advice for telescope purchase

Hello,

I want to re-start my astronomy hobby. About 15 years ago, I owned a 80mm
refractor, which I used to look at planets. Then went to university etc, no
money, no time. Now I want to look at the sky again, and I am shopping for a
scope. I am looking for a good scope to look at planets, nebula, deepsky
objects. I am in particular interested in astro-photography (digital). I
have some money to spend. What should I be looking for? The Meade scopes
look pretty, seem to have good optics, and I like the electronics involved
(computers/electronics is another hobby). What equipment is available for
photography?
what are good shops in the Netherlands to buy a scope (I prefer to buy it in
a shop instead of online)?
thanks!

"username" e-mail@adress wrote in message
...
Hello,

I want to re-start my astronomy hobby. About 15 years ago, I owned a 80mm
refractor, which I used to look at planets. Then went to university etc,
no
money, no time. Now I want to look at the sky again, and I am shopping for
a
scope. I am looking for a good scope to look at planets, nebula, deepsky
objects. I am in particular interested in astro-photography (digital). I
have some money to spend. What should I be looking for? The Meade scopes
look pretty, seem to have good optics, and I like the electronics involved
(computers/electronics is another hobby). What equipment is available for
photography?
what are good shops in the Netherlands to buy a scope (I prefer to buy it
in
a shop instead of online)?
thanks!



If you like the Meade Schmidt-Cassegrains, you should also seriously
consider the Celestron Nexstar i or GPS range of telescopes (
http://www.celestron.com )

As for shops in the Netherlands:

Ganymedes in Amstelveen ( http://www.ganymedes.nl ). They have Celestron,
Vixen and Skywatcher. They're very knowledgeable and have a nice range of
equipment in their showroom (though it's a small shop).

Telescopium in Ridderkerk ( http://www.telescopium.nl ). They have Meade and
a few other brands. You'll have to call to make an appointment for visiting
their showroom.

This list is by no means complete, but these are the shops I've dealt with
myself.

Regards,

Jeroen

"Jeroen Smaal" wrote in message
l.nl...

"username" e-mail@adress wrote in message
...
Hello,

I want to re-start my astronomy hobby. About 15 years ago, I owned a
80mm
refractor, which I used to look at planets. Then went to university etc,
no
money, no time. Now I want to look at the sky again, and I am shopping
for
a
scope. I am looking for a good scope to look at planets, nebula, deepsky
objects. I am in particular interested in astro-photography (digital). I
have some money to spend. What should I be looking for? The Meade scopes
look pretty, seem to have good optics, and I like the electronics
involved
(computers/electronics is another hobby). What equipment is available
for
photography?
what are good shops in the Netherlands to buy a scope (I prefer to buy
it
in
a shop instead of online)?
thanks!



If you like the Meade Schmidt-Cassegrains, you should also seriously
consider the Celestron Nexstar i or GPS range of telescopes (
http://www.celestron.com )

Thanks Jeroen, I looked at the celestrons, unfortunately they seem twice as
expensive as the meades (I was looking at ETX90 or ETX105).

As for shops in the Netherlands:

Ganymedes in Amstelveen ( http://www.ganymedes.nl ). They have Celestron,
Vixen and Skywatcher. They're very knowledgeable and have a nice range of
equipment in their showroom (though it's a small shop).

Telescopium in Ridderkerk ( http://www.telescopium.nl ). They have Meade
and
a few other brands. You'll have to call to make an appointment for
visiting
their showroom.

This list is by no means complete, but these are the shops I've dealt with
myself.


thanks!

Hi, generally it seems that the Celestron SCT's are a couple hundred dollars
US less than the equivalent Meade SCT.

However if you are looking for Mak's like the Meade ETX series scope then
there is just the Celestron Nextstar 4" with computer control and a base,
but no tripod. It seems to come with vibration absorbing feet on it's base.

www.astronomics.com a web astronomy store that I believe is located in
Oklahoma in the US has it for $499 and they also have the Meade ETX-90AT for
$595 and $645 depending on coatings.

Regards
Mike


"username" e-mail@adress wrote in message
...

"Jeroen Smaal" wrote in message
l.nl...

"username" e-mail@adress wrote in message
...
Hello,

I want to re-start my astronomy hobby. About 15 years ago, I owned a
80mm
refractor, which I used to look at planets. Then went to university
etc,
no
money, no time. Now I want to look at the sky again, and I am shopping
for
a
scope. I am looking for a good scope to look at planets, nebula,
deepsky
objects. I am in particular interested in astro-photography (digital).
I
have some money to spend. What should I be looking for? The Meade
scopes
look pretty, seem to have good optics, and I like the electronics
involved
(computers/electronics is another hobby). What equipment is available
for
photography?
what are good shops in the Netherlands to buy a scope (I prefer to buy
it
in
a shop instead of online)?
thanks!



If you like the Meade Schmidt-Cassegrains, you should also seriously
consider the Celestron Nexstar i or GPS range of telescopes (
http://www.celestron.com )

Thanks Jeroen, I looked at the celestrons, unfortunately they seem twice
as
expensive as the meades (I was looking at ETX90 or ETX105).

As for shops in the Netherlands:

Ganymedes in Amstelveen ( http://www.ganymedes.nl ). They have
Celestron,
Vixen and Skywatcher. They're very knowledgeable and have a nice range
of
equipment in their showroom (though it's a small shop).

Telescopium in Ridderkerk ( http://www.telescopium.nl ). They have Meade
and
a few other brands. You'll have to call to make an appointment for
visiting
their showroom.

This list is by no means complete, but these are the shops I've dealt
with
myself.


thanks!