Who's got what?
Have used the spotter to view Jupiter and the moon. Cool stuff, but am thinking of moving up the ladder a ways.
Reflector?
Dobsonian?
Cassegrain?
Refractor?
My instinct is to grab a 6 or 8" dobsonian. And this just from reviews and youtube...
I've enjoyed a small reflector- An older Meade ETX. You can get very large Dobsonians these days that are probably phenomenal but I don't have the space or the skies to enjoy one.
My pervert uncle in Clearwater Beach had one for scoping chicks in their condos
Not sure what it was, took up half the living room in his high rise
Starrynights.com
OOPS Freudian slip. Try "cloudynights.com"
Depends on what you are going to use it for. Contact a local astronomy club and go to some of their star parties. Look through their scopes.
Micro-Intes MN56 5" f/6 Maksutov-Newtonian.
Criterion RV6 Dynascope 6" f/8 Newtonian
Portability is key for me. Too large never gets hauled out.
Looking at the Dobsonian scopes, I gotta remember that I'm old, fat, and clumsy.
Maybe kneeling over to a scope on a dark ridge isn't the best idea.
Anyone use a go-to system? Equatorial mount?
If I wanna take my first pic of the Orion nebula, what's it gonna take to do it?