Telescopes - how many do I need?

[Mr Spock]

I keep it simple:

C9.25 for planets, moon, deep sky and doubles.

80ED for wide field

[Alkaid]

If I was going to re-think everything and start from scratch, I am thinking that I do not actually view very often due to time constraints and the god awful British weather.....based on that I would have just two telescopes.  One small(ish) one for grab and go and UK travel.  And one big one for DSO's.

1) I'd buy a 4" refractor.   If I could afford it I would of course have an APO.  A 4" refractor would pretty much nail everything that I would want a small scope to do....clean image, good on solar system, not half bad on DSO's at a dark site when travelling, lightweight, quick cool down, equally at home on an EQ mount or an AZ mount, can get wide field too with a 2" diagonal and the right eyepiece.....the list goes on...

2) For the big scope, I would buy the biggest Dob I could afford in order to get the best out of the available aperture, I would want to get as much image brightness as possible here as this scope would not travel (unless it was to an organised event).

[swamp thing]

Just wondering. If you all "need" all these multiple scopes so much, do you have to set them all up at the same time if you wish to observe more than one type of object?  

 

[Davey-T]

They are all set up all the time, 3 mounts, six scopes, no wonder it's raining 

Dave

[gunfighter48]

I have two SCTs and two refractors. I would say get a 8" SCT for high power planetary and DSO use. The 8" SCT is the sweet spot for size, easy transport/setup, and big enough to see smaller faint fuzzies.  Then get a 90mm - 102mm refractor from F/5 to F/7 for wide FOV use.  That would pretty well cover the sky.

[iPeace]

Until you own the Hubble, there will always be another scope to be had. My current challenge is to squeeze every last bit out of my TV-85. Every time the seeing is good to exceptional, Scope surprises me again.

So maybe the answer is (for some): as many as you need to determine which one you like (love) using most...

[bish]

I've got 2. My mak  has turned out to be used purely for solar.

[Tyson M]

I think ultimately a person's (telescope addicts) needs change over time, as their situations change. Right now my 10" SCT ACF is perfect right now, but when im older I think an 8" may be a better fit because it is lighter.

 

If you live on a farm or out on some land, a big dob and/or small frac is perfect.  If you have a long set up time regardless, and own a small car, the largest SCT/mak you can handle would probably be your best bet for the right balance. 

 

As your situation changes, your needs will change thus the hunt continues.