I would not disagree with Robert or Don. My thoughts are that a dobson is best first scope, they are inexpensive simple and easy to set up. SLAS does loan out dobsons with finder cards. The size of scopes does seem to drop with age. Thanks to Bruce for the Grim big scopes are rare at star parties, 17 inch seems current limit. I do enjoy goto features (better on your neck muscles anyway) but they seem to be contrary to learning constellations. Learning the Sky seems to be a common request from SLAS members and learning to star hop is the best way learn constellations, beyond a few bright stars. --- robtaylor3661@comcast.net wrote: From: "Robert Taylor" <robtaylor3661@comcast.net> To: <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Introduction and advice on a new scope Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:49:01 -0700 Dan: I would second Don Colton's comments. I had an XT8 for several years and it is a great if not perfect scope to get started on. It's light enough move easily, big enough for real deep space viewing and has a long enough focal length to be great on planets and the price is right. The XT12 is a lot bigger and more difficult to move and use although the aperture is nice. But I'll bet you'll use it a lot less than the XT8. The XT8 is a very good combinations of what you want in a scope without a major financial commitment or gym membership to lug it around. Either with or without the COL (Computer Object Locator) a great scope to get started or get back into astronomy. ++++++ Message: 3 Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:46:28 -0700 From: "Dan Hanks" <danhanks@gmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Introduction and advice on a new scope To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Message-ID: <abb33cbd0811111146l79d9c3ecsc172af3ce5e1f799@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Hi folks, By way of introduction, I just joined the list. I've been a subscriber before but life just got too busy and I had to drop off for a while. Life has calmed down somewhat, so I'm back. I've been into astronomy for as long as I can remember, probably started with backyard sleepouts in my hometown of Parowan, UT, and looking up at the stars on warm summer nights. Though I've enjoyed astronomy for many years, I've never had a real good-quality scope. I currently have a lower-quality Bushnell 4" reflector with an EQ mount, and am looking to upgrade to a much better instrument. I imagine some better eyepieces might make a world of difference. Altogether, though, my current scope provides more headaches than celestial enjoyment, so I'm looking to move to something of better quality, easier to use, and more likely to get me out more often. I have my eye on the Skyquest XT12, but that would probably stretch our budget a bit. As an intermediate step I've considered going with the XT8, as a smaller investment to see if I'll actually get out and use the thing. If that turned out ok, I could probably graduate to the XT12 (or perhaps the XX12 if prices came down on that after some time). Any recommendations? Thanks, Dan _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com