John, While I agree with others about superior images in Newtonians over SCT's, I recognize your desire for portability and ease of use, so I'll not try to talk you out of pursuing a goto SCT. :o) I would be very surprised if the GPS functionality is limited to use without an equatorial wedge (I would call Celestron in California and confirm this if I were you). If choosing between Meade and Celestron, I can only tell you what I've heard (since I've not owned either). Celestron SEEMS to have a better reputation where quality control is concerned. And their drives are certainly less noisy. Before any Meade owners flame me over this, like I said, this is what I've heard over the years, and may or may not be accurate. Both companies have at times had problems with quality control, and not all SCT's that roll off either assembly line are created equal. Some resellers will test them for you for optical quality and may give you their assurances ahead of time, but you may have to pay a bit more for this service. You might want to consider the new CGE series (German Equatorial Mount -- there's a big ad in the latest S&T on pages 32-33) which would ultimately be much better when you get into photography over the fork mount. And if the choice is between 8 and 11 inches, if you can afford the 11, and are strong enough to heft it, go for more aperture (I think everyone on the list can agree with that advice). ;o) My 2 cents, Rich --- John Renstrom <JohnRenstrom@hotmail.com> wrote:
I have been doing a bit of research on the web and noticed that there are some Meade scopes that have what appears to be a wedge mount...I would like to get a scope that could allow for equatorial rotation but still maintain it's auto find features? I am heavily leaning towards a Nexstar 8 or Nexstar 11 for the ease of use and quality...However, I loose the auto find feature as soon as I put it on a wedge.
From all my research over the past few years, I have nailed down my buying decision based on the following priorities: #1 Ease of use (Auto Find Features)...This is absolutely the most important thing because this is my first scope. #2 Quality of image...I want to make sure I don't under buy...I am afraid I might get bored if the image quality isn't very good. #3 Photography...Long term goal.
I would appreciate any opinions of other scopes that might meet my needs.
Thanks, JohnRen
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