largest telescope on a EQ3-2 mount?

For now i have a EQ3-2 mount with both axis driven and a 90mm refractor. I'm
just a poor student so i don't have a lot of money and i'm wondering what
telescope would fit on my mount so i won't have to buy a new mount? I
doesn't have to be a refractor because they are expensive. Is it really less
expensive to buy a telescope without mount and eyepieces or not? What would
you recommend?
Let me tell you again that i don't have a big budget like some others....
Let's say about 600$.

Don't know where you're located but you might be able to find a nice used
Intes MN56, Mak/Newt (first choice), M503 Mak/Cassegrain, or Celestron C5 on
Astromart to fit within your budget.
--

Clear Skies,

Chuck

"Passero" wrote in message
...
For now i have a EQ3-2 mount with both axis driven and a 90mm refractor.
I'm
just a poor student so i don't have a lot of money and i'm wondering what
telescope would fit on my mount so i won't have to buy a new mount? I
doesn't have to be a refractor because they are expensive. Is it really
less
expensive to buy a telescope without mount and eyepieces or not? What
would
you recommend?
Let me tell you again that i don't have a big budget like some others....
Let's say about 600$.

For now i have a EQ3-2 mount with both axis driven and a 90mm refractor.
I'm
just a poor student so i don't have a lot of money and i'm wondering what
telescope would fit on my mount so i won't have to buy a new mount?

I have an EQ-3 mount, if the EQ-3-2 mount is similar, then I will probably
handle one of the 6 inch F5 Synta Newtonians. Based on the performance of my 5
inch F5 Synta Newtonian and the 8 and 10 inchers, the 6 inch should be quite
good.

I see the OTA on www.astromart.com quite often for around $150.

jon

hi,

I don't know about the biggest, but I've got a 120mm f6 refractor on a
EQ2/3 thats fine for visual work, I *suspect* that may be approaching
the limit, a 150mm f6 or a 120mm f8 would be pushing it (esp the
former) , but if somebody knows different......;O)


Gaz

"Passero" wrote in message news:UAGVc.221099
Let me tell you again that i don't have a big budget like some others....
Let's say about 600$.


Just a thought, you can get a 8' Dob for less than $600 and keep your
refractor and mount, use one when you want tracking, the other for
DSO's, the two outfits make a nice combination IMO, you'd probably
even have change to get a bigger refractor to put on the EQ2/3. I've
got a similar setup, a 120mm refractor on a motorized EQ mount and a
12' Dob, the best of both worlds for astronomers on a budget (and for
when a can't be bothered carrying the Dob to set it up)!

Gaz

"Passero" wrote in message
...
For now i have a EQ3-2 mount with both axis driven and a 90mm refractor.
I'm
just a poor student so i don't have a lot of money and i'm wondering
what
telescope would fit on my mount so i won't have to buy a new mount? I
doesn't have to be a refractor because they are expensive. Is it really
less
expensive to buy a telescope without mount and eyepieces or not? What
would
you recommend?
Let me tell you again that i don't have a big budget like some
others....
Let's say about 600$.
It is worth remembering that there are a lot of 'parts' to whether a
particular scope will work acceptably on a given mount. For instance,
taking four 5" scopes, a 5" refractor, an SCT, a Newtonian, and a
Maksutov. The refractor will probably have the shortest focal length
(longer focal length shows up the faults of a mount more), but will weigh
perhaps twice what any of the others weigh. The Maksutov, and SCT, will be
the lightest scopes, but the Maksutov will probably have the longest focal
length. The SCT will typically have a fairly long focal length too. The
Newtonian will probably (depending on the tube design), weigh slightly
more than the SCT, but will have a shorter focal length.
I'd look for a second hand small SCT (the C5, is an excellent little
scope), or about a f/5 to f/6 6" Newtonian.
Another poster has suggested the MN56. This is a lovely scope, but might
be pushing the weight a little (it is a fairly heavy assembly). However if
you can find somebody who has tries a scope of this weight on the mount,
and can verify it'd be OK, this is a very nice unit.
It is less expensive to buy just the scope 'OTA', but generally not as
much less than the complete 'assembly' price, as the mount costs.

Best Wishes

By way of an upper bound, I can say from experience
that a 6" F8 reflector is just too much. I used an Orion
6LT on a CG4 (=EQ3) for about 6 months and it was a
difficult experience.

Larry


Passero wrote:
For now i have a EQ3-2 mount with both axis driven and a 90mm refractor. I'm
just a poor student so i don't have a lot of money and i'm wondering what
telescope would fit on my mount so i won't have to buy a new mount? I
doesn't have to be a refractor because they are expensive. Is it really less
expensive to buy a telescope without mount and eyepieces or not? What would
you recommend?
Let me tell you again that i don't have a big budget like some others....
Let's say about 600$.