The history of my telescope collection - what’s yours?

[RobertI]

I’ve been reading a few interesting threads which have made me think about how I ended up with the scopes have over the years, so I have summarised my scope history in chronological order, and the reasons for buying them in brief below. Hope it’s of interest....

1) Celestron C8 - bought in 1999, the dream scope of my youth that I could finally afford. Not much reasearch done, I just wanted one!

2) WO Zenithstar 66SD - bought as a ‘super finder’ for the C8 (I was seduced by its anodised orange lustre). This scope started me out in imaging with my Canon EOS and made me realise how easy it can be to get good results with a small frac. 

3) WO Megrez 72 - I discovered that @Lockie was selling the more imaging friendly 72SD with 2” focuser and was only 10 miles away, so thought I’d give it a go. Turned our be a good g&g visual scope too. 

4) RC6 -  I ended up with this scope as I needed a goto mount to help with my growing interest in EAA, and this scope was being sold locally, bundled with a CG5 GT mount, for a very good price. The RC6 turned out to be a much better EAA scope than the C8, with the promise of ’proper’ imaging in the future.

5) Tal 100RS - really purchased out of curiosity (from my friend @Lockie again!) - I wanted to get a feel for what  could been seen visually with a 100mm longish FL frac, possibly as a prelude to an 100mm ED.

6) Heritage 130P - I wanted more aperture in a grab and go format that could sit on my Giro-WR mount - having read so many good reviews of this scope, it seemed the natural choice. What a good scope it’s been!

Interestingly, having reviewed my reasons for buying the different scopes, I think all of them except the C8 were opportunistic purchases, in that if they had not been on ABS and/or local, I may well have ended up with something  different or nothing at all. 

So how and why did you end up with your various scopes? @Lockie , given the number of scopes you’ve had, you are limited to 10,000 words! 😆

Edited December 27, 2019 by RobertI

[knobby]

Hi, I bought Mrs Knobby a very cheap unbranded supermarket special one Christmas Eve long long ago - 60 X 700 frac on awful mount ! But she loved seeing Jupiter and Saturn then the moon ... Then after a week it became ' is that all, what else can it do ' and interest waned .

Being into photography I tried to connect my DSLR and managed a dodgy moon shot and I was hooked.

After researching this time and giving it some thought ( 😒 ) I still bought the wrong scope , a 150 Dob ! It did open my eyes to DSO and saw M42 properly for the 1st time. I was more into planets though and wanted more mag / power so bought and sold a bit and got the wrong scope again ... A 250 Dob.😅 Really annoying for visual high power planetary ... Nudge, nudge, nudge 😟.

Next was a Skywatcher 127 Mak on an EQ5 and hacked webcam 👍 possibly my first properly informed purchase, this had me hooked on planetary imaging.

Then aperture fever kicked in and went Skywatcher 150 Mak which was a bit much for the EQ5 so more selling and piling up birthday / Christmas money ended up finding the C8 edge / AVX that I still have now.

Along the way I got into DSO imaging with a William optics Zenithstar 71 but after damaging shoulder I couldn't lift the AVX so Mrs Knobby got me an AZ-GTI (coz she's lovely) but the little mount wasn't quite up to the Zenithstar so my last / most recent change was a Skywatcher 72 ED which is great on the AZ-GTI.

So, the moral is ... There are no wrong scopes / poor decisions, just milestones along the learning curve 👍

[RobertI]

16 minutes ago, knobby said:

There are no wrong scopes / poor decisions, just milestones along the learning curve

Couldn't have put it better myself!

[AdeKing]

Here is my scope history to date.

1) Skywatcher 8" Dob received as a 40th Birthday Present after much research

2) Skywatcher 6" f/5 Newt picked up secondhand as something a bit more portable that would fit on an AZ4 - Later sold the OTA to @Mark at Beaufort when I decided that I rather liked Fracs

3) Skywatcher 130PDS purchased as I thought I'd have a go at imaging.  Then sold on when I realised I didn't have the time or patience to be an imager and was getting hassle for the ever increasing number of telescopes in the garage

4) ST102 - Picked up new from FLO for a first foray into Fracs, very underrated scope and sees plenty of use when I want something relatively compact.  Thanks to a BT broadband reward for switching to them that needed spending before it expired, this only really "cost" me £50.  Bargain.

5) WO ZS66SD - Picked up as a compact grab and go and has proved to be my most used scope, especially for WL Solar and is my go to travel setup as its so tiny

6) Celestron Omni XLT102 ED - Came to me via @Lockie and @Saganite for a very reasonable price and is an absolute keeper and my second most used scope.

7) Altair Starwave Classic 102 f/11 - Purchased from @Jonk specifically to allow me to get high magnification on Mars in 2018 and retain comfortable eye relief. Bit of a non starter for me thanks to the planet wide dust storm, never saw any detail to speak of.  Hoping for better luck in 2020, though its a bit much for the EQ5 hopefully the electronic focuser will make it more usable.

8 ) Dark Star 12" f/6 Dob - Opportunistic as it was offered for free as a fixer upper, but its too big for me and I don't have the time to renovate it so will hopefully be moving it on soon

9) Lunt LS60DS - Purchased for a very good price from a member of our Astro Society when he found out I was looking for one

10) Gold Skywatcher ED120 - Picked up from @Grumpy Martian when he wanted something smaller

The 8" Dob will never go as it was a present and got me back into astronomy, the other newts have now gone (almost gone in the case of the 12") and I just have a stable of Fracs.  I think I probably have too many as its mostly the Lunt, ZS66 and ED100 that get most use but have no intentions of getting any more in the immediate future or indeed moving any on.  

[RobertI]

24 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

5) WO ZS66SD - Picked up as a compact grab and go and has proved to be my most used scope, especially for WL Solar and is my go to travel setup as its so tiny

What colour is yours?

28 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

6) Celestron Omni XLT102 ED - Came to me via @Lockie and @Saganite for a very reasonable price and is an absolute keeper and my second most used scope.

Very nice scope. That man @Lockie again!

[AdeKing]

20 minutes ago, RobertI said:

What colour is yours?

Somewhat faded blue.  I guess that it had seen a lot of solar action before it got to me as it was pretty faded then.

21 minutes ago, RobertI said:

Very nice scope. That man @Lockie again!

Yes, very nice indeed though I think @Lockie regrets letting that one go.

[Space Hopper]

My scope history ; some binocs too....

1. Astral 60  refractor.  Christmas present in 1980 from parents when i was 13. Gave me my first views of Jupiter and Saturn, close up lunar and a lunar eclipse. The seed was sown. Scrapped in 2017 after 30 years of inactivity.

2. OO 10" Newtonian reflector on dodgy EQ mount. Purchased 2001, sold 2004.

3. Canon 15x50 is bins. Purchased with funds from Newt sale above. Still in active service.

4. WO FLT 132 Apo Purchased 2008, sold 2018.

5. Celestron C8 Edge HD. Sold after a year or so.

6. Meade 6" ACF SCT.  Second hand purchase. Sold after a year or so.

7 OO 10" F6.3 Dob. Second hand purchase 2016. Sold after a year or so.

8. Canon 10x30 is bins. Still in active service.

9. OO 12" F4. My final Newt / Dob. Purchased with sale funds from OO 10" in 2017. Sold October 2019.

10. Fujinon 7 x 50 bins. Second hand purchase. Optically superb. Still in active service.

11. Celestron C9.25. Sold after only 6 months in 2018.

12. Tecnosky 70mm refractor. Sold after a year or so in 2019.

13. TEC 140 refractor. Purchased in 2019. My last 'major' purchase and final 'big' scope. This is the scope that will see me through to the end, all being well.

14. Epilogue. APM 105 refractor. This really is the last biggie, i promise. Purchased 2019 to compliment the TEC, and for quick grab / go / travel and hopefully an image or two in the future.

[RobertI]

13 minutes ago, Space Hopper said:

My scope history ; some binocs too....

Looks like you’ve tried pretty much everything and have finally found you’re happy place. I think a TEC140 would be my happy place too! 

[RobertI]

36 minutes ago, AdeKing said:

Somewhat faded blue

They do seem to fade somewhat, fortunately mine has been mostly in its case with only a bit of fading from previous ownership. I think they did ‘Meade’ blue, ‘Celestron’ orange, ‘laboratory’ white and ‘bling’ black!

Edited December 28, 2019 by RobertI

[Davey-T]

Once upon a time I had one scope now I have lots, mostly impulse / curiosity buys, haven't counted them lately and there's another on the way 

Dave

[Paz]

Here's my scope history so far...

12-60x70 zoom binoculars. A present that by chance got me into the hobby. At the time I thought they were awesome. I haven't used them for years!

10x50 Monocular - has seen lots of use over time, I still have it.

28x110 Binoculars. Tested when bought and are obviously good but never used in the field. My first and last case of aperture fever plus I now know binoculars don't really suit me.

ST120 and MC127 - I wanted to experience different types of scope for myself. These have proved a great pair for that purpose and have been very complimentary to each other.

VX14 - found second hand. A big step up but has proved to be exactly my cup of tea. My best scope and suits my interests very well. I will keep this as long as I can handle it physically.

ST80 - found second hand as a cheap travel scope, has been good.

SW607 saved at a rubbish tip - I saw it about to be binned and asked if I could have it. It is in fine order bit the mount (az2) is terrible.

C8 - I really wanted a 180mm Maksutov but they come up very rarely second hand. The C8 is a lot more common and is a lot lighter so I changed tack and went for one of these instead. Doesn't get used much - the smaller scopes beat it for grab and go sessions, and the vx14 beats it for serious sessions.

TS Optics 72mm ed apo - I was looking for a good quality travel scope. This is proving excellent.

Altair 102mm ed apo - I was looking for a 4" apo, this seeming to be a sweet spot for many astronomers.

8x42 monocular. My 10x50 is a bit too shakey for me - 8x is much steadier and lighter.

I now ought to be selling everything except the VX14, 8x42, and the two apos but I would rather not! The ST120 and MC127 in particular would be tough to have to sell.

[John]

Interesting thread

I can't honestly remember how many scopes I've owned since my first one nearly 40 years ago. I guess it must be somewhere between 30-40 with practically all the design types represented.

I can cover the ones that I currently own though:

- Vixen ED102SS. I wanted a portable, quality refractor that would handle high power and show a wide field of view and this nice little F/6.5 Vixen came up from an SGL member. I've owned it 13 years now but it dates from around 6 years earlier than that. The ED102SS was not made in large numbers and did not have a long production run. I've rarely seen them for sale since I picked mine up. At F/6.5 it is a very versatile scope and despite being an ED doublet rather than a triplet, false colour is very well contained and the objective has an excellent figure and polish so star images are crisp and clean. Vixen know how to make a good objective lens.

- Skywatcher ED120. The Vixen above got me hooked on ED doublet views so I wanted more of that. The ED120 was another purchase from another SGL member probably around 8 years ago now. It is one of the original gold / cream colour scheme ones. It came with a William Optics crayford fitted but I've since changed that for a Moonlite craydord. Super optics in this example - competes with much more expensive scopes I've now found. When I bought this I did have thoughts about this becoming my only scope because it combined reasonably generous aperture with a high quality objective. I was not immune to aperture fever though - see below ! 

- Orion Optics 12 inch F/5.3 dobsonian. I bought this as an optical tube for a bargain price considering what they cost new. I'd owned 8 and 10 inch dobs and a 12 inch Meade Lightbridge. I parted with the Meade because of it's weight but I missed the aperture. My original plan was to buy an Orion Optics dobsonian mount but my SGL friend Moonshane offered to build be a dob base in the same style but made of good quality plywood. That worked out very well and the dob turned out as light as a chinese 10 inch dob but with the optical clout of one of Orion Optics better quality primary mirrors. Best scope that I've owned really in terms of being able to show me things that I'd not seen before and things that I had seen before, with more detail than ever before.

- Takahashi FC-100DL. Back in 2016 I inherited a sum of money with no strings attached. I decided that I wanted to own a top flight refractor and the recently released Tak FC-100DL seemed to offer something a little different from the faster Vixen and my 1st taste of fluorite optics. Takahashi have made 2 production runs of the FC-100DL each limited to 100 units worldwide. Mine was the last unit that was available in the UK from the first run. The only scope that I currently have that I bought new. a couple of decades back I had lusted for a Vixen 102 fluorite but it was way out of my price range back then. I reckon the Tak FC-100DL is the modern incarnation of the Vixen FL. Absolutely no false colour on any target and able to deliver top quality images at magnifications well above what is considered "normal" for a 3.9 inch telescope.

-  TMB/LZOS 130mm F/9.2 Triplet. What was going to be one top end refractor became two in 2016 when this German built with Russian optics 5.1 inch refractor came on the market within 30 miles of where I live. I put in an offer and soon was able to travel down to the Somerset Levels to collect the scope from it's former owner, who had owned it from new. What attracted me to this scope were the reports that I had read of these LZOS made triplet objectives and the connection with the great optical designer Thomas M Back who sadly passed away at a very young age in 2007, the year after my scope had been made. APM in Germany handled the build of these refractors and production levels are even lower than the Tak FC-100DL. I believe around 120 have been made to date during a 14 year production run. Mine is #20. It's a long, heavy scope and challenges most mounts but the image quality is truly superb. The LZOS triplet objective is completely free of false colour and, like the Tak FC-100DL soaks up high magnification effortlessly.

So thats my lot, currently. One largish dob and 4 quality refractors.   I count myself very lucky to be able to own and use these quality telescopes. When I started out with my 1960's Tasco 60mm refractor I would never have dreamed that I would be able to have these gems at my disposal

Of the other scopes that I've owned over the years that have stood out:

- A 6 inch F/6 UK made Astro Systems newtonian that I put on a crude DIY dobsonian mount. My first "proper" scope after the 60mm Tasco. Showed me Halleys Comet in 1986 and I was glad that I had it - the comet was pretty underwhelming visually despite its fame !

- A Vixen SP102M achromat refractor on the Super Polaris mount with the original Skysensor GOTO system.

- A Skywatcher Evostar 150mm F/8 achromat (I've owned 3 of these actually) but fitted with a Chromacor CA and SA corrector which delivered performance close to an ED doublet. That gave me a taste for what ED doublets could do but I wanted that performance without the faff that the Chromacor entailed.

- A stock Skywatcher Skyliner 200P dobsonian. Bought from FLO as an "open box" bargain. Great all round performer and probably the best "bang for the buck" of any scope that I have owned.

- A 1990's USA made Celestron C8 Plus. Great optics and showed me some of the best views of Saturn that I've ever seen through a scope. The scope did have a bit of the infamous mirror flop though.

- A lovely Russian Intes 150 F/6 maksutov-newtonian. Super, apo refractor-like images. Rather a heavy tube for the aperture but cracking optical quality like most Russian optics.

- A massive Istar 150mm F/12 achromat refractor. I dreamed of being like a victorian astronomer, on the end of a traditional, long, large aperture refractor. The Istar ticked those boxes alright but finding a mount for the beast was a huge undertaking. It deserved a permanent observatory type mounting really but I could not oblige, unfortunately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RobertI]

8 hours ago, Paz said:

C8 is a lot more common and is a lot lighter so I changed tack and went for one of these instead. Doesn't get used much - the smaller scopes beat it for grab and go sessions

Interesting, I can see how it wouldn’t get used give your other scopes, it’s neither portable nor a light bucket!

7 hours ago, John said:

TMB/LZOS 130mm F/9.2 Triplet

Astronomy Nirvana John. Doesn’t get much better than this. 🙂 

[carastro]

Gracious me John, I thought I had a few.

Now as the saying goes. Let's start at the very beginning.  The ones I STILL Own I have highlighted in yellow.

Always been interested in Astronomy, but did not do anything about it until the last 20 years. 

1. Bought a cheapo in Asda, tried to view objects with it, optics seemed OK, but push style Alt/Az meant that as soon as I took my hand off the scope, it would spring away from the target, so that went back to ASDA within a couple of days.

2. Bought a Celestron Powerseeker 114 from a non astroshop in the local shopping mall.  Great optics, but the EQ1 manual mount was difficult to operate and the hand controls slipped, so it was also difficult to keep the subject in the FOV.  Sold it after about a year but it definitely gave great views and a taste of wanting more.  Always hankered for another reflector after that.

3. Decided I needed a motorised set up, so got myself an ETX105 and this lasted me for a few years until I decided I wanted to get into imaging.  I used it for planetary imaging.

4. CG5 GT mount and WO Megrez 72 APO.   Started Astrophotography.  Optics were good but the focusser had a tendency to slip, so I had to get that adjusted.  Great set up, but eventually decided to sell the CG5 GT as it wasn't very accurate in the GOTO and caused me a lot of hunting around to find my target.  Sold the Megrez as I had heard good reports about the ED80.

5. Bought an NEQ6 on recommendation from FLO for future protection.  Great mount, and also a Skywatcher ED80.  Still have the SWED80.

6.  Bought a SWED120 to get some of the smaller targets.  Great scope, still have it.

7. Bought a deforked ETX125 on a vixen dovetail to image planets. 

8. Got fed up with keep taking the NEQ6 mount off the pier to take the star parties as it was heavy and difficult to re-polar align when I got home again as the pier plate is right where my chin needs to go to look through the polarscope.  So decided to buy an HEQ5 for going to camps and keep the NEQ6 permanently on the pier at home.  Heard good reports about the WOZS71 and was reassured that the focusser slip problem was now fixed and guaranteed by WO.  Still have the WOZS71, great optics, but not so keen on the design as the dew shield slips taking the dew heater with it (no screw to fix the dew shield so have now resorted to putting a thick elastic band around the scope to stop it from slipping.  No-where to mount a finderscope, and the soppy little foot supplied with it does not allow for balance, plus difficult to get your fingers on the focusser if you mount it on a longer dovetail.  All these problems are now alleviated by mounting it on top of my ED80 as part of a dual rig (using a guidescope mount) and putting the finderscope on the ED80.  Still have the WOZS71.

9. At some point I sold the ETX125 as I had decided to stop imaging planets, but later regretted it and bought a C6, but I could not get on with it and re-sold it.

10.  I then bought a deforked ETX105 to replace it.  But a further year or two down the line, decided I was right in the first place, that planetary imaging was not for me, so re-sold it.

11.  Still had that hankering for a reflector, so seeing the good reports on here for the SW130PDS I bought one.  Had a lot of fun with it for 2 - 3 years, but could not use my dual rig when it was on the mount.  Then after it got into some bad collimation problems, I decided I had had my fun with it and wanted to go back to my refractors, I sold it earlier this year. 

3 years ago I fractured my knee and decided that since I now have a pin and plate in my knee that kneeling to do PA was not going to be comfortable any more, so bought myself a Polemaster.  With polemaster it would be easy to re-PA my mount and that since I hardly used the NEQ6 at home, and that I am never going to get myself a really heavy telescope, that I might as well release the Equity in the NEQ6 and simply use my HEQ5 in the obsy during the winter months.  So I sold the NEQ6.   

Think I have pretty much settled for my dual rig WOZS71 and ED80 with occasional use of the SWED120. 

Pondering over a triplet, but they are a lot more expensive and will I see much benefit, can any-one tell me? 

Carole 

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by carastro

[RobertI]

49 minutes ago, carastro said:

Gracious me John, I thought I had a few.

It looks like you have had a few ‘milestones’ along your learning curve,  and the odd millstone too (haven’t we all!)!

[Mick H]

Telescopes are like fishing rods, one is not enough two is too many. 😉

So mine is boring.

Started with Binocular's then brought a NexStar 90 SLT, then brought my NexStar 8se.

[scarp15]

Formally an early Celestron C8 Celestar model, complete with fork mount, clock drive motor, optically and mechanically was very nice.

A range of 15x and 10.5x 70 binoculars by Celestron and Helios

A 12" Flextube manual dob, that eventually led to selling the C8, this scope was at the time formidable, it opened up the potential, revealing deep sky objects brightly at dark sky locations.

My first refractor was a TeleVue Pronto later replaced with a TeleVue 76.

 

Currently I use an OOUK VX14 dob and quite as with Paz, so long as I can handle it, will gain use whenever possible.

OOUK VX8L, that in some ways succeeded the C8, I had missed this aperture, it has become a highly versatile scope.

TeleVue 85, for myself is a perfect balance between aperture and potential in a small refractor.

Lunt 16x70 binoculars, gains much use for brief periods at home and on dark sky trips. 

 

 

[Alkaid]

Okay!

1.  Skywatcher 114 EQ1.  The scope that got me started.  This one was fine at low power, but had an inbuilt barlow in the focuser, meaning that collimating was troublesome.  Had some nice nights out with the scope under winter skies and it really got me hooked.  Sold it as it didn't like powers over x100 so wasn't great on the moon.

2. TAL-1.   This restored my faith.  A sharp scope, delivered very good, sharp clear views of the moon at it's max of x169.  (It had the older push fit eyepieces so normal 25mm ones wouldn't fit).  Heavy, bombproof construction, would outlast humanity.  Gave it to my father-in-law when space became a bit constrained.  I'm annoyed with him as he still hasn't used it....

3. Skywatcher Evostar 90.  Bought for my Mum (who never used it).  A very good, underrated 3.5" F10 frac.  Very light.  Sharp images of the moon and planets, with a little CA.  Got it back from Mum and kept it as my grab n go lunar scope.  This scope has been on more than one UK holiday and I really enjoy it.

4. Orion Optics VX6L, 1/10 PV.  Bargain buy, great optics.  No planet was safe....   Gave me my first GREAT view of the GRS.  Sold the scope as unfortunately too long to manage.  If one of these comes up and you don't mind the length - buy it.  No question.

5. TAL100RS.  A good scope, with a little CA.  Sharp optics.  Nice focuser.  It was around this time I became interested in the Plato Craterlets, but the 100mm aperture played havoc with my eye-floaters.  I managed Craterlet 'A' but that was all.....I think the rest were more limited by aperture than my eyes though.   GRS was seen, but I was underwhelmed......more aperture needed.   One of the things I never did with it was low power star clusters, I think it would have delivered beautifully, but as this wasn't my 'dark sky scope' it was never used in this regard.  The scope suffered the same misfortune as the VX6L - the length was too long for my small home and in the end I was sorry that it had to go...

6. Celestron C6 Newt - bought as a DSO scope for UK holidays, it did very well in this regard.  Compact enough to travel on a parcel shelf and big enough to deliver great views of the Virgo galaxies from a dark sky site.  A truly good scope, if one of these comes up (and the frequently do) - buy it.   I only sold mine as I also wanted terrestrial views whilst on holiday.

7. Celestron C8 - I wanted a large-ish CAT for a long time.  This one came up and the seller advised that it had 'very good optics for a C8'.  He'd just upgraded to a C9.25 and that was the only reason for the sale.  I bought the scope, but took the comments on the optics at face value.  Anyway....cue first light on the moon after a good cooling session and OMG.  With a 9mm Xcel at x222, Copernicus was incredible.  Tack-sharp, central peaks viewed individually and clear as crystal.  The extra aperture cured my floaters....no distractions at all.   My only annoyance is that Jupiter will not be well placed for some years now....just going to have to wait it out.   The scope also performs well at dark skies, giving me the best view of M57 Ring Nebula I have yet seen.  My next purchase will be the F6.3 reducer, as this will no doubt improve the DSO viewing.  This is my main telescope presently.

8. Skywatcher ST102 - cute little scope, punches well above it's weight on DSO's.  Delivers really nice low power views of the Milky Way, really enjoy star-sweeping with this.  Most DSO's are small though, you need to find the object at x20 and then up the power a bit to around x40 to frame the DSO nicely.    At x20, this little scope delivered the best view of M31 I have ever had.   It is ok on the moon at x20, but terrible at anything over x40 due to the CA, so don't bother trying to up the power on lunar.   The scope also works great for terrestrial use, spotting ships or landmarks on the distant horizon is great fun.  Just keep the power nice and low and the scope will be very happy.  This is my current holiday scope.

 

[Stu]

I've had more scopes than I can remember, I think this is about right but I may have missed a few! Some have been fantastic, some good and a few have been quite disappointing. I've commented on as many as I can recall including the high and low lights. The first few are in order but after that it's just as I remembered them.

Celestron C150HD - my first scope, a 30th birthday present from my parents in 1999. This was on an EQ3-2 style EQ mount and taught me the basics. I added a tracking motor to the mount and saw some good stuff with it including the Mars close approach in 2003, M57 and M13 and also Jupiter and Saturn when they were at high altitude and close together. It was a Bird Jones design (had no idea what that was when I bought it) and it struggled above x150 but with the planets high I saw some good stuff.

Helios 150mm f8 refractor - big and heavy, didn't like the CA.

Astrotech 106mm f6.5 EDT - lovely scope, nice flat field and good colour correction. Used alot for planetary, solar and widefield. Bought in part to mimic John's Vixen 102ED SS to show the Veil and NAN with a 31mm Nagler.

William Optics ZS SD66mm - another favourite, came away with me on safari to Tanzania and to Zanzibar, very capable for such a small scope. Replaced by an optically better corrected Tak 60mm but still missed.

Skywatcher 150mm f5 - bought to use as a large aperture with a Quark, but ultimately I think either too much aperture for the seeing or more likely too much SA for sharp high powered views. A 152mm f5.9 would have been better, but more cash than was available.

Orion Optics OMC200 - a fickle beast, could be amazing at times such as at x400 on Saturn in good seeing, but very susceptible to poor conditions and tricky to cool. Had a wonky primary for much of its life so collimation was never quite right. Fixed not long before I sold it, no thanks to the manufacturer!

Orion Optics OMC140 x 3 - tried 3 of these, nice scopes for portable aperture and for higher powered lunar views.

Orion Optics VX10L x 2 both 1/10th wave - lovely, relatively lightweight and super sharp views. Enjoyed these scopes.

Orion Optics VX12L f5.3 1/10th wave - similar to above, only really sold because of my back!

Orion Optics VX12L f6 1/11th wave - ditto! A big beast at f6!

Orion Optics 200mm f6

Orion Optics SX250

Orion Optics 8" f8 1/10th wave - bought used and added an OD mount. Use on an EQ platform and has lived up to expectations showing me Zeta Herculis for the first time. A keeper.

Vixen Geoma II ED 52-S

Vixen 80mm f11.4 (Japanese made) x2

Vixen 102FL - excellent scope, just didn't do anything the FC100 couldn't and is longer/harder to mount.

Vixen 102mm f10 (PST Mod)

Skywatcher ST80

PST 40

Skywatcher 120ED x 2 (or 3?) - again, love these scopes which are hugely capable. Used for everything including solar white light and with a Quark. Ultimately I decided I would get more use out of the smaller, lighter FC100.

Vixen 150mm f9 ED - a big beast which I ended up mounting on an AZEQ6 and Meade Giant tripod. I had the AstroPhysics focuser replaced with a Baader Steeltrack and Steeldrive to help reduce vibrations when fine focusing, with a counterbalance mechanism from Moonraker. Had alot of fun with the scope, but ultimately it was quite a job to setup and so was eventually sold on. I would love to have a top notch 130mm triplet at some stage, AP or LZOS for example, a bit more manageable.

Skywatcher MN190 - feel like I have unfinished business with these scopes, but quite big and heavy so probably won't try another. The Mewlon replaces it for me.

Stellarvue 80ED - handy as it had a split tube, good for portability and binoviewing.

Celestron C90 Mak

Celestron C8 Edge - excellent scope, quite a long cool down but enjoyed the Edge optics with widefield eyepieces. Good portable aperture.

Celestron C9.25 - brought this one back from the dead as it was an insurance write off and had great views with it. A bit too big and dewing issues probably stopped it staying.

Takahashi FS60C - tiny little gem, sharper than the WO 66mm.

Takahashi FC-76DC - super sharp, loved this one. Split tube version so easy to take abroad with me. Very nice planetary views and doubles, I found it sharper than the Televue 76.

Takahashi Sky 90 - big disappointment to me, particularly as I sold my lovely 76mm Tak to fund it. Was bought to give widefield views, but the edges were never very sharp, although it was good at high power. Might have been a poorer example, not sure.

Takahashi FC100DC - probably my all time favourite, do anything scope. Planetary views beat the 106mm triplet and rival larger scopes while it has split very tight doubles and shown me the Alpine Rille. Also good for widefield views of the Veil etc, and super for white light solar. Airline portable, lightweight, what's not to like?

Takahashi Mewlon 210 - another keeper. Although it has a secondary support so it shows diffraction spikes, it's open tube design cools more quickly and doesn't dew up, plus the optics are super sharp.

Televue 76 - lovely little nugget, felt like it was hewn from a solid lump of metal.

Televue 85 - as above, very nice.

Televue Genesis x 3 - a little variable in their optics, or at least alignment perhaps. The current one is a keeper, well controlled CA, has split Pi Aquilae yet will show a near 5 degree flat wide field. Lovely under a dark sky.

TS 72mm f6 - a modern day replacement for the 66mm and TV76. Very well put together, super focused and optically very good. Showed me the whole Veil when down in Devon.

Sumerian Canopus 16" - another favourite, complete with Nexus push-to I had a ball with this scope at SGL10, hovering up galaxies and trawling up Markarian's Chain. Ultimately went because it was just a little too heavy for my back.

Sumerian Alkaid 14" - a keeper, compromised in a number of ways but the best way for me to manage a large aperture, fitting into a packed car going on family holidays and being light enough to lift easily. Fab views from the John Nichol mirror.

Mag 1 8" Portaball - a great fun scope, intriguing design and a superb Zambutto mirror. Was quite heavy as lead shot had been added to the ball to balance heavy eyepieces so again, fell victim to my back!

Intes M715 Deluxe - probably my last try with a Mak. Was excellent, but again cooling issues just meant that it felt too much of a faff. Tried out wrapping with insulation and that definitely helped.

Carton 60mm f16.7 - fun little scope when mounted on something solid such as a giro mount. Ultimately my eyes aren't up to the small exit pupils needed to make these scopes fly.

TAL Alkor - love this one. Built like a tank, and despite its 65mm aperture will show shadow transits and GRS on Jupiter. Super sharp for its size.

TAL 100R/RS x3 - quite variable examples, the best was quite fun. More CA than I like so all have moved on.

Zeiss Telementor - didn't have this long! Was very good optically when I recieved it. I had to clean the optics and ended up fitting the lens cell back to front! This was sorted out by the person that bought it off me, but I sold it for similar reasons to the Carton, my eyes just don't cope with the smaller exit pupils at high power even though the optics will cope.

150mm f10 doublet achro (for PST mod) - yet to be used, can't currently afford the necessary ERF but will get there one day.

Heritage 130P - bought for £50 as an OTA off Astroboot. Amazingly capable for such a budget scope, has split Pi Aquilae for me relatively easily. Used on a Giro mount it is very handy and convenient.

Finally I have a Truss Dobsonian which still needs rebuilding. I have a Baader SteelTrack focuser for it and had ordered a Zambutto 12.5" f5 mirror, but unfortunately finances have dictated that I cancel that. It was a thin mirror and the cell required to support it properly would have been very expensive. I do have a 12" Revelation mirror set which I will press into service to get it up and running soon.

That makes 55 or 56 scopes. Crazy.

My current flock is:
Vixen Geoma II ED 52-S
TAL Alkor 65mm
TS 72mm
Tak FC100DC
Televue Genesis
Vixen 102mm f10 PST mod
Heritage 130P
150mm f10 frac project
Orion Optics 8" f8
Tak Mewlon 210
Truss dob 12" project
Sumerian Alkaid 14"

[Mick H]

Big Head. 😉

[John]

Quite a list Stu - well remembered

[andrew s]

I don't  have an extensive list. Mainly,  home made Newtonians with commercial mirrors from 6 to 16 inches with 8 and two 12 inch in between. The 16 inch was too big for the observatory so I gave the mirror away to a school and the 12 inch Zerodur mirror to my local astro soc.

The mounts have been more interesting with Fullerscopes Mk2 and IV mounts then a Parallax mount with beautiful 12inch Byers worms and wheels which was destroyed in my observatory fire along with a 12 inch Newt.  I then ( thanks to Direct Line) got a Paramount ME and I then finally replaced that with an MEII which is close to perfection.

Regards Andrew 

[andrew s]

@Stu, just how many eyes do you have? 52 scopes at one clear night a month leads to one viewing each a year! 🤔😂

Regards Andrew 

[John]

As a mental exercise today I've been trying to recall other scopes that I've owned over the years. Us oldies need to do this sort of thing now and then to stave off becoming decrepit you know

Anyway, I've come up with a further 20+ but I wont go into detail about them. A few didnt last that long in my ownership but only a couple were actually "dogs" as I recall:

Skywatcher ED100

Skywatcher ED80 (a couple of these)

Skywatcher Evostar 120

Skywatcher ST80

Celestron ST102

Skywatcher Skymax 127 mak-cassegrain

Skywatcher Skymax 180 mak-cassegrain

Skywatcher Skyliner 250PX

Orion Optics Europa 250 F/4.8

TAL 100RT (a couple of these)

TAL 150 F/8 Newtonian

Bresser Messier 127L achromat refractor

Meade AR5 127mm F/9.2 achromat refractor

Meade AR6 152mm F/8 achromat refractor

Meade Lightbridge 12 dobsonian

Meade Starfinder 8 inch F/6 newtonian

Helios Evostar 150 F/8 achromat refractor

Helios 200P newtonian

William Optics Megrez 90

William Optics 70 ED

Tele Vue Ranger 70mm ED

Celestron C5 SCT (3 of these)

Celestron 8SE SCT (in addition to the C8 plus already mentioned in my earlier post)

Tasco 60mm F/13 refractor - still have this one, my 1st scope.

A bit scary, isn't it ?

[Stu]

14 minutes ago, andrew s said:

@Stu, just how many eyes do you have? 52 scopes at one clear night a month leads to one viewing each a year! 🤔😂

Regards Andrew 

Most sold on Andrew, I now have a far more reasonable number. Eleven is ok isn't it? 🤣🤣