(Jon Isaacs) wrote:
[snip]
Final (Personal) Note: For myself, under my relatively dark sky, a
small refractor can surpass the deepsky performance of larger telescopes used
under poorer skies.

On the other hand, under a relatively dark sky, or under any sky for that
matter, a large Newtonian can easily surpass the performance of a small
refractor used under the same skies...

Undoubtedly, but if you only have two hours free and it's a 20 minute
drive to your local dark(er) skies site the ease of setting up a small
scope means you are more likely to actually go to the dark skies and
use the scope. For a grab-and-go or quick-look scope you want a small
OTA on a simple mount. If you're going for small and portable then
refractors start to look more attractive.

No point having a big newt if you never have the time or energy to use
the damn thing.


Tim
--
Foo.