Anyone have experience with (<$1000) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes?

[Carcassonne]

I have always wanted a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope since I saw an ad for a Celestron C8 in an Astronomy magazine back in the 1970's.

I now would like to get a small one. Maybe 6" or smaller.

The two most common Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes are Celestron and Meade. Does anyone have experience with either brand (or any other lower-end telescopes)? Which ones are good and which ones are bad, or should I stay away from Schmidt-Cassegrain type telescopes

I don't want to spend over $1000. I would like one with an electric star tracker. I do not want a spotting scope (refractor style).

Use will roughly be 50% stars and 50% wilderness/nature.



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[Carcassonne]

btt

[m35a2]

Yes, I had an orange tube C8, motorized tracking, set up for photography, IIRC made in the mid 80's, '85 I think. Great optics on the early ones. I transported it in a trunk with the tracking stuff and the tripod was a 1.5 in tube type, had to transport that outside the trunk, the whole set up took up lots o room. Had sliding weights and all that stuff. Still have long exposure pics somewhere around here.

Larger the aperture means better images. I have had SC, refractor and dob style scopes, built a 12 truss dob. If it were me, I'd go with a mid price range refractor. They are easier to keep clean, no dust/dirt on mirrors, easier to cool after a warm day, less room to transport, slim chance of ruining the collimation. If you intend to photograph with the scope, a mirror type is better in my opinion but for just looking, refractor is the way to go.

Look on the interwebs for a star party in your area and go to one to get a chance to look thru different scopes. Out of 11.....yup, yet ANOTHER addiction, I kept one. a 4.7 in Konus refractor with a 2 inch focuser.

Haven't pulled it out in a few years, it is kinda hard to stay up late.

Another thing I just thought about, the table top styles are cool cause they are really stable, but, unless it is a large objective, you don't see much except for double stars, planets and the moon. Have not looked for a scope in a while, but last time I looked, there were no +6 inch table top models. AND, if you are gonna share with kids, they like to grab the eyepiece when looking, throws thing all outa whack

[Carcassonne]

Thanks. I have to rethink this. If I carry it in my truck offroad it might get out of alignment. I thought the scopes were sealed from the atmosphere. I guess the dirt comes in through the eyepiece.


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[Deedle]

I had an 8" Meade, fantastic scope. I got rid of it when I moved to the city (too much dust and light pollution) but if I moved someplace dark I'd probably get a 10" (or maybe 12") Meade again. If you think you might do astrophotography I'd think about getting a GE mount version.

For portability the 8" would be better, but I'm a dark backyard sort of guy.

[Darto]

I had a C8, sold a few years ago. It's great for if you do your observing at your own home (i.e. you live in the country away from lights). As mentioned above, It's a bear to lug it around, e.g. to a star party or something.

The long focal length of the C8 types is great for distortion free images and low price high power eyepieces.

Many junior college astronomy classes will use a cassegrain type scopes exclusively in their classes and are popular adult education courses in the summer.

[vormav]

I have a celestron nexstar 6se myself, and it is pretty fantastic. I have only viewed from a backyard in the middle of the san fernando valley, so some light pollution, but was able to see all of the planets that were around that night, and a few deep space objects, a couple of star clusters, and one nebula, but i forget now which one i was looking at.

It's about $800, has the computer go-to built in.

[Epaphroditus]

Meade ETX line are Maksutov-Cassigrain and pretty handy. I use mine for limited photography, terrestrial and spotting scope. Sunspots, lunar and planets are great celestial targets for the modest aperture and focal length of the ETX line.

I also have a classic Newtonian-Cassigrain which is not as compact but much lighter than a SC.

Hard to beat a Dobsonian for ease of use and light gathering versus $ value but they are bulky.

As always the trade odds of $, portability, light gathering power and focal length are at play. Thats why I ended up with so many different scopes and mounts.

Best thing to do is get in touch with local astri clubs and go to star parties and get hands on before you buy.

[Deedle]

This site is a really good scope resource: https://www.telescope.com/Orion/Tele...60/pc/1/15.uts


A goto dob might be what the OP was looking for and didn't know it