What do you find to be your most usable scope?

[Paul73]

10” flex tube Dob for me. I can just about carry it comfortably in one piece and it has plenty of light grasp. Carry, place, observe. Simple.

Sadly it is out of action at the moment so I have to rely on its 16” cousin which is not practical at all! The little 72mm frac gets very little use as everything seems a bit dim after Dob viewing. I used to have an ED120 which was much better.

Paul

[scarp15]

I mentioned earlier regarding the virtues for owning a 12" Skywatcher Flextube. I sold mine for this, 14" OOUK dob, debatable if the most usable, but certainly the most anticipated. 

 

[Supernova74]

Good evening to you or morning lol well I can say you definitely get more for your money thease days and some major contenders out there however there is no such thing as a perfect scope maybe I can point you in the right direction what’s your sky conditions like firstly and most importantly your budget 

[Tiago]

@everyone:

 

Thanks for all the input. The point was not so much asking for advice on what to look for, but on the pros and cons that have led you far more experienced gentlemen to use one telescope over all others.

To keep things in perspective, I'm all about value for money these days. I could go on a shopping spree, but it has to be worthwhile FOR ME (a lesson learned the hard way by being an amateur musician with way too much gear, all of which is absolutely lovely regardless of price, and which I can't bear the thought of parting with...)

I do have the benefit of ridiculous dark skies, particularly on winter nights, and living close to hills and 3000ft+ mountains within 10 minutes' drive. I also know that observing out of my backyard will be a good, solid 95% of all the observing I will do, and that means obstructed view to the north, and roofs all around me throwing warm air into my photon streams.

I am currently waiting on some quotes for 70, 80 and 100ED telescopes (2nd hand, ex-demo, returns) and assorted paraphernalia as I realized with a bit of horror that half my eyepieces are in another country and will not be coming to me in the next few months given the current situation. Given that practicality is literally my main concern, I'm looking into something I can use in multiple ways, easily.

So, as I write this, I'm considering a 70/80mm ED refractor on a sturdy tripod/AZ mount. That would mean it would be portable to the extreme, as bump resistant as it could be, and I could theoretically repurpose the OTA for astrophotography should that disease ever be contracted again. And it would probably pair up well with another scope on a dual mount, should I ever feel so inclined.

I may well end up with something else entirely, depending on the VFM and deals I find, but I'll make sure to report back

 

Cheers,

 

- T.

 

EDIT: After I typed this, I noticed the neighbors removing the huge tree obstructing my view North

Edited April 4, 2020 by Tiago

[johninderby]

Good luck with your hunt and hope we haven’t confused things too much. We do like helping someone spend their money though. 😁😁😁

[Tiago]

Well, I did make the mistake of sending my request for a quote late on a Friday afternoon - I will have to wait until Monday morning at best. But the good wife has graciously accepted that I may build a pier in the best spot in the garden, in exchange for some digging and mowing of the lawn - a contract of unspecified duration

[Tiago]

Ah well, just to give some conclusion to this post:

I scored a ridiculously cheap vintage Tiltall 4602 tripod on the classified ads, and was set to order a Skywatcher 72ED plus accessories. And then I remembered I had my 12x50 binoculars somewhere in a box in the basement.  And I thought, “Hmm, that’s how I started with this, some 20 years ago, and it won’t be THAT different, magnitude-wise...”

A couple of hours of rummaging around the house later, and I had that plus all the stuff, namely the L-bracket and my BST eyepieces.

So, I look into my shopping cart at the online store and emptied it. However, having already said goodbye to that money in my mind, courtesy of the Gods of consumerism and globalization, I pulled the trigger on a discounted 8” f/6 Dob to stay at home, a tracking mount for our cameras to set on the Tiltall (the good wife is a photography nut and also an astronomy enthusiast, if to a lesser degree than me), plus a few assorted goodies to get everything running.

So, visual and astrophography rigs sorted on a budget in one fell swoop. Coronavirus be damned, I shall enjoy my quarantined nights!

I do pity the poor guy dropping all that off at my doorstep, though...