I have a Celestron Omni XLT 102 on a Celestron CG-4 mount, with motor drives. I like it, but, it is not a "Go To". Anyway, I'm inclined to think that an 8" SCT on a Go To mount might be a good choice for a first telescope for about a kilobuck. And, maybe a 6" refractor. I don't know if you can get a decent one with a GoTo mount, for $1K. And, of course, there is the question of chromatic aberration, since an APO on a good mount would be much more expensive. Anyway, I think that Brent might consider first trying to find a way to enable his brother to use various types of scopes before committing to a purchase. It would depend upon what sort of objects he is most interested in viewing, as to an ultimate decision on long focal ratio, short focal ratio, etc. Of course, that presupposes that his brother is not in a huge hurry to buy a scope!) If he is in a hurry, he should at least spend some time on Cloudy Nights, reading what people have to say about various telescopes. As for using classified ads... I would add a warning to be careful to avoid scams!!! I recall seeing some tips on how to recognize at least the more obvious scammers, on Cloudy Nights. Here is one such discussion there... probably, there may be others: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=announce&Num... If astrophotography might be interesting to someone, I'd certainly suggest getting a German Equatorial Mount Go To, rather than an Alt-Azimuth style. Because of tracking objects over relatively long exposures...
________________________________ From: John M. Craig <jmcraig@xmission.com> To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Sunday, November 3, 2013 9:23 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Commercial Telescope (Brent Watson)
Hey Brent,
As a low-cost, general-purpose scope, I think it's hard to beat the Celestron 102 OTA. I have one and for general viewing, I think it's great. Yes, smaller aperture and less chromatically corrected than you'd get with a reflector (see my reasoning on this below). I don't know about getting any kind of decent automated mount along with a scope for $1K, but then if you go for an inexpensive OTA like the C102, the iOptron ZEQ25GT mount is available for around $850 and has gotten rave reviews and would certainly carry a larger scope also, if he went with a larger OTA later. (That puts the balance way in favor of the mount rather than the scope, at the budget specified.) The EQ mount requires a fair amount of setup and may be more trouble than it's worth--I think a person who mostly wanted to visually observe might do better with an automated alt-az mount (simpler conceptually). A lower-cost option for an EQ mount would be something like the iOptron Smart EQ Pro (~$500) or, for non-automated, the Astro-Tech Voyager Alt-Az (~$300). The iOptron Mini-tower 2 is a computerized Alt-Az and is ~$900. I have an iOptron iEQ45 and one thing I can tell you is they have superb customer support.
If he wanted to go a bit higher in price, the Celestron 6" Advanced VX on a go-to mount (again EQ, though) is ~$1,300. You might be able to get the OTA by itself and a different mount.
Why am I suggesting refractors? Just for simplicity's sake. Not having to fuss with collimation and so on is a big plus, IMO. I think you can see an awful lot (and very enjoyably) with a C 102, but it's got a degree of chromatic aberration and a relatively small aperture; the 6" would also have a degree of CA but you'd spend a long time looking before you got to things you couldn't see w/ that aperture. (I've never used the C 6".) Frankly, I don't think a bit of CA bothers novices as much as it does us purists, but that's just my take.
The best scope, as a friend once chided me, is not the one with biggest aperture for the budget, but the one you will use the most. For a novice, I'd recommend sticking with something simple and inexpensive at first. I'd also be inclined to buy from Cloudy Nights classified or Astromart. You can get a good deal on things that have been well cared-for but cost a substantial amount less than something bought new. You can also get answers about what kind of observing the person enjoyed with the scope.
Good luck. That's a tricky problem!
John
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