Aperture fever

[LondonNeil]

Why am I never content ?  Am I trying to compensate for..well...uhhhmmm 😲

I have poor views from my garden so I need something small enough to carry to the nearby park.  I still look longingly at big aperture scopes on solid mounts....35 or 40kg of kit by the time I've added a power bank and a selection of eps...more with packing cases....I guess I could drag it to the park.... where there's a will there's a way.... maybe! 

This is normal behaviour isn't it?  Stupid.....but normal?

[John]

It's normal.

It gets lessened if you own a scope or two at some point that "bites off more than you can chew" so to speak though. 

I still look at 16-20 inch dobsonians with some longing but having seen and used a few, I know that ownership would be a very impractical and frustrating experience in my circumstances.

I had a 6 inch F/12 refractor which I put on a massive EQ mount a few years back. I learned a lot from that experience (I hope !) 😬

 

 

[DirkSteele]

Think of me as the little angel/devil (depending on how badly you want that 40kg scope) on your shoulder whispering in your ear…. 😉

Edited May 31 by DirkSteele
Typo

[LukeTheNuke]

Yeah, I think I am suffering too. One day, I think a more practical scope is sensible, maybe even a smart telescope is the next step. The next, I'm thinking about whacking the cost on the credit card and driving for 90 minutes to pick up an 18 incher. #iblamethefullmoon

[DaveS]

You think that's aperture fever?

This is aperture fever 😂.

 

[LondonNeil]

A trolley was part of my thinking Dirk!  I already use a little one I made up from an old Pram and it works quite well.   So well it does eat away at the objections a bit! 😅

[Alan White]

Its very normal, made worse by long periods of cloud or poor seeing.
The limiter for many is the depth of pockets and others health issues.

But if you want and can manage one physically and financially, then go for it and good luck.
If you do, can we form a queue to have a look through please.

[LondonNeil]

Ahh yes! Long periods of cloud find me camped in the classifieds! Because we all know that expensive tv ep or Thai 8" tube can burn through cloud don't we?

[Oscar23]

I think I've got whatever the opposite of that is called! I like my telescope, but it's a bulky and heavy Dob in the end, I increasingly find myself turning down a clear night because I just can't be bothered hauling it outside. I think I want a 100-120mm binoscope... ideally one with Matsumoto-EMS diagonals. Something that still has good light-gathering, but lighter and can be taken off the tripod for easier transport, maybe even carried around in a backpack. I wonder if Moonraker could make one?

Being poor and instinctively frugal with expensive taste is a bad combo...

[PeterStudz]

I think both. Both big and small apperture. Both have their place. 

I’ve found that unless you are lucky enough to live in a dark site (however that is defined) then getting something bigger than say an 8” Dob isn’t worth the effort/returns. Even then it tends to be planetary - at which time you can happily use a reflector that’s less bulky than a Dob. I’m in Bortle 7 and I’m always surprised how little difference there is between my little, very lightweight 4.5 inch Newtonian and my 8” Dob when observing DSO. However, for the planets the 8” is significantly better. But as I said for these targets you don’t need an 8” Dob anyway.

There’s also something to be said for having kit that is easy to take to a dark site. At the end of Aug beginning of Sept I’m going to a place that has a very dark sky. I’ll be there for a couple of weeks and it’s rare to even see a cloud. I’m going by air and certainly can’t take the 8” Dob, although I’d love to! However, the little 4.5” fits perfectly in carry on. I’ve done it before and when the skies are dark the views in this are stunning. 

[PeterStudz]

PS - for me an 8” Dob plus something small and light is perfect for me. The Dob is still small enough to put in the car plus camping gear and take by road to somewhere darker.  But everyone is different.

[IB20]

I’ve had it more with refractors than reflectors. Currently on a 5” after starting at 3, then 4”. Who knows where I’ll end up?! 😅

[bosun21]

7 minutes ago, IB20 said:

I’ve had it more with refractors than reflectors. Currently on a 5” after starting at 3, then 4”. Who knows where I’ll end up?! 😅

Bankrupt probably 😂.

[jjohnson3803]

1 hour ago, Oscar23 said:

I think I've got whatever the opposite of that is called! I like my telescope, but it's a bulky and heavy Dob in the end, I increasingly find myself turning down a clear night because I just can't be bothered hauling it outside.

I've gone from a classic C8 to an ST120 to an ST102ED to an ST102.  My most used scopes now are an ST80 when traveling and a 72ED at home.  Even the ST102 isn't getting much use.  

I can still haul relatively heavy stuff around, but I don't want to.  Since I live in heavy LP, faint fuzzies aren't going to be that great in a bigger scope anyway.

[Bivanus]

Well, being a city dweller - talking Bortle would be simply laughable , I have some six street lamps around my small yard - I have rather quicly learned that sadly apperture  does not help a lot. So from the 102 it went down to 72 and then to 80 which I find the most balanced for both visual and moon/planetary EAA while still light enough to allow fast deployment outside the acursed light poluted area. 

I still have the 102 , and sometimes it works , especially on visual. and indeed I am sorely tempted by the 140mm TEC or APM ( more likely since is in EU) and a Hasselblad digital back. First things I'll buy after winning the Lottery.

Edited May 31 by Bivanus
Smart-ass comment added.

[kirkster501]

I had a superb 14" Meade that I had to sell because ownership of it in Bortle 5/6 skies offered little better than a C925 which is vastly more handleable.

[LondonNeil]

I've been big before,  I started there stupidly buying a classic 300 dob.  As I drove home with it I thought,  that was a mistake!  Ì gave it to my brother and nephew who live in much darker skies (4-5 ish) and have decent views from their garden. 

I've now got,  I think,  a pretty sensible set up. St120 and mak127,  plus an ed102 which is waiting at my MIL for me to collect. If I prefer that to the st120 then the 120 goes. 

I'm just slightly lusting after the celestron 8inch in the classifieds.   I could manage the scope but the bigger tripod and the large eq mount would be such a faff compared to the az gtix I use.  Plus no matter how many times I read that fuzzy hunting from bortle 8-9 is fruitless I still want bigger.   It's just to wave it about isn't it?  Stupid....but why do I keep thinking about it!?

😅