I've had occasion to be entrusted with the care of a friend's 8" Celestron for a while. I used to think I wanted one of these until I got my hands on this one.

It seems a good scope for wide angle use and it's a fair telephoto lens for regular photograpy, but I find it disapointing for fine detail planetary or nebulae viewing. I'm still hung up on the resolution and detail capabilities of the longer focal length refractors however.

If a person is willing to spend $2000-$5000 dollars for a scope, is there a decent refractor that can be had in this range? I'm assuming this amount of $$$ should get into a 6" dia refractor or so, or is this idealistic? (I'm talking scope only here, not mounts, drives etc.) I know it will be big and heavy but it's worth it. To me anyway. If I can find one I truly love, I'll consider building a permanent observatory for it with a concrete base for the mount. (I live in Hawaii) Perhaps someone knows of an even slightly larger used refractor for sale? I'm aware that one much larger than 6" will pretty well dictate a permanent home for it.

Frankly, all the Cassegrains have dissapointed me. The newtonians are better due to focal length flexabilities in construction, but the refractor still holds the dearest place in my heart if I can find a good one.

Thanx.

• Re: Scopes - bobmay - July 10, 1999 - 04:35 UTC
  • Re: Scopes - daViper - July 10, 1999 - 22:01 UTC
    • Re: Scopes - bobmay - July 11, 1999 - 23:26 UTC
      • Re: Scopes - Josh_Miller/">Josh Miller - September 18, 1999 - 22:35 UTC
    • Re: Scopes - Tom_Soden/">Tom Soden - July 13, 1999 - 21:01 UTC
      • Re: Scopes - daViper - July 14, 1999 - 02:01 UTC