C-102HD or C-150HD?

Which scope is better for the money? I am looking to sell my dob for funds, but should I buy the C-102HD right away.
Or should I wait a little longer till I get the extra funds from Christmas gifts?

Or...should I get an OTA of one of them? What mount might
accompany these scopes best, and that won't cost $600?

-Adam Back

I'm assuming that you mean the CR-150HD (the refractor) and not the C-150HD (the short tube Newtonian). The latter is a short tube Newtonian with a corrector/barlow lens built into the secondary mirror assembly.If you are speaking of the Newtonian, I must advise you to avoid it.

While a great idea on the surface, it is very poor in execution. I tried one of these and found images dimmer than a standard 6" and the sharpness very poor. It was absolutely useless for lunar and planetary observing because of the poor optical configuration, an opinion I have since seen confirmed by many other reviews.

Check out www.excelsis.com for many reviews of both the 102 and 150 refractors.

Hi Adam, the c102hd is not a bad set up but suffers a little on deep sky but the mount is well matched to the ota. The C150 I would not even look at and for $600 I would llok at OrionsSkyview pro 8 EQ or the Konus 8" F5 reflector on there mount which gives dual drives for the same price. If you mean the CR150HD refractor, well thats not a bad scope and if yoi replace the tripod on the CG5 mount its even better. That 8" newt will be the biggest bag for the buck.