which would you rather have?

for general all around viewing from a light poluted suburb
in new york either:
a celestron c9.25 on an asgt mount or
a 12 inch dob with a good mirror
one of these will be used along with a
4 inch apo i have.
i am not looking at the goto feature
strickling for viewing quality
no photography either

Hi Victor,
There is no doubt that the 12" Dob will give the best views in under any sky. The 9.25" SCT will do OK, but it will lack in detail compared to the 12" Dob. I have used these size scope in light polluted areas and the larger aperture shows more hands down.

for general all around viewing from a light poluted suburb
in new york either:
a celestron c9.25 on an asgt mount or
a 12 inch dob with a good mirror
one of these will be used along with a
4 inch apo i have.


Victor: Myself, I would rather have the 12 inch Dob, or a 10 inch or an 8 inch... I like DOBs.

But I think more to the point is which one you would prefer, which one would work best for you. I am quite sure there are plenty of skilled observers who would prefer the 9.25 inch SCT.

So I am curious why you are looking to trade the 9.25 inch? What don't you like about it? What are you looking to gain with the larger DOB?

Jon

Given those criteria, the 12" seems to be the obvious choice.

The 12" Dob will have not only more aperture (aperture always wins, even in light-polluted skies), but it will have a faster focal ratio, which will make extended objects brighter and easier to see.

The main apeal of the SCT would be for planetary observing if it has a longer focal length, but in the end the larger aperture of the Dob plus a Barlow will get you some very fine planetary viewing as well.

Especially since you aren't after goto, a larger aperture will be the ticket - especially if you get one with a good-quality mirror.

Ron Wodaski

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me,
than have a frontal lobotomy.

regards
Greg N