$1000..which scope of these three

1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

What would you buy out of these three?

TIA

#3, the Hardin 12-inch Dob.

Besides, once you buy one, you'll buy another and soon you will own all
three of them anyway.
--

----
Joe S.

"Ashica67" wrote in message
...
1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

What would you buy out of these three?

TIA

Which would _I_ buy.... why #3 of course. But then I don't have to move it
further than my backyard. But, if I did want to take it to dark skies, I
also have a station wagon.

-Stephen

"Ashica67" wrote in message
...
1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

What would you buy out of these three?

TIA

Although a lot smaller than the other 3, a DGM Optics 4 inch scope would
give you the equivalent of a 4" APO and unlike the other 3, is extremely
portable.

Mike.


"Stephen Paul" wrote in message
...
Which would _I_ buy.... why #3 of course. But then I don't have to move it
further than my backyard. But, if I did want to take it to dark skies, I
also have a station wagon.

-Stephen

"Ashica67" wrote in message
...
1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

What would you buy out of these three?

TIA

The Dob, for sure.

(Ashica67) wrote in message ...
1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

What would you buy out of these three?

TIA

1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount
2. Celestron 6in refractor
3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.
All are about the same price.
What would you buy out of these three?
TIA

Actually for my it will probably none of the above.
If a total beginner has a budget of $1000 and want a telescope i most likely
will recomend Orion Intelliscope Dobs
http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...EGORY&itemID=9

Even for a 10 inch it is $649 plus $149 for the Digital Setting Circle
controller that left about $ 200 for shipping and maybe a Cambridge Star Atlas
and you need to come up with the eyepiece.
A 8 Inch will be $200 less therefore you can afford a starter eyepiece set.
like 32mm for wide view, 13-18mm for medium power and a barlow to to some high
power.

Why a Dob with DSC. Well my contention is that most beginner got discouraged
because they couldn't find anything. A DSC is a tremendous help here. Took Me a
while to learn str hop in a light polluted sky in a medium size city. If i
live in country side thing might be different.

a Hardin 12.5 inch Dob is very tempting. But 12.5 inch require more from the
user to be utilize fully. The 12.5 inch are harder to move around. At f/4.8
collimation is critical. Cool down is longer. and a 12.5 inch is next to
useless for a quickie setup over your drive way.
Plus if you set it up near concrete jungle the seeing that permit the 12.5 inch
to realized its potential will be very rare.
There are time when the view in my 4inch refractor are steadier and for a
untranied eyes (my wife ) the view tru 4inch is better than 8inch but several
times in a time span of 3 sec the seeing will be good and you will see much
more deatil in the 8inch dob. but when the seeing is steady like 3:00-6:00 in
the morning when i can get my self to wake up there is no comparison i don't
even bother to setup the 4inch .The 8inch is so much better,


For referenced this is what i have
I started out with Fujinon 7x50 FMTR-SX . This help me to navigate the sky for
1.5 year. Then i build my first 8inch f/6 dob with Meade SWA 32mm, SWA18mm, SWA
13.8 mm and 9.7 Plossl . All the eyepiece is incredible for my beginner eye .
later i added a klee 2.8X Barlow.
Next come the University Optic 80mm f/6.25 refractor. This little refractor
become my most used telescope to date
Next is a Celestron 102 HD 4inch refractor. and a CG5
Good for tracked view
a celestron 80mm ST Donate it to School back in Indonesia.
Built a 8inch f8 with mirror from Mark D Harry to replace the 8inch f/6
The 8inch f/6 going to be donated to my old highschool back in Indonesia.
Got a meade 26mm plossl and a TV 5mm Radian (for high power with long eye
relief).
Start a 12 inch f5.3 Truss Tube With Mirror from Mark D Harry
Mark really make great mirror.

My most used telescope is The UO 80mm and 8inch f/8 .

My feeling is since i couldn't travel too far to dark site (Gotta work and go
to school the next morning, plus there is a lovely wife at home)my 12inch f5.3
is probably going to be my ultimate scope in term of size.

To recap a beginner might happier that he/she could find and view more object
in the medium size Dob with the aids of DSC rather than trying to setup a
equatorial mount or waiting for the big dob to cool down or huffing and puffind
trying to move it around.

your milage may vary
Sofjan Mustopoh

1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

My thinking:

Make sure you get an idea of how large and cumbersome each of these scope is,
none of them are an one hand haul but the 6 inch refractor is the most
portable. The 12inch F5 DOB is a pretty big scope and a 10 inch Newt sitting
on a EQ mount is no laughing matter.

1. Celeston C-10N I believe this is an F5 Newt mounted on a beefed up CG-5
mount. I think this scope is undermounted though I have never seen one, I have
put my 8 inch F6 mount on an EQ mount with a beefy tripod and I was not
impressed. The 10inch F5 OTA weighs almost twice what the 8 inch F6 tube does
and is somewhat longer as well so I don't see this combination as a viable
option. Tracking is nice if the mount is steady but I don't see that here.

2. Celestron 6 inch refractor. Has the virtues of a refractor, no
collimation, maybe fast cool down though they say that 6 inches of glass does
take a while. But it will suffer from false color and of course it is it
lacking aperture when compared to the other scopes.

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter DOB. This would be the scope I would
choose of the three except for the fact that I already have a 12.5 inch DOB
that is F4.1 so I can move it about. This is a big tall scope and it will be
awkward to move and will take up lots of room in your car. If you are prepared
for this, then it could be a good choice.

But if this is your first (and only scope) then I would suggest considering a
smaller DOB like 10inch F5 Hardin, Orion, Hands on Optics, Oceanside Photo and
Telescope sell. The performance will still be pretty amazing and you will be
more likely to use it for a short viewing session. I have this scope and the
12.5 inch and for most nights, I just get out the 10 incher, it does a good
job.

The 10 inch EQ would make an alternative if I thought that the mount was
sufficient for this OTA but I just don't think it is.

But the most important thing is for you to get yourself out there and look at
some of these scope in person, up front so you have a real idea of how big they
are adn what sort of effort get them going. Some will suggest dollies and
carts, and these do work for backyard viewing. But a trip to the country means
fitting the scope in a car the two Newts will take some effort to do that.

Scope choices are compromises between cost, performance and ease of use. A
nice big inexpensive scope can provide lots of fun if it gets used. But if it
too big to be moved out for 20 minutes worth of viewing then it is probably
just too big.

jon

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

This one is the most practical. If it were me, I'd probably buy the
C-10, but I have a thing for german mounts regardless of the hassle of
moving them and setting them up, not to mention constantly rotating
the tube to get to the eyepeice... but the dob would be the easiest to
set up and use if you're fine with star hopping. I never minded
staying out all night hunting until I became a father.. now I have so
little free time that I just want to plop it down and see 10 objects
in an hour without studying charts all night.

What about the Meade LXD-55's? They are all under $1000 with goto. I
have the SN-8 myself (my 5th scope and first goto scope) and have been
happy with it so far, but either of the 10" newts you mentioned would
provide better contrast. I've always wanted to do piggyback
photography and ccd, so a GEM was an easy decision for me.

Tom

High quality optics are overrated in the boiling cauldron we call atmosphere
around here. ;-)

Give me more photons to better support 150x on deep sky. I grow weary of
globulars as dim objects.
--
-Stephen Paul


"Mike Fitterman" wrote in message
...
Although a lot smaller than the other 3, a DGM Optics 4 inch scope would
give you the equivalent of a 4" APO and unlike the other 3, is extremely
portable.

Mike.


"Stephen Paul" wrote in message
...
Which would _I_ buy.... why #3 of course. But then I don't have to move
it
further than my backyard. But, if I did want to take it to dark skies, I
also have a station wagon.

-Stephen

"Ashica67" wrote in message
...
1. Celestron C-10 N (non goto) EQ mount

2. Celestron 6in refractor

3. Hardin 12 inch Deep Space Hunter Dob. base.

All are about the same price.

What would you buy out of these three?

TIA

"Sofjan" wrote in message
...

a Hardin 12.5 inch Dob is very tempting. But 12.5 inch require more from
the
user to be utilize fully. The 12.5 inch are harder to move around. At
f/4.8
collimation is critical. Cool down is longer. and a 12.5 inch is next to
useless for a quickie setup over your drive way.

That depends on how/where you store it. I keep the 10" F5 on a handtruck in
the garage. Rolls right out onto the driveway in 32 seconds. Heck, I could
roll out a 20" F5 in 32 seconds.

:-)

-Stephen