Best scope for my needs???

LAsky · Guest

Hello
Im loking for the best scope for my requirements

$200-$300max
w/ GOTO
For astronomical viewing
Backyard in Los Angeles Near LAX. light polluted
Fairly portable

Reflector or Refractor?????

Any suggestions
thanks

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:59 pm Post subject:

Hi

The GOTO at that price limits you to a small telescope such as the Meade ETX-80, http://www.opticsplanet.net/meade-etx70at.html or the Bushnell 90 Mak, http://www.opticsplanet.net/bushnell-90mm-maksutov-cassegrain-compact-goto-northstar-telescope-w-rvo-788890.html These, however, are very portable and compact and can also be used for some daytime viewing.
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AstroBoy · Guest

The Bushnell has a larger aperture for brighter images and significantly longer focal length (being a catadioptric design), so it will give you more magnification with the included eyepieces (not necessarily a good thing) and will allow you to choose optional eyepieces with greater eye relief for a given magnification.

The Meade is somewhat higher overall quality and I give their GoTo controller higher marks, but for viewing purposes in a light polluted area, I'd go with a reflector like the Bushnell. You're not locked into using Bushnell eyepieces.

If your interests are Astrophotography or Imaging, go with the Meade as the issues I mentioned aren't important in that context

lasky · Guest

So I take it that refractor is a better overall choice for me.
Are there any reflectors I should consider if I wanter to give up a bit of portablity or should I stick to refractor and call it a day
I see the $279 etx-80 deal and it seems like a good deal
Any reflector I should consider
thanks for the help

lasky · Guest

What about the DS 2090at-tc. Ive seen it as low as 199.00

AstroBoy · Guest

Normally a larger aperture reflector would be better in light polluted areas, but you are comparing two unusual scopes. The Meade is a refractor with a significantly shorter than average tube (focal length) for an astronomical refractor and a larger than average aperture for it's size, so it isn't at as big a disadvantage as most refractors when comparing against the light gathering ability of a small reflector like the Bushnell.

The Bushnell has a larger aperture, but not by that much, and a folded optical path has some inefficiency. Since Bushnell doesn't give an equivalent "f-stop" value, it's hard to be sure which is better in practice.

The big limitation of the Meade, to me, is the short focal length hampers magnification. You will need to use the built-in Barlow lens for most astronomical viewing. For my use, I would definitely need to supplement the included eyepieces, and achieving the maximum useful magnification for the ATX-80 will be tricky and a bit expensive. Typically for any given magnification, you will have less eye relief than with the Bushnell. If you wear glasses, you may not even be able to use the Meade at maximum useful magnification due to severely limited eye relief.

Despite it's significantly greater focal length, the Bushnell Mak design is smaller than the Meade, although it may not be lighter since it has a metal body compared to the plastic tube on the Meade. The DS2090 is larger still and even less portable.

It all depends on what your priorities are, but if you can get a chance to look through both of them for a comparison, it would help.

opticsplanet.com · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:23 am Post subject:

Hi

Good point on the built-in barlow on the ETX-80. I do not like it. You will get better performance with a standard 2x barlow. Also, focusing on the Bushnell Mak is much smoother than on the ETX-80.
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lasky · Guest

Great stuff.
So it sounds like im down to 3 scopes. You talked about longer focal length and a separate barlow with a slighly larger apature

So it the slightly larger size of the DS2090 my oly drawback on that one.
Perfromance wise is it comparable to the etx-80 and bus-mak

thanks

AstroBoy · Guest

Actually the DS 2090 is considerably longer than either of the other scopes (about twice the size of the ETX-80, and still a significantly shorter focal length than the *much* smaller Bushnell).

The 2090 also reduces brightness a lot more than the EXT-80 despite it's larger aperture. This is typical of longer refractors and one of the reasons that many people choose reflectors over refractors of equivalent focal length. I wouldn't be inclined to go this route at all, but that's me. The 2090 seems to me to be like a lot of other scopes out there. It has no real advantage other than a lower price, and a number of disadvantages.

Guest · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 11:31 pm Post subject: Oh one more choice

Sorry to be such a pain but I stumbled on another choice.
Meade dsx-90at

It seems to be similar to the bushnell but with a 497 controller and Mak optics. Ive seen it below $300 shipped.

Familar with this model???

Opinions?>?

AstroBoy · Guest

Probably a worthy competitor for the Bushnell Mak90. I think it comes with only one eyepiece, though. I've seen some complaints about sloppiness and reliability issues with the mount and difficulty focusing, but I don't know how that compares to the Bushnell.