Choice of Telescope - aperture / portability

I am considering the purchase of a Meade LX90 8" / 10" or 12"
telescope. I would like to use this for astrophotography with digital
SLR and CCD cameras as well as general observing. I have enjoyed
planetary observing in the past with an 11" Newtonian Reflector but
wish to upgrade to a more modern instrument. Living on the outskirts of
a city (Cardiff) the skies are not as dark as they could be.
Portability to dark sites could be very useful but I would like as
large an aperture as is practicable.
I am planning to retire in the near future and hope to renew my
enthusiasm for practical astronomy by using part of my pension to fund
this but can't afford a costly error. Perhaps someone can advise me
regarding the choice between telescope size and portability.
With thanks

Difficult question!!

If you do get to a genuine dark site e.g. Cambrian Mountains 8" will show
you lots visually.

The issue with the LK90, LX200 Meade range is that the weight of the tube
assembly is heavy as the fork mount/base component is integral. (It is not
designed to be routinely dismantled). If you really wish to do long
exposure CCD work it also requires an equatorially mounted tube (again
people have done fair work on an alt-az mount). For the fork-mounted scopes
and additional 'equatorial wedge' would be required.

An alternative is to go the German Equatorial mount route, this means you
could buy the tube assembly separate to the mount and move it easily!!
There is the Celestron Advanced series that breaks down into nice
components. You could probably get the 9.25" version.
The CG-5 mount on this series is good but basic. You may consider seeing
the original and upgrading later.

Another alternative would be the Meade - 10 inch LXD75 Schmidt Newtonian
UHTC scope. This gives lots of light gathering, is reasonably light, breaks
down into parts, has a GEM mount with PEC Periodic Error correction . Can
work well with the Meade DSI series of CCDs.

Remember dewshields and dew heaters required...

hth
Paul
"Rob" wrote in message
ups.com...
I am considering the purchase of a Meade LX90 8" / 10" or 12"
telescope. I would like to use this for astrophotography with digital
SLR and CCD cameras as well as general observing. I have enjoyed
planetary observing in the past with an 11" Newtonian Reflector but
wish to upgrade to a more modern instrument. Living on the outskirts of
a city (Cardiff) the skies are not as dark as they could be.
Portability to dark sites could be very useful but I would like as
large an aperture as is practicable.
I am planning to retire in the near future and hope to renew my
enthusiasm for practical astronomy by using part of my pension to fund
this but can't afford a costly error. Perhaps someone can advise me
regarding the choice between telescope size and portability.
With thanks

Hi Rob,

Ive got an LX90 8 inch, which is set up in a small remote controlled
observatory
ive made in my garden, personally if you dont want to go below an aperture
of 8 inches then the LX90 Range is as portable as your going to get.
but when I considered keeping my one portable, I decided that
a 20 minute drive, plus loading the car setting up, packing up the scope at
the end of the
session driving home etc was taking to much observing time away from me.
Also theres the risk of damaging the scope with travelling.
Like you I have a light polution problem too.
Regards


Simon

"Rob" wrote in message
ups.com...
I am considering the purchase of a Meade LX90 8" / 10" or 12"
telescope. I would like to use this for astrophotography with digital
SLR and CCD cameras as well as general observing. I have enjoyed
planetary observing in the past with an 11" Newtonian Reflector but
wish to upgrade to a more modern instrument. Living on the outskirts of
a city (Cardiff) the skies are not as dark as they could be.
Portability to dark sites could be very useful but I would like as
large an aperture as is practicable.
I am planning to retire in the near future and hope to renew my
enthusiasm for practical astronomy by using part of my pension to fund
this but can't afford a costly error. Perhaps someone can advise me
regarding the choice between telescope size and portability.
With thanks

After some forty years in amateur astronomy, I have found that a good
pair of binoculars to be much better than any telescope.

Bernie
Rob wrote:
I am considering the purchase of a Meade LX90 8" / 10" or 12"
telescope. I would like to use this for astrophotography with digital
SLR and CCD cameras as well as general observing. I have enjoyed
planetary observing in the past with an 11" Newtonian Reflector but
wish to upgrade to a more modern instrument. Living on the outskirts of
a city (Cardiff) the skies are not as dark as they could be.
Portability to dark sites could be very useful but I would like as
large an aperture as is practicable.
I am planning to retire in the near future and hope to renew my
enthusiasm for practical astronomy by using part of my pension to fund
this but can't afford a costly error. Perhaps someone can advise me
regarding the choice between telescope size and portability.
With thanks

wrote in message
ups.com...
After some forty years in amateur astronomy, I have found that a good
pair of binoculars to be much better than any telescope.

Bernie
Rob wrote:
I am considering the purchase of a Meade LX90 8" / 10" or 12"
telescope. I would like to use this for astrophotography with digital
SLR and CCD cameras as well as general observing. I have enjoyed
planetary observing in the past with an 11" Newtonian Reflector but
wish to upgrade to a more modern instrument. Living on the outskirts of
a city (Cardiff) the skies are not as dark as they could be.
Portability to dark sites could be very useful but I would like as
large an aperture as is practicable.
I am planning to retire in the near future and hope to renew my
enthusiasm for practical astronomy by using part of my pension to fund
this but can't afford a costly error. Perhaps someone can advise me
regarding the choice between telescope size and portability.
With thanks
A reasonable scope, will 'beat' any normal binoculars, but binoculars have
some lovely features 'going for them'. Generally, some quite good optics
are available at good prices. They are nice and portable (until you get to
larger 'observation' binoculars), and are quick/easy to use. For some
objects (meteor showers, and larger thinks like M31, together with wider
field views of the sky), they are great. When my main scope is imaging, I
sit with a reasonable pair of binoculars, and enjoy the sky.
Now that having been said, a scope the sort of size you are talking about,
will see much deeper than any binoculars small enough to not need a mount
to use. But there are some big caveats. The Meade scopes, are more awkward
to handle for their size, than those from Celestron. For the 8", this does
not matter, but the Meade 12", is a very heavy scope, and you are unlikely
to be comfortable going 'portable' with this. For imaging, for any imaging
duration, you would need to add a wedge (more weight), and the mounts are
not good enough to make imaging really easy. Though the Newtonian design
is older than the SCT, the latter is not inherently 'better'. The SCT, has
the disadvantage optically, of a larger central obstruction, and it's long
focal length, while good for some things, can be a pain for others. It's
big advantages, are small size, for a given aperture, and very wide range
of backfocus that can allow a lot of different accessories to be used.
If imaging is likely to be a significant part of what you want to do, then
I'd consider spending more on the mount, than the LX90 represents. A
reasonable quality GEM, is likely to save a lot of grief latter.
You also need to think carefully about what you really want to lug around.
Though my main scope, is a 12.5"RC, on a AP mount, for going mobile, a
little 5" scope, on a small GEM, is quick, easy to move, and much more
likely to be set up and working on a given night, than any larger unit I
have tried over the years...
Now, I'd pause before buying anything. See if there is an astronomy club
close enough to you, to visit, and if so, go to some meetings, and
actually see the size of the kit, and what it can achieve, before spending
any money (though buying a pair of binoculars, might well be worth doing
in the meantime!).

Best Wishes

I'd recommend 8" SCT if it's for portability to a dark site - a bigger scope can be a beast to transport and set-up! For CCD work you can probably work from home and subtract the light pollution in post processing for a black sky! LP filtration can also be effective. It's no substitute for black skies [if you can find them] but working from home is usually more productive - using a CCD or DSLR.

Nytecam 51N 0.1W

www.astroman.fsnet.co.uk for CCD/DSLR work via Meade LX200 etc