If you are planning to do astrophotography, then you should
not buy an expensive scope until you *really* know what you
want. Most people give up because they started with
the wrong scope(Long focal length and high F ratio).
I'm on my third scope, second mount, and third camera -
and all in only three years.


Donal, long before you probably entered this hobby I already owned
vintage scopes, such as the RV-6 and Dynamax. Living in NYC as a kid
and astrophotography wasn't in the cards. In the late 60's I used the
RV-6 visually. I buy for visual work mainly and always have. A million
people do those shots and they generally look the same, unless they
are from huge mirror systems. But I love to look and it's already a
ton of fun for Thomas. I needed a scope that set-up in 5 minutes and
could show objects easily without frustrating an impatient group of
kids. So far the GPS motor driven scopes are amazing.
I never bought the wrong scope because I started very young and knew
the systems early on. There is no better scope for my current
application for example; not at any price. For shooting I'd be using a
proper refractor of course and I've been toying with the idea of
adding such a scope soon.



R.