Beginner looking for a Telescope V2.0

The other post was getting a little long and hard to follow, so I am posting my follow-up in a new thread to make things easier to follow.

I would like to thank everyone for the large amount of advice so far. It appears that most people are recommending a 6 or 8 inch Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount. While I appreciate the light gathering advantage of these over most refractors, a requirement for consideration is that the scope must be able to pull double duty, for land viewing, as well as work on the stars (The wife will not allow funding for the project otherwise). A separate camera tripod will be used for land viewing. If I am correct in my readings, this limits me to a refractor with an erecting diagonal, or a similar equipped SCT?

I am looking for a telescope that will offer reasonable performance on planets, and well as the brighter DSOs. As I do not yet know which of these I will become more interested in, I want a scope that will let me sample a little of both, before choosing a second scope whose performance might be more specialized, in a few years.

Once again, thank you for all the information, and links to reviews.

Robert

Robert,

How much magnification do you require for terrestrial viewing? A binocular, which can be mounted on a tripod and which will also be very useful for astronomy, and a good 8" Dob may make you happier in the long run.

Dave Mitsky

One variable in buying your first scope no one has yet mentioned Robert is: life style. How busy are you? Most of us still have to work for a living. I guess some of us even have hectic and stressful life-style :-(. Something to think about.

Ron B[ee]

Robert,

I am a newbie at this wonderful hobbie. I also have an Orion Astroview 100 that I grabbed from the Orion clearance center. I can say in it's favor that I really enjoy the portability of this scope. I keep fully assembled it in a small shed in the backyard and all I have to do is take it out, wait for 15 or 30 minutes to cool down and start enjoying the views.

I know that I am missing nice deep space objects that owners of 8 or 10 inchers get to see, but since I am new at this, I'm still learning the sky and every new object I grab it's interesting to me. So far I've seen some Messier and NGC objects and I like what this little scope can do. The planets may not be the best on this scope, but they look decent on it after you do some tweaking with the scope. I like to watch Jupiter and Saturn every night before I start hunting objects (I live on a light polluted area) and with the help of a good chart I always find something fun to look at.

I had to tweak the scope (I dissasembled it, repainted it's inside black, recollimated it and fixed the focuser to get a better view) and it's been a lot of fun. The false color was very, very annoying when looking at jupiter until I got a sirius MV-1 filter, and my neck thanks the addition of a right angle finder. I agree that even if this scope is not top of the line premium equipment, it will provide you with a good view of the heavens.

Follow all the advise the experienced observers gladfully give (I also explored a lot of forums and sites before I got my scope), because they know a lot of stuff we don't, but the most important thing I consider is portability and ease of operation. I love the fact that I can take my scope at night when it's clear at a moment's notice, and I think that this is a very important factor for a begginer. I would think about it twice to go out if I had to wait 1 hour to start watching when I feel like it when I started.

Bottom line, get the largest scope you think you can handle easily. If a 8 inch sounds like something you can move around and setup on your place, go for it!. If it looks like a 4 incher that you just trow in your yard to start looking, then go for it too! You will always have a chance to trade or sell your stuff in this great place if you want something else (I've done it myself!).

Clear skies!!!

Saul