I was in a similar situation earlier this year. My wife bought me an
ETX-105 for X-mas '01. I used that all the time, but still yearned for
larger glass. When a friend decided to sell his 10" LX200GPS and stuff
(about $5k worth of scope & gear) I talked it over with the spouse and
got it. It is a very good scope and I use it all the time. I hardly ever
use the 105 any more, but with Saturn starting to rise I may take it out
some more.

The higher contrast of the 105 makes it a better planetary scope than
the 10". I've had the 105 over 300x during last year's mars opposition
and the views were incredible.

Seeing around here rarely allows that much power.

Craig

In article , "md" not given to
avoid spam says...
Hi,

After having fun with my ETX105 for almost 2 years, and getting more and more obsessed with
astronomy, I will upgrade my to a bigger telescope. Of course, equipment can be expensive.....
and this means my wife has to agree.....
My wife has watched my increasing enthousiasm for this hobby with some amusement. I said to her
I would really like to buy the LX200 8". I showed her some pictures, and she read about the
scope on the internet. She then said: I think you should buy the 10", and get a good camera
too...

well, what more encouragement do we need :-)

x-mas will be fun this year

--
md
www.xs4all.nl/~martlian