Selecting a refractor

[Phil gillespie]

Hello all I am new to this site but not to astronomy. I have a pair of apm 100mm apo binoculars and looking to buy a refractor and goto mount..the binoculars are great but somewhat combursom. Ideally I would like to have a 4 or 5 inch refractor. Any help would be greatly appreciated..thank you. 

[Sunshine]

Welcome to SGL! 

Some more info would help us better guide you, what is your budget and, do you intend on using it mainly for visual or astrophotography?

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Sunshine

[Phil gillespie]

Thank you for your reply. I am only interested in observing planets and deep sky .I will have to buy a complete refractor and goto mount. I think my budget limit would be over 4000 dollars. But that would have to include ep,s diagonal and maybe a Barlow. 

[mikeDnight]

Hi Phil.  The Tecnosky 125mm doublet ED apo is currently being discussed in the scopes forum. It looks gorgeous and is well within your budget. The Skywatcher 120mm or 100mm ED is another you might like to consider. Eyepiece such as Baader Hyperion's or Baader Morpheus are really excellent, as are any of the Baader diagonals. Personally I'd keep my mount choice low tech, as its easy to eat into your budget once you go down the go-to route.  A simple Altazimuth or basic EQ5 equatorial style mount would be adequate,  and would allow you to invest more in the scope itself. 

[Spile]

I have been extremely happy with my decision to get a 8" Dobsonian. I made some upgrades following purchase and after getting familiar with it but basically I wanted to put money into the optics and build.

 

[Stu]

A lot depends on how portable you need it to be. A decent 150mm Apo doublet and AZEQ6 might fit into your budget, not sure? They are big beasts though, so you may get more use out of a 140mm or even the 125mm Mike suggested which looks a very nice scope and excellent value. No point the scope being so big you can face using it.

The Skywatcher 150ED is probably the cheapest 150mm apo out there, but APM and Technosky do 152mm doublets too.

It’s a nice problem to have 👍

 

[dweller25]

Hello @Phil gillespie and welcome to SGL.

The more aperture the better, so at a minimum you would need a 4” but a 5” will show more. However the 5” will be heavy and will need a bigger mount so may get used less so bear this in mind.