Down with aperture fever :(
I was on Carousell, trying to find the next camera to upgrade from my X-E1 when I saw someone listed a Celestron refractor for 200 +. By no means is it a good price, but that listing revitalized my passion for astro. Without any sort of harness I just jumped head first into the rabbit hole of telescope reviews and research. I gained the following knowledge:
1) Aperture is the size of mirror / front optical element and the larger the aperture the “more” details you can see.
2) Newtonian telescope. It has the best aperture to cost ratio.
3) Refractor telescope. Basically like a camera lens, but without autofocus and good ones are much more expensive due to the quality of glass used. Small and compact, most people’s choice for imagining.
4) Schmidt cassegrain telescope. Super long focal length in a compact body due to its folded design. Best used for planetary imaging.
5) Mounts. This is the most important and most expensive part of any setup because without a precise, stable mount, long exposure imaging is basically impossible. The heavier your telescope is, the more expensive your mount needs to be.
6) Types of mounts. There are 2 major types: Alt-Az and Equatorial. Alt-Az mounts only moves “up-down-left-right”, usually good for visual observation only. Long exposure is difficult due to field rotation. Equatorial mounts NEED to be polar aligned and it basically rotates in the opposite direction of Earth, thus allowing for long exposure.
After months of reading and researching I found the local astronomy forum and settled on a 6inch Newtonian, optical tube assembly only. So I still need to get eye pieces, a mount before I can use it.
After a few weeks, I saw someone giving away a Heritage 130P for free on Carousell. But I figured I was too late already, so I offered to pick it up for 50 dollars instead and I got the deal. Went home and I took out the 130P OTA and placed my 6inch there instead. This is my first fully functional telescope.
My next purchase is Meade Lightswitch LS6,. It is a 6inch SCT on an automated Alt-Az mount. I managed to get a good look at Jupiter, Saturn and the moon with it. Then I sold it off.
I also acquired a Celstron CG-4 with microGoTo mod, but i have yet had a chance to use it.
Next big purchase is my Celestron AVX mount + Celestron 150P.
Most recent purchase is the Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25 :)
All I need is a refractor and my collection would be completed. Sadly I missed out a good refractor deal… Could have had a Meade 127mm Tripplet ED APO OTA for 700 but oh wells.
I think my aperture fever has finally subsided and I am on the road to recovery. Unless a great deal shows itself infront of me again…
