first scope purchase

RandomPillars wrote: "In the end the best scope is the one you use most."

Great advice from the guys. I live in a bungalow - no issue with stairs - the scope I use by far more often is a 152mm mak-cass. The big 254mm SN10 gets duted off once in a while when I have time to do the set-up but at a pinch I could live without it.

A dob is an excellent choice IMHO: quick to set up and pack away, minimal maintenance and generally, you can get a lot of aperture for your money.

I recently purchased the AZ4 from Stephen at Ktech, great guy, great company, and I can truly recommend it. It is rock solid, it boasts 1.75" stainless steel legs, adjustable height and spreader plate. I use my 110mm refractor on it, with 2" diagonal and heavy Vixen eyepiece it takes the weight with ease, and can take more I'm sure. I tested it with my 4.8mm eyepiece, gave the tube a tap and it settled down in less than two seconds.

The Synscan will require a power source such as a Powertank.

With regards to the Mak, they do have a long focal length, f/11.8, this is not the best for deep sky objects, fantastic on the moon, planets and double stars, so that might be something to consider, it depends on what you want to observe.

I can sympathise with you, it's not an easy decision to make, can you get to a local club or public observing session? I know SDAS/IAS have one organised for Sandymount on the 21st December, there you can see different varieties of scopes and have a better idea of size and performance.

It's worth taking your time and making the right decision.

Paul

Sandymount, thanks for the reminder. I've been meaning to head along to one of those but work/exams/life have interfered up til now. Definitely need to keep the 21st free before I go spending money.

Thanks for the info on the mak, I'm more interested in dsos but would like decent views of the planets too. I have a feeling CA won't bother me too much until I start seeing these things through other people's expensive APOs.

Hi,
Having a stairs to climb/descend each time you set up a scope does limit you to what you can use, if its isn't someway easy or convenient then you wont be using it for long.
Id imagine something less then a 6 inch will be the order of the day, if planetary.moon stuff is your interest, then a mak is the way to go, but they are good for some deepsky objects aswell.
Otherwise a refractor or small newt might be suitable, I have a 4 inch F5 refractor and its a great little gab and go scope, great for widefield deepsky stuff,.