Telescope advice

[W9TR]

Dave,
If you go with a 16" you will have a monster on your hands. That's both good and bad, so you have to really think about the size, weight, and bulk that you are trading off for more light gathering.

A 16" SCT will weigh in at over 300 lbs and take two people to set up.
A 12" SCT wIll weigh in at under 100 lbs and take one person to set up.

So for a 16" scope, practicality sets in and if you want to go that big, it will need to be a Dobsonian IMO. Or you need to think about building a permanent structure to house it. Obsession telescopes have some great examples of big Dobsonians to give you an idea of what they are about. What you are trading off when you go to a big dobsonian is the ability to do long exposure astrophotography of deep sky objects. Planets and the moon will be ok.

So I'm with Glenn and think a 12" is a sweet spot. The vast majority of amateur instruments are smaller.

Plus the Meade LX-90 you highlighted earlier looks like a great value. Both Celestron and Meade make great telescopes. I'm not sure using your phone to control the scope is a big advantage, but I have not seen this capability in action.

Tom

[Clad 7]

Takahashi MEWLON . . .

[Formerly YB-2]

Takahashi makes very nice gear. Especially like their refractors. However, for a 'new' watcher, the SCTs are tough to beat. Did get on one of the big retailers web pages and they offer so many models and options that spending some time on the phone with one of them would be worth your while. They want you to be a happy customer. I see that 11-12" SCTs sell for up to $8K for the pro models. Must be a huge # of options for that range in prices. By discussing with them, they can point you to the ones that best fit your wants/needs. My experience is the telescope specialist retalers do an excellent job.

Also, Vixen offers an 8" modified SCT that was designed around astrophotography use. Vixen makes excellent gear. You might want to check it out.

[djwhog]

Thanks guys I think it is between those 2 companies the 11 Celestron or the 12" Meade, both come in degrees of models with various features etc.

I am not sure how important it is to have astrophotography on the scope for me, or if I can add it at a time down the road?

Maybe someday I will build a small dedicated building with retractable ceilings and go to the 16: etc. But I think the 11"-12" should make me happy for now!

I do like that some models even have wifi and wonder if internet aka wifi can be added to most models for communication to my laptop, ipad etc?

[Formerly YB-2]

Think you are making a good choice. I've always had good service with Celestron and my brother & cousin are both happy with their Meade gear.

When you talk to whomever you are buying from, tell them what you think you want to end up with to insure you don't purchase a model that cannot be easily upgraded. I'm not into the bells & whistles (photography, etc.), so am limited help there.