"mark" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I guess this has been done to death but I want to buy a telescope and
dont know what to get! I want a general purpose scope where I can see
the rings of saturns, nebulae and what have you. I have been
recommended a meade etx 125 but that is by the guy in the shop. I was
just wondering whay your thoughts are?
Start by looking at the 'telescope buyers FAQ':
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/
Now while a rather boring text document, it does cover most of the aspects
that need to be considered, and there are several other similar FAQ's
around.
On telescopes, a lot will depend on your circumstances, and site. The ETX,
is a fine 'small' scope. As such, you may be more inclined to get it out
than something larger. There are two common 'rules of thumb' that apply to
scopes:
1) Bigger is better. You will see a lot more through a larger aperture
scope.
2) Better a small scope that is used, than a large one that gets left
indoors.
Generally, 5", is on the bottom end of the aperture range to see many deep
space objects. However it is a very easy to use scope. Several of the
people here with larger scopes, will have something like this as a
'mobile' scope, since it is a fairly 'grab and go' unit. I have a C5 (the
same aperture Celestron unit), for exactly this reason.
With 'automated' scopes, you are paying a lot for the automation, and as
such, less money is going into the actual optics. So you can buy a non
automated 5" scope, for a lot less money, or even something quite a lot
larger, for the same sort of price. However having said that 'downside' of
the automation, for a user with reasonable levels of light pollution
(which can make finding objects a lot harder), the automation can be a
real boon.
Now the big 'plus' of such a small scope, is the ability to easily take it
to a darker site. A good site can easily make a couple of magnitudes
difference to what can be seen.
The 8" SCT, is probably the commonest slightly larger scope, since here
the optical design keeps the unit fairly small, despite the aperture.

Best Wishes