Telescope monogamy?

[The60mmKid]

I feel increasingly drawn to the idea of committing myself to only one. Are there people out there who are doing or considering this? Or am I just getting old?

[Mandy D]

Nooooooooooooo!!! We cannot allow this kind of thinking in here! I'm currently losing sleep over how to get another scope without giving one up. I want an MN190.

Please stop this kind of talk immediately! 🤣

[John]

I have been thinking along similar lines lately. It's probably just the weather that's fuelling it 🙄

I suppose a more positive justification would be to get as much out of a single instrument as possible through extensive use on a wide range of targets.

Not sure that I'm convincing myself as yet though 🤔

[The60mmKid]

13 minutes ago, John said:

It's probably just the weather that's fuelling it 🙄

It just occurred to me that I proposed to my spouse on a cloudy autumn day. Hmm...

Edited November 9, 2023 by The60mmKid

[Mr Spock]

I've got it down to five, that's as far as I'm prepared to go.

OK, it's six if I count that old Celestron ED80 I never use 

[globular]

When I took up visual astronomy I promised myself I'd stick with my one and only scope for as long as I was finding plenty of stuff to observe and not feeling I was missing out.
I'm in my 4th year now and I'm still finding plenty of new challenges (along with some regular favourites) that keep me coming back for more with the kit I have.
I thought I'd want/need something wider by now... but I haven't run out of things to study at or below my 1.5° maximum field of view. 
I thought I'd want/need more aperture to hunt the dark stuff I seem to love to observe... but I have had some success with my 8" and actually think my skies here won't do justice to going significantly larger.
I thought I'd want/need the pristine views of stars through a refractor... but I'm loving open and globular clusters through my telescope and don't feel at all disappointed by how they are presented.
I love the planets and moon and have spent many a happy hour teasing out and sketching surface details... but I've only ever felt held back by the seeing conditions and never by my scope. 
I accept I may just not know any better.  But while I'm loving looking up I'll keep ignorant but happy with what I have. 
Monogamous and proud...

 

... for now.

[Franklin]

It's a great idea and does make a lot of sense, especially financial sense but is it possible? I think it is, with a degree of compromise, so I suppose it all depends on whether or not you are happy with that compromise. I've been looking through scopes at the night sky since I was a kid but I would still only describe myself as a "casual stargazer". If I were to scale down to just the one scope then it would have to be, hands down, the humble 4" ED refractor that wins. Ok it's not a light-bucket but none of my scopes are and the 4" refractor offers a great compromise between performance and portability. I think also that I would stick to a manual alt-az for the sheer "ease of use" factor, it's nice to have the tracking capabilities of an EQ mount but for visual astronomy it's by no means necessary.

One scope, one mount and a handful of eyepieces is all I'd need to continue pursuing the hobby at my level of interest but the problem for me is that I keep seeing shiny telescopes up for sale and just can't stop buying them! Maybe I should look into getting some form of therapy😁.

[Franklin]

9 hours ago, The60mmKid said:

I feel increasingly drawn to the idea of committing myself to only one

Would that "one" be a 60mm refractor by any chance?

[DirkSteele]

Nah, I am still young (ish) and want to play the field! 😉

[Paz]

I think there's a lot to be said for having one scope, and having less gear in general. I can see how reducing the choices you have to make can save time and the stress of decision making and the fear of missing out, leaving more time and head space for observing and just enjoying it.

...but first you have to get through the stress of picking what to get rid of!

[josefk]

This thread has prompted a little bit of spreadsheet analysis this morning (#geek). I did the analysis because "by taste" the concept @John expressed to "get as much out of a single instrument as possible" appeals to my character - particularly trying to achieve a particular list of something or other in a single instrument. Considering all of my observations in 2023 (targets not sessions, targets n=283) the results are:

• 5% binoculars
• 55% GnG (roughly 50/50 over two GnG scopes)
• 40% big refractor
• 5% medium reflector 

I'm shocked the GnG percentage this year is only ~60% TBH because it feels like all i've been able to do.

The challenge for the purposes of this thread is which single scope then to get behind? I do know i enjoy small scopes a lot but i enjoy them especially when i know i have a bigger scope in the background "in reserve" 🙂

 

[Franklin]

5 minutes ago, josefk said:

I do know i enjoy small scopes a lot but i enjoy them especially when i know i have a bigger scope in the background "in reserve" 🙂

Ditto!

[RobertI]

It’s a really interesting one. I’ve six visual scopes, only two of them get used on a regular basis and I could live quite happily without the others, although it’s fun to re-acquaint myself with them sometimes and the occasional “shoot out”. I never really have a decision to make over which scope to use, in reality I use my 4” most of the time but I find the 8” is good to have for galaxies, globs and trickier faint stuff. If I was forced to have only one scope I could live with an 8” or 10” dob, but do I want to? Nah! 

[The60mmKid]

1 hour ago, Franklin said:

Would that "one" be a 60mm refractor by any chance?

I’m writing this from the toilet while pretending to have an upset stomach. If FOA-60Q had any idea what’s on my mind right now… It isn’t always easy living with a telescope like that, you know? It has been weeks since I brought home a pair of Nikon binoculars, and FOA-60Q hasn’t spoken so much as a word to me.

The telescope that I have in mind is my 6” mak-newt. I think I could be content with just that scope, a dob mount, a handful of 100-degree eyepieces, and a couple pairs of binoculars.

This has much to do with my context. This summer, I moved to London after a few years of living in a rural/semi-rural part of the US. The access to dark skies there was lovely, but it was a poor fit for my life in almost every other way. Returning to the city has been a vivid reminder that the urban existence is right for me and my spouse (i.e., my human spouse; my telescopes don’t feel the same).

That means that diffuse DSOs are no longer on the menu unless I travel to dark skies, which I doubt I'll be able to do often. On nights of decent seeing, I can be content with 6” of aperture for double stars, planets, and the moon. On nights of poor seeing, I don’t mind lowering the magnification and going after wider doubles or using my binoculars (which I hope to take with me to dark skies) for casual scanning around.

At the end of the day (if the sky is clear), I'm merely an aesthetic/existential observer. I don't have to do it all, and it doesn't need to be perfect. I just have to love it.

[doublevodka]

Just one? My wife does ask why I need more than one scope so don't say this out loud 😂

I've had and got a few, see my sig, but I don't have one that can do all. I like the contrast from the refractors, but then you have CA, the reach of the Mak, but then it's not much good for the dimmer stuff.

If I was forced to cut it to just one, right now, I'd probably keep the Starblast 4.5 which maybe surprising, but it is a great little scope, super lightweight and does pretty well on a variety of targets considering it's size. Even better since I upgraded the focuser.

But then, I'd also like a Seestar S50, and an 8 inch dob, and....

Edited November 10, 2023 by doublevodka

[John]

1 hour ago, doublevodka said:

I've had and got a few, see my sig, but I don't have one that can do all. I like the contrast from the refractors, but then you have CA, the reach of the Mak, but then it's not much good for the dimmer stuff......

 

That's it in a nutshell - if you are going to have just one scope, where do you compromise  Probably my most capable "all rounder" is a Skywatcher 200P F/6 dob that I picked up for a crazily low price a few months ago. While it doesn't have anywhere near the cachet of my refractors it does do a wide range of night time observing tasks really well....... 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by John

[Cjg]

12 hours ago, The60mmKid said:

I feel increasingly drawn to the idea of committing myself to only one. Are there people out there who are doing or considering this? Or am I just getting old?

I'm down to two, an Altair 125 EDF and the A-P Stowaway. The weather hasn't been great enough to own a 3rd, and when I do downsize home, I think that there will be room for only 1.

Probably the 125 will go, as it's a bit of a beast, but the views are superb ( I could trade in my Sabre Mount and Counterweights for an harmonic drive mount?) a tough call.

[JeremyS]

14 hours ago, The60mmKid said:

I feel increasingly drawn to the idea of committing myself to only one. Are there people out there who are doing or considering this? 

I understand the words but not the question 🤔

[DaveS]

I've been running just the ODK 12 rig for a long time now, but finally decided to make a concerted effort to get the little 130 mm Photoline rig up and running. So far only rebooted the remote PC, hopefully tonight will be clear enough for me to get the mount synched and modelled.

The alternative is a bit terrifying, sell everything apart from the ODK 12 and DDM 85, then roll the money and savings into a Moravian G5 461 and a set of 50 mm square filters. I don't want to think how much it would cost, but well into 5 figures.

[MalcolmM]

One telescope! I'd have to buy a load of cheesy ornaments to fill the shelves. No way!

Malcolm 

[Zermelo]

I could restrict myself to a single scope, so long as I could have 500 eyepieces to go with it.

[dweller25]

If I could only have one scope it would be an APO refractor between 100 and 120mm. 

[JeremyS]

15 hours ago, The60mmKid said:

I feel increasingly drawn to the idea of committing myself to only one. Are there people out there who are doing or considering this? Or am I just getting old?

Any chance you could reword the question to only one MAKE of telescope?

[dweller25]

1 minute ago, JeremyS said:

Any chance you could reword the question to only one MAKE of telescope?

No point, there is only one choice 🤣

[Space Hopper]

I've been a 'one scope guy' for just under 2 years now.

However it does everything i need it to  (ie a very good performer on nearly all objects, and ticks all of the boxes)

I did very briefly take ownership of a 10" Orion Optics newtonian around 18 months ago, but it was too big for my needs and sold it on.

I still have a yearning for a small 100mm sized refractor to go with my 140, just to use for easy grab & go.

I used to own one, but it went in a trade. Some regret there, but hopefully i can replace it in the next year or two, once i have some funds. The wallet is always empty these days unfortunately.