 6” F/6 Newtonian

Bresser Uranus - 102mm F/9.8 achromat refractor

Tal 100RT - 100mm F/10 achromat refractor

Celestron Nexstar 5 - 5” F/10 SCT with GOTO

Skywatcher ED100 - 100mm F/9 ED refractor

Skywatcher ED80 - 80mm F/7.5 ED refractor

Helios Evostar 150 - 150mm F/8 achromat refractor

Helios Explorer 200 - 200mm F/5 newtonian

Skywatcher ST80 - 80mm F/5 achromat refractor

William Optics Megrez 90 - 90mm F/6.9 ED refractor

Vixen ED102SS - 102mm F/6.5 ED refractor

Celestron C8 Plus - 204mm F/10 SCT on fork mount

Revelation 8 - 205mm F/6 dobsonian newtonian

Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX - 250mm F/4.7 dobsonian newtonian

Celestron C5 - 5” F/10 SCT (the 2nd one !)

Skywatcher Skyliner 200P - 200mm F/5.9 dobsonian newtonian

Bresser 127L - 127mm F/9.4 achromat refractor

Orion (USA) ED80 - 80mm F/7.5 ED refractor

Konus Konusky 150 - 150mm F/8 achromat refractor with Chromacor I

Celestron C5 - 5” F/10 SCT (the 3rd one !)

Konus 80 - 80mm F/5 achromat refractor

Skywatcher Evostar 120 - 120mm F/8.3 achromat refractor

Skywatcher ST102 - 102mm F/5 achromat refractor

Helios Evostar 150 - 150mm F/8 achromat refractor (the 2nd one !) with Chromacor I

Meade AR6 LXD55 - 152mm F/8 achromat refractor with Chromacor I

Celestron Nexstar 8 - 204mm F/10 SCT on GOTO mount

Skywatcher Skymax 127 - 127mm F/11.7 mak-cassegrain

Skywatcher Evostar 150 - 150mm F/8 achromat refractor with Chromacor II

Intes MN61 - 152mm F/5.9 mak-newtonian

Skywatcher ED120 - 120mm F/7.5 ED refractor

Meade AR5 LXD75 - 127mm F/9.4 achromat refractor

Meade Lightbridge 12 - 305mm F/4.9 dobsonian newtonian

Skywatcher Skymax 180 - 180mm F/15 mak-cassegrain

Celestron CG8 - 200mm F/5 newtonian on GOTO eq mount.

TAL 100RT - 100mm F/10 refractor (the 2nd one !)

Istar Perseus 150-12: 6” F/12 achromat refractor

Helios Explorer 200 - 200mm F/5 newtonian on EQ mount 

Orion Optics Europa 250 - 10” F/4.8 newtonian

Orion Optics SPX 300 - 12” F/5.3 newtonian now on Moonshane dob mount

I can't recall the exact ownership dates - some didn't stay with me for long !

Compared to my eyepieces, my scope list is numerous but, in the main, fairly un-exotic. I note that I've yet to own a triplet refractor or a schmidt-newtonian. Sorry about the lack of comments on them - assume that the 3 that I've kept are my favorites plus the Tasco for the sake of nostalgia. The Intes MN61 was a great scope as well and I was sorry that I had to choose between it and the ED120. The Istar 6" F/12 was a special scope but just too big and heavy to be practical for me, as it turned out. I wish I'd held on to one of my Chromacor's because they are worth big money now !

[Alkaid]

Ok...not many but here they are:

Skywatcher Skyhawk 115, 1000mm FL - got me into the hobby and I had this about a year.  The weak point was the integrated barlow in the focuser.  The 500mm FL version would have been better.  Low power views were ok, but high power was a bit mushy.  Sold.

TAL-1 (1991 model).  The telescope that convinced me to continue once I had sold the Skyhawk. Good optics.  All TAL eyepieces come to sharp focus.  Only issue is that the barrel is not 1.25" so other eyepieces can't really be used with it.   Kept this scope due to it's old, slightly battered appearance but ability to perform well.  My wife likes it too.  Kept.

Skywatcher Evostar 90 -  Originally bought for my Mum as a present, but currently residing with me as they are doing house rennovations.  Good scope, good optics, not much CA, focuser could be better. Good lunar scope.  Good planetary scope too (within reason).  Great camping scope, bagged 30 ish Messiers from Scotland with it this summer.  Very versatile little model.  Kept, for now.

OO VX6L - My first 'biggish' scope.  1/10th wave optics.  Cooling fan.  Excelllent performer, nice crayford focuser.  Many months ago (before my driven mount died) I was amazed at how much detail was visible on Jupiter through this scope.  Also a 'moon killer'.  Want to turn this into my lunar imaging scope.  Kept.

TAL100RS - Lovely to look at and casual viewing is very sharp.  Great focuser.  Not really fully tested as yet though, due to a lack of an undriven mount during last season.  The mount problem is now resolved and I wish to do a head to head tests against the OO VX6L in the coming months  Cannot wait...kept.

[Moonshane]

Here’s what I can remember of my scopes in the order I bought them. I cannot remember years like some of the others but I have less excuse given I have been observing properly only for about seven years!  They are approximately in the right order though.

I have always had an interest in astronomy though and recall sitting up for a lunar eclipse in 1995 and seeing a partial solar eclipse in (I think) 2002 and 2007(?). Also, comets Hale Bopp and Hayakutake among many other things. Blue= still got the scope.

Spotting scopes – Opticron and Kowa mainly for birding but allowed glimpses of the moon and brighter planets. 

Celestron 120mm f8.3 OMNI XLT refractor on a CG4 – my first real scope. Made a wooden tripod for it as I hated the on the knees observing! Found the CA distracting after a while and sold a short time after I got my first dobs.

Celestron 6” f5 OMNI XLT Newtonian – bought this as an OTA only and used it on the same CG4.

Orion Optics UK 12” f5.3 Dobsonian – my first bigger scope. Sold to part fund the 16”.

Orion Optics UK 6” f11 1/6PV  Dobsonian – bought for a snip off ebay.

Orion Optics UK 16” f4 1/8PV Dobsonian – bought the mirror, tube and rings and made my own dob base and bought / fitted the other bits.

Orion Optics UK 6” f5 1/11PV Newtonian – bought to make a suitcase Dobsonian for travel use. Lovely little scope.

Orion Optics UK 6” f6 Newtonian – Bought mainly for white light solar and worked well until I discovered fracs for solar!

Orion Optics UK 12” f4 Dobsonian - missed the convenience of a 12" at home vs the 16"

Konus 114 f4 – bought just to see what they are like.

Celestron 6” f5 OMNI XLT Newtonian – swapped for another scope mainly for white light solar and worked well until I discovered fracs for solar! Actually the same unit as above which I had sold to my neighbour but he wanted something a little larger.

Vixen 80mm f11 Refractor – bought for white light solar and as a grab and go. Excellent but convinced me that I need CA free views from a scope.

120mm f7.5 ED Refractor – replaced the above 80mm f11.

Tal 100 Refractor – used with the PST to form a PST mod Ha solar scope.

PST – see above. Sold the original bits other than the etalon and BF

Meade 80mm f6 APO – my main grab and go and white light solar scope unless I have lots of time when the 120mm ED is a little better in good seeing.

[Peter Drew]

Pass. One finger typer!   

[DRT]

All in the past four years...

Skywatcher Heritage 130P Dob - got me hooked and then sold

Skywatcher 200P Dob - great scope but sold due to upgrade

Celestron CPC1100 - fantastic scope - a keeper

Skywatcher Evostar 120 - too big and wobbly for the mount I had then - sold

Celestron Travelscope 70 - good for kids looking at the moon - donated to an outreach centre

Skywatcher Startravel 102 - a great little scope - wish I had kept it

Skywatcher FlexTube 12" Dob - too bulky to lug around - sold due to lack of use

TeleVue Pronto - brilliant little scope - a keeper

Celestron C6 - bought as a travel scope for a holiday to the Caribbean then sold

Celestron Omni 150 Newtonian - an excellent little scope, sold due to upgrade

Skywatcher Explorer 250 - sold as it was just too big!

Skywatcher Explorer 200P - a keeper

Skywatcher ED100 Pro - fantastic - looking like a keeper

Skywatcher Startravel 150 - a great scope but sold as part of my Refractor journey

Polarex-Unitron 60mm F16 - a lovely piece of history and a keeper

Helios 150 F8 - my first big frac - now looking nervous

Bresser Messier 127L - fabulous views - a keeper

Starwave 102 F11 - beautiful scope currently going head to head with the ED100

+ Skywatcher Skyliner Flextube 400P Dob - picking it up on Thursday :grin:

[coopman827]

Well, I cannot remember the dates, but as best as I can remember:

60mm Jason refractor

8" Cave Lightweight EQ Newt

8" homemade Dob (bought the finished optics)

10" AD10 Apertura Dob

Intes MN66

Antares 127mm Achro

Tele Vue Genesis

C6

Sky-Watcher 8" SCT

8" Edge HD

Sky-Watcher 120ED

Takahashi FS-102

Brandon 94mm Triplet

[N8Allen]

2013 Meade LX90

2015 Tak FSQ106

Sad.

- N8

[DrunkAviator]

I haven't owned much equipment, but here goes.  

1995 - A very old pair of 7x50, and a pair of 9x50 Binoculars, that were lying around in our house!

1996 - Another pair of Binoculars with a x9-45 zoom and 50mm aperture. Sure this wasn't great equipment, but I got absolutely everything I could out of it. I kept a list of all the Messier objects I'd seen and double stars. Also it was enough to show the phases of Venus, Jupiter's two main belts and moons, and Saturn's rings. 

1997 - Celestron 80mm F/5 Refractor on an GEM. Despite the less than perfect optics, this scope was so much fun to use! I loved it at the time. I saw a myriad of DSOs, double stars, and used to it make drawings of the sun and even used it to view the '99 eclipse. 

I gave up practical astronomy when I went to Uni in 2000, and somehow I never got back into it, until...

2015 - Skywatcher Heritage 130p. I can't get over what a great little scope this is. The optics really hold their own against more expensive telescopes. Bought it in the summer, and I got started again where I left off. Focuser is mildly annoying, but it's definitely a keeper. 

2015 - Celestron C6 SCT on Vixen Porta Mount, used with the F6.3 Focal Reducer. I wanted something portable enough to fit in a backpack, yet with a large aperture and good resolution, and a reasonable wide field for DSOs. This is easily the most versatile setup I've ever used, and in the end is the only telescope that met my needs. So far it has really impressed! 

[FenlandPaul]

Relatively short list for me:

Tasco 50mm frac (push/pull focusser and terrible little tripod) - stolen from my big brother -1992

Tasco 4.5" reflector (incredibly, Argos offered 2 focal lengths. I opted for the longer one. This was a huge outlay for my parents at the time but I think they'd seen I was hooked) -1993. Unused now in my shed.

Beacon Hill 8.75" f/5 Newt on a mk2 equatorial mount. (bought used from a lovely guy in Sheffield. My first "proper" scope and paid for with lots of washing up in a local hotel) - 1995 Sold last year.

Revelation 12" dob - 2015

SW SkyMax 127 mak . 2015 but only held for 3 months.

SW StarTravel 120 and StarTravel 150 - 2015. Trialling these side by side and will resell the one getting less use.

[FenlandPaul]

+ Skywatcher Skyliner Flextube 400P Dob - picking it up on Thursday :grin:

Now hang on, further up you say the 12" flex tube was too bulky. Have you been working out since?!

[DRT]

That is exactly the kind of logical argument my wife would use against me. Move along now, nothing to see here...[emoji6]

[Mark at Beaufort]

This is what I remember although not sure on some dates.

1965 - first scope - 60mm Japanese Refractor bought using the whole of my first monthly salary - sold

1969 - 6" Wooden tube Newt on Charles Frank Eq mount - sold

1974  - Family, squash and photography took over until 1999

1999 - Celestron Nexstar 5" SCT - sold

2005 - Coronado PST - still use it

2006 - William Optics SD66 frac - sold but regret it

2008 - Joined SGL

2008 - 4" Astro Tech APO frac - brilliant still use it

2008 - Celestron 6" SCT

2009 - Skywatcher Flextube 10" Dob - sold

2009 - Towa 80mm f/15 frac - sold

2010 - Meade AR6 6" frac - sold

2011 - Skywatcher 150PDS Newt - sold

2013 - Skywatcher 180mm Mak Cass - sold

2013 - 80mm Opticstar f5 frac - sold

2014 - Orion VX8 Newt - still have it

[Stu]

To misquote a famous sketch:

'This contains all the right scopes, but not necessarily in the right order!'

I've written success under the ones I feel I got enjoyment out of and think the purchase was worth it. The others weren't all bad scopes, they just perhaps didn't suit either my preferences or even just my circumstances at the time.

Starting from 1999/2000

Celestron C150HD - SOLD

Success

First scope, on something like an EQ3. I used this when I started back in 1999; learned the basics and how to operate a manual EQ mount. Added tracking motor. Bird-Jones design meant a short tube but soft above x150. Saw loads with it though including the Encke Gap when Saturn was high in the sky.

Helios 150 f8 - SOLD

Bit of a disaster. On an EQ4(?) manual mount with quite a wobbly tripod, very long and cumbersome plus too much CA for my liking. Didn't give it a chance on DSOs as I was too naive.

ST80 - SOLD

Bought on a whim. Quite handy for grab and go. Eventually the optical coatings failed so I sold for spares!

Celestron 65mm mak - SOLD

Nuff said. Rubbish. Sold cheaply!

OMC200 - SOLD

Success

Lovely scope. Glob eater! Still don't think I got the best out of it much of the time because of cooling, dew and collimation issues. At f20 it was very sensitive to seeing and cooling. On a nice Vixen Sphinx mount. Sold to fund a big dob but only after quite a few years use. I feel like I have unfinished business with these scopes so may revisit at some point now I am more experienced.

Astrotech 106mm EDT f6.5 - SOLD

Success

Gorgeous scope. No CA, lovely wide field views and very capable on planets. Fabulous views of the whole Veil complex plus many others from dark sites. Upgraded to a very nice 2.5" Moonlite.

William Optics ZS SD 66mm - SOLD

Success

I still miss this one in some ways. Tiny little thing which was great for taking abroad. Came on safari with me (honeymoon) and performed like an 8" on the Sagittarius treasures under pristine African skies. Showed me shadow transits on Jupiter too, so a very capable scope.

Stellarvue 80ED - SOLD

Again, very nice scope. Had a dodgy focuser when I bought it which I had to sort. This had a split tube so could use binoviewers without a Barlow. Good sharp optics. For some reason I never really used it that much.

Orion Optics SX250 - SOLD, KEPT MIRROR!

Not a wise purchase. Bought because I thought it was a good deal for an OO scope but it wasn't really. Took it apart to rebuild it but never finished reassembling it. Sold most of the parts, but kept the mirror and had it tested and recoated (1/6th wave). I rebuilt the mirror cell with decent collimation thumb wheels and springs and one day it will be used in a suitcase dob build.

Vixen 80M - SOLD

Lovely sharp optics. Didn't use enough so sold

PST40 - SOLD

Success

Wonderful introduction to Ha Astronomy. Extensively used, saw the later transit of Venus with it. Only lost its appeal when a Herschel Wedge appeared, meaning white light views were more appealing. Hence the Quark! I would buy another dedicated Ha scope again though, given the funds.

Televue 76 - SOLD

Success

Bought as a replacement for the WO66 to satisfy aperture fever! Better optics, less CA, lovely focuser. Used a lot at home and away in the UK but much bigger than the 66 so hard to take on a plane. Great for solar too

Televue 85 - SOLD

Success

Further aperture fever lead to this purchase. Stunning scope, very capable on doubles, planets and widefield. Also very capable for solar white light and with the Quark. Fitted with a FeatherTouch Microfocuser, lovely! Only sold to find the FC-100

Televue Genesis f5 - SOLD

Success

Wanted to try one of these, this one came from eBay. Had a few optical problems to start but got sorted and gave me some fabulous widefield views from dark sites. 5 degree fov with a 31mm Nag, Veil and NAN are amazing at a dark site. Too much CA for me at higher powers though.

Skywatcher 120ED - SOLD

Another lovely frac. Bought, upgraded to Moonlite, sold the original focuser, decided to sell it to fund something else so bought a second replacement focuser and sold it!

Televue Genesis - SOLD

I bought this mainly as a comparison with the first to verify if the optics were any better. Answer? There wasn't much in it. May still buy another though.

Vixen 80M - SOLD

Didn't think I'd given the first one a chance and this looked nice. Didn't use it much again despite its capability so sold again!

Takahashi FS-60C - CURRENT

Success

Bought as a proper replacement for the WO66. Tiny scope, nice optics (for visual, I know Olly!). Focuser not great so replaced with Feathertouch. Lovely for widefield, surprising on doubles and planets, good with Quark too. Easily airline portable.

Takahashi FC-76DC - CURRENT

Success

I blame Matthew (DirkSteele) for this one. Basically I copied his travel setup. The FS-60C came with two tubes so I bought the 76mm Objective Upgrade and another FeatherTouch and got two scopes! Great for foreign travel as it splits in two. Lovely optics, better than the TV76 and lighter weight.

Takahashi FC-100 - CURRENT

Success

Ultimately this is a replacement for the 106mm EDT. Optically it is superb, much lighter and cools much quicker than the triplet. The OTA build is very nice but I didn't even use the focuser, swapped for a FeatherTouch straight away. My only regret was the slightly narrower field of view but having used a focal reducer on a 21mm Ethos to view the NAN and Veil recently I think I'll cope

Orion Optics VX12L f6 1/11th wave - SOLD

Bought and had the OTA shipped down from Scotland! Bit hair raising but survived ok. Fully flocked, fitted Baader SteelTrack focuser, bought dob base and had mirror recoated and certified. Lovely scope, gave me some stunning views but ultimately was very heavy to cart around and too big to take anywhere dark.

Skywatchers 150 f5 - SOLD

This was bought for experimenting with the Quark. The thought was, D-ERF internally mounted and flocked that the shorter focal length would keep the mag down whilst giving the added benefit of aperture/resolution. The reality was that I didn't get great results. I think these scopes are better suited to low and medium power DSO viewing where the contrast comes into play. Nice scope though.

Skywatcher 120ED - CURRENT

Success

Missed the first one so bought this from Astroboot, refitted the Moonlite. Won't sell again. Very capable for its size and cost. Lovely for doubles and planetary plus solar white light and Quark.

Vixen Atlux 150ED - CURRENT

Success

This was a big purchase! Had been looking for a 6" 'apo' for a while. A triplet is out of my league, but this ED doublet is a wonderful scope. I've still not got the best out of it because I've been messing around with mounts and focusers. I'm sorted now with the 3" SteelTrack with SteelDrive, on an AZEQ6 in AltAz mode. Moonraker made a lovely balance system for it and tweaked the collimation. It's now working beautifully so I'm hoping for a great Autumn/Winter of observing.

One thing of note. This scope has a great history to it, and through buying it I have been introduced to some lovely chaps who I remain in contact with. All part of the enjoyment.

Orion Optics VX10L f6.3 1/10th wave - CURRENT

Success

This one wasn't supposed to happen! I was buying Mike's Sumerian and this one just sort of crept into the car beside it. Beautifully setup, flocked and with an EQ platform. It lives somewhere cool and is surprisingly light and easy to pop out into the garden. Great scope.

Sumerian Canopus 16" f4.5 - CURRENT

Success

After getting the 12", I realised that having aperture was only really worth it if I could get it somewhere dark. This is a really great scope, fitted with SIPS and encoders/Nexus for push to capability. It doesn't get used much, but when it does it is worth it! The best experience I've had with it remains the 4 clear nights at SGLX where I saw more DSOs and in particular more galaxies than in the previous 15 years! Markarian's chain! Nuff said!

Celestron EdgeHD 8" - CURRENT

Success

I've often wondered what these are like. Compact aperture with a more sensible focal length than the mak. The Edge optics are pushed as for imaging, but my experience has been that they really help give sharp/flat field performance with ultra wide field eyepieces. Very pleased with this scope and will keep it. Small enough to use on a Giro-WR and with the Tak FC-100 on the other side it is actually a bit of a killer combination of widefield/finder with higher power and aperture.

OMC140 - SOLD

Bought and sold very quickly, not because I didn't like it but I had a need for funds and this one always looked likely to lose out to the SCT.

I make that 28 scopes, 8 of which I still own. That's reasonable, no?

[FenlandPaul]

Can we all agree, for the purposes of domestic negotiations, that John's and Stu's lists are the norm?

If the mods can remove those of us with shorter lists, that would be tremendously helpful.....     

[cotterless45]

OMG, I feel so much better reading that ! Makes my shed look empty and my wallet full !

SW Heritage 130 , first starter scope, mounted on a tripod, sold !

SW Newt 150 f8 keeper.

SW 200 Dob, saw loads with this, sold to a good guy just starting out.

OO Newt 200 f6 , rescued , keeper.

LB 10" , keeper as it packs well.

Now thanks to the moment I looked through Mark's achro at PSP, fracs have taken over !

Vixen 90 M , rescued from a loft.Keeper.

Vixen 102 SP, rescued from a nutty corporate magician and his barking dog.Keeper, going to Heaven with me.

Celestron C6r, rescued from an imager , who used it once or even twice. Keeper.

Very happy now to observe achievable targets from town and transport the LB to dark sites to find stuff,

Nick.

[Alfian]

David, what have you started? In my halcyon biking days some folks said that I changed bikes more regularly than my nether garments, which I don't think was true, but the list wasn't quite as long as some here.

My astro-list is somewhat shorter.

Over the past, getting on for four years:

Celestron 130EQ (on CG3/EQ2) - surprise pressy. Mixture of initial excitement, later frustration and ultimate disappointment. Grateful that it got me going but needs new home.

Binos came to the rescue and are still a big favourite.

Williams Optics 10x50ED - heavy for 10x50s but brilliant. 

Pentax 20x60 PCF Wpii - good to use; a bit of a one trick pony - but a very good trick.

Vortex Raptor 6.5x32 - small, easy to handle, nice quality porros that give a sharp wide field view - great for sky-scanning.

Celestron TravelScope 70 - occasionally handy but tend to use Heritage 130 or binos now. Soon to be re-located (with better tripod/diagonal/EP) to an unsuspecting friend.

Skywatcher 102 Mak. very portable chunky little scope with good optics. Great for lunar observation. Works well on the CG3. May think of selling soon.

Konus 114/500 bought very cheaply 2nd hand on whim. Better than expected but rarely used now.

Tal 1 - simple,solid, stable, super optics. I can't see me parting with the Tal, short of a hernia problem.

Heritage 130P- remarkable little scope, (much better than the Celestron 130EQ) which gives good views despite its quirky helical focuser which doesn't look as if it should work at all but does really quite well! 

Skywatcher 150P on AZ4 - this seems to me like a near perfect combination. So easy to use - still exploring its delights.

In theory I now have enough to satisfy most of my particular requirements for my situation but I can't help feeling a 4" (give or take) refractor will come along at some point.

[Roy Challen]

Great variety of lists, here's my somewhat short resume.

2003-2004 Bushnell 60 mm refractor. 

I bought it for the close Mars opposition and I remember seeing the polar ice caps, started me out on my cosmic voyage. Sold

2004-2014 Meade ETX 70

Served me well with standard eyepieces for a whole decade. The drive motors packed up in 2012 so it got de-forked and mounted on a camera tripod. Learned a huge amount with this scope. Sold

2014-2015

Altair Astro ED70. Bought to start imaging. Got on very well with the scope, not so much with imaging. Sold

2015-

Tal 100RS. Yes! Proper scope, love it.

2015-

Prinz 660. As above but with less CA, love it even more.

2015-2015

Tal 100R. Loved this scope too, especially the tripod and mount but my Dad loved it even more. Sold

2015-

Borg Mini 60 Achro. Cute little scope, the ultimate grab and go, does white light solar duty too.

There's an obvious theme here - all refractors. In fact I've never looked through any other type of telescope, so the next one will be a Mak-Cass/SCT/Newt/Newt-Mak/, but then again I also like the look of Tak apos or a Zeiss Telementor.

So many choices!

[Space Hopper]

1981 (i was 14) Astral 60 refractor. Cheap, poor in all departments, but it got me hooked. Had my first views of Saturns rings with this.  Stored for years then scrapped around 2009.

2001 Got back into astronomy with an Orion Optics 250 F4.8 Europa. Pre dob era. Great optics, the rest of the scope was an afterthought. Sold 2004 but knew i'd get another one someday.

2004 Canon 15x50 is binocs. Can i count binocs lol ? Nothing better imo. Life keepers. 

2008 William Optics FLT132. Great scope, not optically 100% but ok for me. Proper focuser upgrade makes it a treat to use. Awesome with the Mk V bino. Probable life keeper.

2013 Celestron C8 Edge HD SCT. Would the extra aperture make it better than my refractor ? Err no. Not in the same ballpark. Sold.

2015 Orion optics VX250L  F6.3 (see, told you i'd have another !) Tube only. Currently waiting dob mount & undergoing modifications.

My crystal ball predicts a Tak FSQ85ED in a year or two.

And if my OO VX250 does the business that may be my lot.....